Hi all. I never use AdWords before and would like to use it in promoting my contest site. As a newbie, is this a good step? How much should I spend on my first AdWords? Is there anything that I should be aware when using AdWords? Your help is highly appreciated. Cheers! Sha
Adwords is a great way to drive traffic to your site. Your site looks good, but I probably wouldn't drive ppc traffic to it. It depends on what your objective is. If you just want people to visit your site to read it, you're probably better off using social bookmarking. I would imagine your site is perfect for that sort of thing. If you're trying to sell something specific, you really need a separate landing page with a call to action. Google has a great tutorial on optimizing. https://www.google.com/analytics/siteopt/siteopt/help/overview/2792391/index.html
Using Google Adwords To Drive Targeted Traffic might shed some light and information which may be useful for you.
I would do the following Pick 5 of the best keywords that you want to use adwords with. Put each keyword in a seperate ad group, so then you can track how each keyword does. Plus this will keep up your CTR , which is great for getting a better QS From there you can see which keywords work good, and which do not. And always check your bid's because the googlebot will get you when you think everything is running smooth. You also might want to target keywords that have a lower amount of search's and less competition, rather then keywords with higher search's and more competition. Just some ideas there
Thanks all. Indeed, I just want ppl to visit and read. Social bookmarking is also a new thing for me. As for AdWords, I'll read all those articles that you had given. Many thanks to everyone! Cheers! Sha