Skip to main content

Understanding Key Metrics

Core Metrics​

Clicks​

What it is: Total number of times someone visited your campaign tracking link.

Where it comes from: Automatically counted when a visitor lands on your tracking domain.

Why it matters:

  • Shows total traffic volume
  • Used to calculate CPC costs
  • Baseline for conversion rate calculations

Example:

100 clicks from a zone

Conversions​

What it is: Number of times a visitor completed a desired action (sign-up, purchase, download, etc.).

Where it comes from: Your affiliate network sends a postback (server-to-server callback) to Rinku with a valid click_id.

Why it matters:

  • Shows how many clicks actually converted
  • Used to calculate ROI and profit
  • Determines CPA costs

Multiple events: each counted postback is one conversion, so a click with several counted events adds several conversions. See Multiple Events in a Postback.

Example:

100 clicks → 8 conversions = 8% conversion rate

Conversion Rate​

Formula: Conversions / Clicks × 100%

Interpretation:

  • 2-5% — Good for most verticals
  • 1-2% — Below average, may need optimization
  • 0.5-1% — Very low, investigate offer or targeting
  • 10%+ — Excellent, very profitable

Example:

8 conversions / 100 clicks = 8%

Cost​

What it is: Total amount you spent to buy that traffic.

How it's calculated:

For CPC (Cost Per Click):

Cost = Click Price × Number of Clicks

Example: $0.50 per click × 100 clicks = $50

For CPA (Cost Per Acquisition):

Cost = Price per conversion × Number of Conversions

Example: $5 per conversion × 8 conversions = $40

Note: CPA pricing means you only pay when someone converts, making it less risky but usually more expensive.

Payout​

What it is: Revenue received for each conversion from your affiliate.

Where it comes from: Your affiliate sends this value in the postback. You can configure which postback parameter maps to "Payout".

Why it matters:

  • Direct revenue from successful conversions
  • Used to calculate profit and ROI
  • Varies by offer quality and user quality

Example:

8 conversions × $8 payout per conversion = $64 total payout

Profit​

Formula: Total Payout - Total Cost

Interpretation:

  • Positive — You made money on this segment
  • Negative — You lost money on this segment
  • Zero — Breaking even

Example:

$64 payout - $50 cost = $14 profit

ROI (Return on Investment)​

Formula: (Payout - Cost) / Cost × 100%

Interpretation:

  • Positive % — Profitable (e.g., 28% ROI = earn $0.28 for every $1 spent)
  • Negative % — Losing money
  • 0% — Breaking even

Benchmark by vertical:

  • Aggressive verticals (Dating, Crypto): 50-200% ROI
  • Moderate verticals (E-commerce, Apps): 20-100% ROI
  • Conservative verticals (Finance, Health): 10-50% ROI

Example:

($64 - $50) / $50 × 100 = 28% ROI

Meaning: For every $1 spent, you earn $0.28 in profit.

Advanced Metrics​

EPC (Earnings Per Click)​

Formula: Total Payout / Total Clicks

What it shows: Average revenue per click, regardless of whether it converted.

Use case: Compare profitability of different traffic sources.

Example:

$64 payout / 100 clicks = $0.64 EPC

CPC (Cost Per Click)​

Formula: Total Cost / Total Clicks

What it shows: Average amount paid per click.

Use case: Compare traffic costs across zones or networks.

Example:

$50 cost / 100 clicks = $0.50 CPC

Profit Per Click​

Formula: Profit / Clicks or EPC - CPC

What it shows: Average profit made per visitor.

Use case: Quick profitability check.

Example:

$14 profit / 100 clicks = $0.14 per click

Bot Traffic Metrics​

is_crawler​

What it is: A boolean flag (True/False) indicating if a click came from a bot or real user.

Why it matters:

  • Bots waste your budget without converting
  • You can filter bots out of analysis
  • You can route bot traffic to different offers

How to use it: In Analytics, filter by is_crawler = No to see only real users.

Tips for Metric Analysis​

Focus on ROI, not just clicks​

High click volume is good, but only if ROI is positive.

If conversion rate drops while cost stays same, investigate the offer or audience.

Compare segments​

Example: Mobile ROI vs Desktop ROI → if desktop is much better, shift budget there.

Watch for seasonality​

Conversion rates vary by day of week, time of day, and season.

Exclude bots from analysis​

Always filter is_crawler = No to get accurate metrics.