Using AdWords Site Targeted - How much to bid?

[allreal]

I am starting to use site targeted ads on AdWords. As you know they ask you to bid the max CPM (cost per thousand impressions.)

When running this campaign for the first time, how should I know what to bid here? I can't find any historical data or directives on how I should bid for a specific site.

Is this just trial and error? Any advice?

For example I am trying to place ads on the site wine-searcher.com.

[John Scott]

Start at min. bid and go from there.

[bcombs]

I generally start with a CPM in the $5 range. Be sure to throttle it carefully with the daily budget, or you can spend a lot of money before you even get a feel for it.

And, be sure to track transactions by site. Different sites perform very differently. I've seem sites that get great click throughs, but never convert.


Brian