📋 Overview
Conversion actions in Search Atlas serve two related but distinct purposes: tracking meaningful user interactions and attributing cost efficiency through CPA (Cost Per Acquisition). This article explains how to audit or review the links embedded within your conversion actions, and clarifies exactly what counts as a conversion versus a lead — and why that distinction matters for your CPA metrics.
🔍 What Is a Conversion Action?
A conversion action is a defined event you want users to complete — such as clicking a tracked link, submitting a form, or reaching a destination URL. Conversion actions are managed inside the Ads section of the platform (left sidebar → Ads for Google Ads/Meta Ads campaign tools) and are commonly used within Campaigns to track outreach performance.
Each conversion action can contain one or more links. Auditing those links means verifying that the URLs are correct, active, and pointing to the intended destinations before or after a campaign runs.
🗂️ How to Audit Links Within a Conversion Action
- In the left sidebar, navigate to Ads → Google Ads (Campaign Hub).
- Locate the campaign that contains the conversion action you want to review and open it.
- Find the conversion action associated with that campaign. This is typically listed in the campaign details or settings panel.
- Open the conversion action to view its full configuration, including all URLs or links attached to it.
- Review each link for the following: the destination URL is correct and resolving, the link matches the intended landing page or tracked asset, and no redirects or broken paths are present.
- If you need to update a link, edit it directly within the conversion action and save your changes before the action is used in an active campaign.
If you are reviewing links in actions connected to outreach sequences, also check the relevant submenu items under Authority (Press Releases) — such as Authority Building, PR Distribution, Cloud Stacks, Indexer, or Link Building Exchange to confirm that links in delivered messages match your intended conversion action configuration.
⚠️ Note: This Is Not Backlink Auditing
Auditing links within conversion actions is different from auditing backlinks pointing to your website. If you arrived here looking for backlink analysis — such as reviewing referring domains or toxic links — that functionality is available in the Site Explorer tool, not in Authority Campaigns. This article specifically covers links that live inside your conversion action setups.
📊 Conversions vs. Leads: What Is the Difference?
Understanding this distinction is essential for interpreting your CPA correctly.
- Lead: A lead is a raw contact or response — for example, a person who replied to an outreach email, filled out a form, or expressed interest. A lead represents an interaction, but it has not yet been qualified or confirmed as a desired outcome.
- Conversion: A conversion is a completed, goal-aligned action that you have defined in your conversion action settings. Not every lead becomes a conversion. A conversion only occurs when the specific criteria you configured — such as clicking a tracked link, reaching a confirmation page, or completing a defined step — are met.
In short: all conversions involve a lead-level interaction, but not all leads are conversions. The conversion is the subset that meets your defined success criteria.
💰 How Conversions Affect CPA
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) is calculated based on conversions, not total lead count. This means:
- If a campaign generates 50 leads but only 10 meet your conversion action criteria, your CPA is calculated using those 10 conversions — not 50.
- A high lead count with a low conversion count will result in a higher CPA, signalling that the campaign is generating interest but not completing the desired goal efficiently.
- Optimising your conversion actions — ensuring the right links are in place, the criteria are accurately defined, and the tracked steps are realistic — directly improves your CPA over time.
Always verify that your conversion action is correctly configured before launching a campaign. Misconfigured links or overly broad conversion criteria can skew your CPA data and make it harder to assess true campaign performance.
✅ Quick Checklist Before Running a Campaign
- Open the conversion action and confirm all links resolve correctly.
- Verify the conversion trigger matches your actual goal (link click, page visit, form submission, etc.).
- Confirm you understand which interactions count as conversions versus general lead responses.
- Check the relevant submenu under Authority (Press Releases) — such as Authority Building, PR Distribution, Cloud Stacks, Indexer, or Link Building Exchange — after sending to verify delivered links match your conversion action setup.
💬 Need Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.