Glossary of digital marketing terms

Here is a useful glossary of digital marketing terms you need to know when dealing with your web agency!

Search Engine Marketing & Paid Media Glossary

Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) – (Most popular search engine marketing platform in the world)
Google Ads refers to the diverse advertising platform owned by Google. It is still (incorrectly) referred to as Google AdWords by many. Google Ads is what allows an advertiser to potentially have their ads seen before results in the organic section of a page for a specific keyword.

Remarketing (Retargeting) – (Commonly used when discussing off-page SEO)
It is an important optimization strategy in web marketing that can influence the positioning of a web page on search engine ranking page (SERP’s). Backlinks refer to a link from site A that points to a page on site B.

Click through rate (CTR) – (Commonly used when discussing search engine marketing)
This is another website traffic analysis related used when discussing search engine marketing. The ratio is determinate by the number of clicks compared to the number of views of an online advertisement. The result will be established as a percentage.

Cost per click (CPC) – (Commonly used term when discussing search engine marketing)
As the name suggests, cost per click (CPC) describes the method which an advertiser (who places an online advertisement) will pay for a click on a said site. This term is closely related to pay per click (PPC) which describes the payment method used by certain online marketing platforms. The advertiser can determine in advance the maximum bid he is ready to pay for a keyword.

Impression – (Commonly used in discussing search engine marketing, search engine optimization and social media marketing)
An impression is the measurement of how many times your ad is shown.

Search Engine Advertising (SEA) – (Commonly used term when discussing search engine marketing)
Through paid advertisements controlled by search engines, the results are displayed before the natural results on the SERP.

Landing page – (Commonly used when discussing search engine marketing & search engine optimization)
A landing page is the first page a website visitor arrives at following a click on a link in a paid advertisement, organic listing or social media post. Landing pages are often conceived to convert clients into taking a desired (and measurable) action.

Search Engine Optimization Glossary

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – (Commonly used when discussing internet marketing)
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of using both on-page optimization & off-page optimization techniques to increase the visibility of a website in the organic listings of a search engine ranking page (SERP), typically within Google or Bing.

SERP (Search Engine Result Page) – (Commonly used terms used in search engine optimization)
SERP refers to the results pages in a search engine after a search or query is performed on a site like Google or Bing.

Backlinks – (Commonly used when discussing off-page SEO)
A backlink is an inbound link, from one site to another, that usually points from a page on one domain to the home page of another domain.

Robots.txt – (Commonly used when discussing off-page SEO)
It is an important optimization strategy in web marketing that can influence the positioning of a web page on search engine ranking page (SERP’s). Backlinks refer to a link from site A that points to a page on site B.

Schema.org – (Commonly used when discussing off-page SEO)
It is an important optimization strategy in web marketing that can influence the positioning of a web page on search engine ranking page (SERP’s). Backlinks refer to a link from site A that points to a page on site B.

Keyword – (Commonly used terms used in search engine optimization & on-page optimization)
A keyword is a term that a user types in a search engine when performing a query. The organic search results will display the sites most relevant to the query at the top of the page.

On-page optimization (on-page SEO) – (Commonly used terms used in search engine optimization)
On-page SEO is the process of maximizing all of the elements of a webpage. All of the following elements will often be optimized to assure perfect on-page SEO: optimized permalink, title optimization, meta element optimization, use of multimedia to increase time on page, optimization of outbound links to establish page as useful, correct placement of keywords/phrases, proper use of header tags, optimization of page loading speed, assuring content is unique or adds value and additionally, assuring page is mobile ready and socially sharable.
Proper on-page optimization improves that ability of a page to be well positioned in a search engine ranking page (SERP). Additionally, proper interlinking of several well-crafted pages that have gone through the process of on-page SEO further increases the overall value of a website via its inner link structure.

Off-page optimization (off-page SEO) – (Commonly used terms used in search engine optimization)
Off-page optimization is an integral part of search engine optimization (SEO). Off-page optimization is the process of creating links on sites (other than yours) so that over time your site is prominently linked to from other websites across the internet.
The process of off-page optimization (also referred to as off-page SEO) is done where a webmaster or SEO professional builds links to your site by way of a multitude of strategies to send a signal to search engines that your site is more valuable than others due to the quality and amount of links pointing to it from other sites.

Website Analytics Glossary

Bounce rate – (Commonly used when discussing website traffic analysis)
The bounce rate of a website refers to the percentage of single page sessions per visitor. In other words, it’s the percentage of people who see a page before bouncing off of your website as against navigating on to other pages of your site.

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) – (Commonly used when discussing website traffic optimization)
This is the process of facilitating a desired action taken by the visitor of a website. By configuring certain elements of a web page, a business attempts to increase the chances of getting a site visitor to “convert” into a measurable and desired action (this can be phone call, email, newsletter sign up, etc…) before they leave the site.

Unique Visitor – (Commonly used when discussing off-page SEO)
A unique visitor is a user that is counted as a single user within Google Analytics.

Content Marketing Glossary

Content optimization – (Commonly referred to when discussing search engine optimization)
Content optimization is the process of making sure a web pages content is written in such a way (often governed by on-page SEO best practice) so that it can reach the largest possible target audience and so that it has the best opportunity to appeal to modern search engines. SEO professionals use different techniques to structure a web page (text, image, location, etc.).

Content strategy – (Commonly used when discussing website traffic optimization)
Content strategy includes several stages: strategic planning, creation and delivery of content. It aims to increase website traffic and conversion of that traffic via a pre-conceived content creation and distribution plan (that can make use of text, imagery and possibly video) to effectively signal over time exactly what the source website does versus what it does not.

Infographics – (Commonly used when discussing off-page SEO)
It is an important optimization strategy in web marketing that can influence the positioning of a web page on search engine ranking page (SERP’s). Backlinks refer to a link from site A that points to a page on site B.

Social Media Management & Marketing Glossary

Social Media Manager – (Commonly used when discussing social media calendar)
A social media manager is the person assigned to plan out a personalized digital social media strategy for a business or influencer that is commonly comprised of making use of specific social media channels to push out a message on the part of the client.

Common tasks involved are: building social calendar, building brand assets in terms of design managing expenses on various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest more.

Social Media Marketing – (Commonly used when discussing Social Media)
It is an important optimization strategy in web marketing that can influence the positioning of a web page on search engine ranking page (SERP’s). Backlinks refer to a link from site A that points to a page on site B.

Hashtag (#) – (Commonly used term when discussing social media marketing, Twitter & Instagram)
It symbolizes the sharp icon (#) used before keywords on Twitter or Instagram. It is useful for a user who would like to bring attention to a specific subject.

Storytelling – (Commonly used term when discussing social media content strategy)
Very trendy content strategy in social networks, it relates the way to deliver content in a narrative form.

Engagement – (Commonly used terms when discussing social media analytics)
Very trendy content strategy in social networks, it relates the way to deliver content in a narrative form.

Handle – (Commonly used when discussing Twitter & Instagram)
Handle in social media is another word for your username

Share – (Commonly used term when discussing social media analytics)
A share in social media is when a user redistributes content found to their network.

Website Performance Glossary

Key Performance Indicator (KPI) – (Commonly used term when discussing website traffic analysis)
It is based on different factors to measure the performance of a company’s online activities and specifically to measure how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. Companies may or may not establish high level KPI’s and low level KPI’s. CTR and ROI are good examples of two wildly popular and universal Key performance indicators.

Additionally, a keyword is the term used by SEO’s to highlight the word (or occasionally phrase) that a client wants to rank for.

Return on Investment (ROI) – (Commonly used term when discussing website traffic analysis)
It is based on different factors to measure the performance of a company’s online activities and specifically to measure how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. Companies may or may not establish high level KPI’s and low level KPI’s. CTR and ROI are good examples of two wildly popular and universal Key performance indicators.

Reputation Management Glossary

Online Reputation Management – (Commonly used when discussing off-page SEO)
It is an important optimization strategy in web marketing that can influence the positioning of a web page on search engine ranking page (SERP’s). Backlinks refer to a link from site A that points to a page on site B.