Q: How do I review a partner's traffic quality before scaling them up?

Q: How do I review a partner's traffic quality before scaling them up?

Before you raise a partner's rate or give them exclusive offers, run a quality check, not just a revenue check:

— Look at post-sale behavior. Their customers' refund rate, repeat-purchase rate, and average order value versus your baseline. Good traffic buys and keeps.
— Check lifetime value, not first sale. A partner sending one-and-done buyers is worth less than one sending sticky customers, even at lower volume.
— Inspect the actual placement. Visit the page sending traffic. Is it real content, or a doorway page and a redirect?
— Compare their click-to-sale rate to the program. Suspiciously high needs scrutiny; suspiciously low may be junk clicks.

The caveat: don't scale on gross revenue alone. A partner who looks like your top earner can be your most expensive once refunds and low retention are netted out. Rank partners by margin-after-reversals, then decide who gets the bigger commitment.

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