What is EPC (Earnings Per Click) in affiliate marketing, and how can it be improved?

Is increasing your affiliate income without driving more traffic possible? If you know how to optimize your EPC, absolutely.

EPC helps you focus on making each click more valuable rather than just chasing traffic. So, what is EPC in affiliate marketing, and how can you use it to maximize your earnings? Let’s find out.

What is EPC for affiliate marketing?

EPC (Earnings Per Click) measures how much you earn each time someone clicks on your affiliate link. For example, if your total affiliate marketing income yesterday was $200 from 50 clicks, your EPC would be $4.

It’s important to know that this doesn’t mean every click generated exactly $4. Some clicks may result in higher purchases, while others might lead to no purchase at all. EPC is an estimate of how much each click is worth on average – a benchmark.

Why is EPC in affiliate marketing important?

EPC is an essential metric for evaluating the performance of your affiliate marketing campaign and making data-driven decisions. Here are the benefits of knowing your EPC:

• Evaluate campaign effectiveness: Comparing EPC across campaigns helps you prioritize campaigns with better returns and drop underperformers.
• Identify top-performing affiliate partners: Affiliate partners with higher EPC generate more revenue per click. Offering better incentives can strengthen your relationship with them.
• Predict campaign profitability: Knowing your EPC helps you budget, allocate resources, and set realistic goals. While considering other costs like ad spending, it can forecast whether a campaign will be profitable.  
• Optimize content strategy: Analyzing the EPC of different content pieces can reveal which format or topic resonates most with your audience, allowing you to focus on high-performers.

Here’s an example of how calculating EPC can help you make better decisions:

Let’s say you’re running campaigns on Instagram and Google. Your Instagram campaign earns you $200 from 100 clicks, resulting in an EPC of $2. Meanwhile, your Google campaign earns you $300 from the same number of clicks or an EPC of $3. This shows that your Google traffic is more valuable. By shifting focus to Google, you can maximize earnings without necessarily increasing traffic.

How to calculate EPC?

Calculating EPC is pretty simple. Here’s the formula:

EPC = total earnings ÷ total clicks

Imagine you’re an affiliate marketer promoting two skincare products on your blog: HydraGlow Moisturizer and ClearSkin Serum. In the past week, HydraGlow Moisturizer received 500 clicks and earned $250, while ClearSkin Serum earned $450 in 300 clicks. Using the formula, let’s calculate the EPC of each product.

Product	Total earnings	Total clicks	EPC
HydraGlow Moisturizer	$250	500	$250 ÷ 500 = $0.50
ClearSkin Serum	$450	300	$450 ÷ 300 = $1.50

Comparing the EPCs, ClearSkin Serum earns more per click, even with fewer total clicks. This insight helps you justify prioritizing the serum in your campaigns to maximize earnings.

Affiliate marketing platforms like Impact also display the EPC for each brand to help you estimate profitability. These figures are often aggregate numbers across multiple affiliate partners. For example, if your EPC is $3 and another partner’s is $1, the platform may show an average of $2.

That’s why calculating your own EPC gives you a more accurate number. Affiliate marketing tools like Voluum allow you to calculate EPC across campaigns and metrics like conversion rates and ROI, helping you refine your strategies.

How can affiliate marketers improve their EPC?

Now that you understand what EPC is, its benefits, and how to calculate it, let’s explore the ways affiliate marketers can improve their EPC and optimize their campaigns.

1. Place your affiliate links strategically

How you place your affiliate links can make a big difference in clicks, conversions, and EPC. Ideally, you never want to give off an impression that you’re trying to make a sale. You should always prioritize the value you bring to your readers.

Blog posts are one of the most common places to include affiliate links naturally. You can add an affiliate link after writing about how a product solves a problem or offers specific benefits. BloggingDen, for example, includes a Hostinger affiliate link in a tutorial about setting up a website.

Besides tutorials, blog posts like product comparisons, best-of lists, case studies, and in-depth reviews can also naturally include affiliate links. 

The call-to-action (CTA) of your affiliate link also plays a crucial role. A red CTA that says Claim Your Hosting Plan grabs attention and encourages clicks. However, a generic Click Here CTA is less likely to do much. 

If you’re doing affiliate marketing via email, avoid overwhelming subscribers with affiliate links. Sending too many promotional links in your emails risks triggering spam filters. As a rule of thumb, only 20-25% of your emails should include affiliate links, and when they do, complement them with genuinely helpful advice or exclusive offers.

This email below is a perfect example. By promoting the free tool, readers are encouraged to create a free Ahrefs account using the affiliate link and upgrade when they’re ready to try the premium features.

This rule applies to social media, too. Share engaging content and insights regularly, and save affiliate links for special deals or offers.

2. Use floating bars to promote your affiliate products

Floating bars are a less intrusive way to engage visitors and improve EPC. Usually located at the top or bottom of a website, they attract attention without disrupting the user flow, especially when designed with contrasting colors and bold CTAs.

For example, a blue bar and a yellow CTA over a white background naturally grab attention and encourage clicks:

If you use WordPress, creating floating bars is easy with OptinMonster. Simply select the Floating Bar template, pick a design, and customize it.

3. Use exit intent pop-ups to re-engage visitors

Exit intent pop-ups can be highly effective in stopping visitors from leaving as long as they are not overused.

If pop-ups appear every 15 seconds, readers are more likely to leave. However, a well-timed pop-up with a discount code for an affiliate product can encourage clicks and conversions, especially after a reader has spent some time reading about the product’s benefits.

Take OptinMonster, for example. It reveals a link to a discount later in an article that explains the product’s benefits.

When you try to exit the page, an exit intent pop-up appears that can make visitors rethink not taking up the offer.

Using the OptinMonster plugin, you can easily create similar campaigns on your WordPress site. Its drag-and-drop builder and targeting filters (including exit intent, onsite retargeting, and page-level targeting) let you design pop-ups that can recapture your visitors’ attention.

4. Select high-paying affiliate programs

Your affiliate earnings depend on your chosen programs’ commission rates and product prices. High-paying programs can significantly boost your EPC. It’s simple: an affiliate commission of $50 will increase your EPC much faster than if it’s just $5. 

Hostinger affiliates, for example, earn up to 40% commissions ranging from $50-150 per referral, depending on the hosting plan. Kit, an email marketing platform, offers 50% recurring commissions for 12 months, providing a steady income stream while improving your EPC.

On the other hand, Amazon Associates may not pay as well. While its high conversion rates are appealing, commission rates range from 1-10%, depending on the category. For example, promoting a $500 electronic product might earn you only $5-50.

Many affiliate marketing networks pay higher commissions, so switching to those networks can increase your EPC and overall revenue with fewer conversions. 

But remember, before joining an affiliate program, always consider your audience. Ask yourself: does this product genuinely benefit them? For example, promoting an expensive gym membership to a budget-conscious audience might not resonate. Instead, focus on products that align with your audience’s interests.

5. A/B test your affiliate landing page

No matter how many strategies you implement, success hinges on knowing what works best. With A/B testing, you can run two or more versions of your affiliate landing page to find out which one results in higher EPC.

Experiment with different headlines, calls to action, colors, copy, images, and offers. Tools like OptinMonster let you run split tests for these elements.

Tools like Unbounce are also excellent for landing pages or blog posts. Their AI conversion optimization automatically directs visitors to the best-performing version, ensuring maximum ROI.

Conclusion

Tracking your affiliate marketing campaign’s EPC is essential, but regularly refining your strategies is just as important to improve your EPC and overall revenue. So, monitor your campaigns closely, analyze performance data, and adjust your plan based on what works best.

Whether it’s testing new offers, improving landing page copy, or choosing high-paying affiliate programs, remember that small, consistent improvements over time can lead to significant gains in your EPC and a sustainable affiliate marketing strategy.

What is EPC in affiliate marketing FAQ