What is CPA ?
What is CPA? CPA stands for Cost-Per-Action. This simply means that you get paid for getting your site’s visitors to perform some kind of action.
A typical action is to get people to fill in their email or zip code and click enter. This can be very powerful because your web visitors are not required to buy anything but you still get paid.
Types of CPA Offers:
E-mail submit offers only require the visitor to enter a valid email address for you to get paid. These offers do not require credit card information so the pay per conversion tends to be rather low. However, conversion rates on this type of offer can be very high.
ZIP submits are similar to E-mail submits but instead they require the user to enter a valid ZIP code. Again, these offers do not require credit card information so the pay per conversion tends to be rather low while conversion rates on this type of offer can be high. Here is an example of this type of offer on a site I built for a Home Modification Loan Program. This is actually a pretty high paying offer at $10 for the ZIP submit.
Short form CPA offers require more information than E-mail and ZIP submits. They usually require full address, email address, date of birth and gender etc. but in most cases no credit card details are needed. An example of a short form CPA offer would be a scholarship offer. Payout for short forms vary from around $1 up to $10.
Long form CPA offers require the visitor to supply more information than the short form type. Insurance and credit card companies often use long forms. Because so much more information is required from the visitor, conversion rates tend to be much lower than for simple offers like E-mail submits and ZIP submits. However, the pay out for long form offers tends to be higher.
Free trial CPA offers usually require credit card information. In most cases the customer pays a shipping and handling fee for the trial, usually about $5-$10, although I saw one today that was $19.95. Once the trial period ends the company automatically ships, and bills, the customer for the next shipment, unless the customer cancels the subscription. The CPA affiliate gets paid when a customer signs up for the free trial. The payout for this type of offer can be from $20 and $40.
CPA Sales offers, like traditional affiliate sales, pay when a customer makes a purchase through your link. The payout varies but is often fairly high, from $20 and more, and can also be based on a percentage of the purchase price. Because an actual purchase is required the conversion rates tend to be lower than for most other types of CPA offers. Here is an example of a site I built around these types of offers Best Anti Snoring Pillows.
CPA Download offers are for software that can be downloaded free. The software can be a game or toolbar utility. The software will often include some kind of advertising. The user can remove the software at any time. With CPA download offers you get paid once someone downloads and installs the software on their computer. Marketed properly this type of offer can be very profitable as no personal information is required. The visitor simply downloads the software.
PIN submit offers are downloads to a cell/mobile phone. The customer enters their mobile number and will get a PIN code sent to the number. To get the download, for example a ring tone, the PIN code has to be entered. Payout for CPA PIN submits vary from about $2 and can go up to about $10.
So what is CPA? Now you have a basic understanding of what types of CPA offer are available…
In a future post I’ll discuss CPA offers and their relation to IFW (freebie) sites…
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