Pay Per Click Vs Cost Per Acquisition

With the current trend that Pay Per Click Advertising is following, pay per click experts assess that PPC may yield towards CPA or Cost Per Acquisition. What is PPC and what is CPA? Will there be a fusion of these two web marketing methods?

Pay Per Click Model

The Pay Per Click model has placed a strong importance on clicks. In PPC model, the advertising websites pay for every click that is generated on their ads through the pay per click search engines. PPC Model includes affiliate partnership wherein other PPC affiliate partners earn a certain percentage on a pay per click basis.

Pay Per Click ads appear on the search results every time an online searcher keys in a particular keyword, keyword phrase or search term associated with the ad. The keywords must be closely related to the website’s theme or subject; otherwise, the ads won’t have the targeted traffic it needs.

Cost Per Acquisition Model

CPA, also called Cost Per Acquisition, puts more importance on the conversion rather than the clicks. In the CPA Model, the web marketing advertisers pay only every time a site visitor is converted into customers. The internet marketing advertiser is not charged per click but per conversion.

When an online searcher clicks on the ad and he performs a qualifying action like purchasing the website’s products or services, the advertiser is charged. But not unless there is a sale or signup, the online advertiser won’t have to worry about charges.

In terms of cost, CPA or Cost Per Acquisition offers a fixed cost per conversion. Unlike PPC advertising where web advertisers have to bid for the amount to pay for every click, CPA advertising has a fixed amount charged to the advertiser.

PPC and CPA Combination

In terms of its effect on the online advertisers, Cost Per Acquisition is focused on the online advertiser while the Pay Per Click advertising is focused on the partners. The main difference between the two advertising models is that in Pay Per Click advertising, the web marketing advertiser pays first and then measures the conversion and traffic afterwards, while in Cost Per Acquisition advertising, the advertiser receives the traffic first and pays only after having converted visitors to customers.

Pay Per Click specialists are trying to look into the possibility of combining the pay per click model with the cost per acquisition model. The combination of the two online advertising models will eventually lead to a standard PPC and CPA rules: web marketing advertisers still pay for every click while the partners pay for every acquisition.

The question of which advertising model is better than the other is surpassed with the thought of combining the benefits of pay per click model and cost per acquisition model. Anyway, who knows, time will come when these two advertising models will be combined. If this happens, it will be beneficial to web marketing advertisers and promoters.

Pay Per Click advertising and Cost Per Acquisition both have their own benefits to online advertisers. Do you want to give PPC a try? Please see our PPC Services or contact our PPC Specialists.