CPA-affiliate networks: what they are and how a webmaster can make money from them

There are many ways to make money on the Internet. One of them is traffic arbitrage. Today we will tell you what it is and how you can make money by bringing advertisers customers. At the end of the article you will find a webmaster’s dictionary.

What are CPA affiliate networks?

CPA network is a place where advertiser, i.e. the seller, and webmaster, i.e. the partner, meet. CPA – short for Cost Per Action, which means “pay per action”.

Advertisers-companies provide services or sell goods, and webmasters lead sellers people, that is, advertise them. Webmasters get paid when the users they bring in perform some targeted action:

• download an application,
• leave contacts in the application form,
• buy a product,
• take a survey, and so on.

For example, if the user installs a game and reaches level 5, the webmaster will receive a couple of dollars. And for the purchase of goods and services more often give a percentage: 2, 3, 10% and so on.

How it works: two sides of the story

Webmasters can be compared to marketers or promoters – those who hand out flyers on the streets. All of them, in one way or another, advertise sellers and attract customers to them. It’s just that the webmaster does it for a fixed fee or a percentage of sales and works only online – creating ads, writing PR articles, using social networks. His earnings depend only on his efforts: the more deals, the higher the income. We tell you how it works in practice below.

Advertisers place their offers in cpa affiliate network  systems. They tell you about the products they offer, set the amount of royalties, allow or disallow certain traffic channels, sometimes provide promotional materials, such as banners.

It turns out to be an affiliate program card, or AP. It goes to the general directory, where it is seen by all webmasters. When a number of partners connect to the PP, the system starts to automatically count and add to the card conversion, click-through rates and other indicators. The system registers the actions of the users brought in by the webmasters. The advertiser checks the purchase and confirms it, and then the service transfers money to the webmaster.

After connecting to the affiliate program, the webmasters get a referral link which they will distribute on their sites.

When someone clicks on that link, the system registers it and assigns the user to the webmaster. In some networks the system credits the affiliate even if the user first visited the site using his link and bought 5-6 days later.

When users who have clicked on a referral link perform a targeted action, such as placing an order, it will also appear in the system. It will automatically check the order and send a request to the seller. If the advertiser confirms the deal, the webmaster will get the money for the account inside the CPA-network and then will be able to withdraw it.

It happens that an affiliate manager stands between the webmaster and the advertiser. This person monitors the affiliate programs and helps both sides to get good results from cooperation.