When a user takes a desired action on your landing page, it is called a conversion. This conversion could be a product purchase, a pageview, an email sign up or another type of action that is valuable to you and your business.

Your cost per action, or CPA, is the amount you pay for each of these actions.

Setting and Monitoring Your CPA Goal

Your CPA is an important number to keep an eye on because it tells you how valuable your clicks are for your business. You should always be comparing your current campaign’s CPA to your CPA goal. Your CPA goal is the amount you are willing to pay for an action.

For example, you might be paying more than you can afford for an action. In other words, your CPA is too high. In this case, you can optimize your campaigns to bring your CPA down.

On the flip side, you might have room to pay more for an action. In other words, your CPA is under your CPA goal. In this case, you can increase your CPC in an effort to get more of the valuable clicks.

In order to monitor your CPA in Backstage, we recommend implementing the Taboola conversion tracking code on your website.

Learn more about setting and measuring your campaign goals here.

How is CPA Calculated?

The two primary factors that affect your CPA are cost per click (CPC) and conversion rate. Your CPC is the amount you pay every time a user clicks on your campaign item. Conversion rate is how often a user who clicks actually converts.

So, not considering any other factors: if your CPC increases, your CPA will increase. If your CPC decreases, your CPA will decrease.

Also, not considering any other factors: if your conversion rate increases, your CPA will decrease. If your conversion rate decreases, your CPA will increase.

CPA is calculated by dividing the total amount of money spent by the number of actions (total spent / amount of purchases). For example, if you spend $500 and get 10 conversions, you CPA is $50 ($500/10 = $50 CPA).

Learn more about understanding your campaign data, including your CPA data, here.