Marketing jargon got you stumped? Brush up on the lingo with our list of commonly used marketing terms. Then reach your goals with Mailoodeer’s smart, easy email-marketing solution.
Sign UpCreating 2 versions of a digital asset to see which one users respond to better. Examples of assets include a landing page, display ad, marketing email, and social post. In an A/B test, half of your audience automatically receives “version A” and half receives “version B.” The performance of each version is based on conversion rate goals such as the percentage of people who click on a link, complete a form, or make a purchase.
When a user adds a product to the online shopping cart of an e-commerce site but doesn’t proceed to checkout and complete the purchase. Users may abandon because they aren’t ready to buy or are comparing prices. Automatic, personalized reminder emails often provide the nudge they need to finish checking out.
The words in your advertising messages to customers. Ad copy can be a display-ad headline, an email subject line, a Facebook ad CTA, or a script for video/TV. Copy is distinct from design elements like photography and illustration—though copy and design should work together.
Specific information you can tack onto your Google Ads to help them perform better. Options include store location, call button, product pricing, seller rating, app download, and extra site links. Google doesn’t charge extra to show extensions, but clicks on most extensions incur the same PPC fee as clicks on the ad itself.
A service that sells online ad space representing inventory from many websites. Some inventory is more valuable and costs more—think a prime-time TV slot versus a 3 a.m. infomercial. Common pricing models include CPM, CPC, and CPA.
A Google program that pays website publishers to automatically display relevant ads. Relevance is driven by keywords. Ads can be text, image, or video and are designed to be high quality yet unobtrusive across devices. Publishers can reject certain ads and prioritize others. Payment is usually PPC.
The money a company allocates to promote products and services. Budgets can include paid media, creative production, printing, mailing, and agency support. Some businesses set a budget as a percentage of sales, but always watch ROI—vendors should set clear expectations for outcomes.
A relationship in which an advertiser pays website publishers for leads or revenue generated from their sites—a form of commission sharing. Affiliates extend reach and relevance with limited upfront cost since you only pay for performance.
A curated group of publishers who partner with an advertiser and earn commission based only on performance. Example: a shoe brand partners with influential bloggers, who promote the shoes and earn on resulting sales. Networks offer “prepackaged” affiliate programs.
Text written into HTML to describe an image if it can’t be displayed. It supports faster loading for users who turn images off and improves accessibility for screen-reader users. It also helps search engines understand images.
The clickable wording of a link on a site, in email, or other digital asset. Clear, accurate anchor text improves UX and helps search engines evaluate page relevance.
A strategy that identifies subgroups within a target audience to deliver more tailored messaging. Segments may be based on demographics, behaviors, or psychographics such as values and attitudes.
Links on other websites that point to your site (inbound links). Quantity and quality of backlinks influence search rankings because they signal popularity and authority.
Brand Indicators for Message Identification helps authenticate email and build trust. Working with DKIM, SPF, and DMARC, BIMI can display your logo next to messages so inboxes and recipients recognize legitimate mail from your domain.
PPC ads that run on Bing and Yahoo across devices. Similar to Google Ads and can import Google campaigns. Targeting by location and demographics is supported, with details varying by platform.
SEO tactics that try to game search engines while ignoring users. These violate guidelines and can get sites penalized or deindexed. The term contrasts with “white hat” best practices.
Short for “web log.” A stream of topical articles published on a site, often with comments. Strong blogs can drive affiliate revenue and advertising because they build audience trust.
The share of visits where only one page is viewed. Users “bounce” when they view a page or landing page and leave without further engagement. Improve with stronger offers, CTAs, copy, and design—validated via A/B testing.
The overall experience that differentiates a product or service—where features, benefits, and customer perceptions meet. Strong brands have distinct identity, image, and emotional connection.
The visual and verbal system that represents a brand—name, logo, colors, typography—as well as consistent standards for imagery, voice, and tone.
How customers perceive your brand. While you can’t control it fully, the goal of awareness, recognition, favorability, and affinity is to grow market share—guided by strong identity and ongoing brand management.
The marketer who ensures every brand touchpoint aligns with values, personality, identity, and audience. Typical duties include competitive analysis, strategy, campaign oversight, and budget management.
The action you want audiences to take after receiving your message—learn more, contact us, shop now, follow, sign up. A/B testing helps you find the CTAs that drive the best response.
The master version of a page you want crawlers to index. Campaign parameters can create multiple versions of a URL; a canonical tag tells search engines which version is authoritative.
List-style ads grouped by category (e.g., real estate, services, clothing, cars). Usually lower-cost and image-light compared to display ads; well suited to localized audiences.
The percentage of users who click a link after seeing it. Example: 10,000 impressions and 10 clicks equals 0.1% CTR. Applies to ads, emails, landing pages, and social posts; a key success metric.
A web page with fields that let users share details and request follow-up—commonly name, email, and interest area. Include consent language and a link to your privacy policy.
A strategy to attract, engage, and retain customers by publishing helpful articles, videos, podcasts, and more—building expertise, brand awareness, and consideration.
The percentage of user actions taken after total clicks on a display ad or other digital asset. Your marketing strategy defines your actions, which commonly include clicking on a second link, downloading an asset such as a B2B (business-to-business) white paper, or signing up to receive special retail offers. The formula is: clicks / actions = conversion rate. The higher your conversion, the more successful your campaign.
The process of increasing the percentage of users who take the actions you want them to, such as clicking on a website link or purchasing a product online. Two key CRO strategies are A/B testing and personalized marketing. Both use analytics to uncover customer insights to craft the right message to the right person at the right moment.
How much you spend to win a single paying customer. CPA is a success metric calculated by total campaign cost / conversions. Often used to evaluate display ad and affiliate campaigns.
A fee a website publisher charges to show your ads, payable only when clicked. Google is a major CPC network and partners with other publishers to distribute ads broadly.
Cost per thousand impressions. Example: $1,000 for 1 million impressions equals $1 CPM. Best for awareness campaigns; CPC may be better for action-driven campaigns.
Advertising assets or the designers themselves. Layouts, mockups, and final pieces are all 'creatives.'
Customer Relationship Management practices and tech. Goals: retain customers, increase spend, convert prospects. CRM systems track interactions, purchase history, and use analytics for cross/upsell opportunities.
Cascading Style Sheets define a site's look—layout, colors, fonts. Rules cascade across pages for easier coding and responsive design.
Total spend on acquiring customers divided by number acquired. Helps measure ROI of growth efforts.
A central hub that aggregates data from many sources to create single customer profiles for better marketing and CX.
A map of every interaction a customer has with your brand before, during, and after engagement. Helps define goals and automation flows.
Marketing that uses electronic devices: video, ads, social posts, etc. Compared with traditional media (print, TV, mail).
Physical mail campaigns: postcards, flyers, catalogs. The offline equivalent of email marketing.
Marketing delivered directly to consumers with a clear CTA—call, visit site, buy. Includes email and mail marketing.
Path from product creation to end user. B2B focuses on inter-company interactions; B2C focuses on consumer delivery.
Email authentication protocol working with DKIM and SPF to block phishing, spam, spoofing.
Domain Name System: translates names like example.com into IPs. Acts as the internet's 'phone book.'
Part of an email or site address after '@' and before extension (.com, .org). Subdomains can improve email deliverability.
Series of automated emails triggered by actions, personalized with user data. Example: onboarding or cart abandonment reminders.
E-commerce model: sellers don't hold inventory. Orders go to a supplier who ships directly. Popular for low-overhead online stores.
Internet-based buying and selling. Data powers top operations with segmentation, automation, and targeted marketing.
A website enabling buying and selling goods or services, handling orders, payments, logistics, and support.
Rules that trigger messages based on actions: welcome emails, cart reminders. Reduces manual work and builds loyalty.
Addresses your brand can email. Usually segmented by interests/behavior. Built via checkout, forms, etc.
Promotional emails for products, services, or engagement. Can educate, sell, or nurture. Mailoodeer helps design and optimize.
The person who ultimately uses a product or service. Avoid 'user' in marketing; it's accurate but impersonal.
File not found. Happens when a URL is mistyped or page deleted. Solve with redirects or a custom error page.
Coding language for structured content. HTML is a specialized XML. Schema markup uses XML to improve search UX.
Tracking eye movement on pages or emails, often shown as heat maps. Helps place CTAs for better visibility.
Ads that run exclusively through Facebook’s advertising platform. They can appear in Facebook’s feed, Messenger, and even on non-Facebook apps and websites. They come in a variety of formats—single image, video, slideshows, and more—and can be targeted to extremely specific audiences.
Basically, mission control for your Facebook ads. This is the interface where you select your target audience, set your budget, format your ads, and launch them into the world. Facebook Ads Manager collects all of your ads’ performance metrics such as click-through rates, impressions, and engagements. Since Facebook also owns Instagram, this is where you set up and manage Instagram ads.
Your business’s home on Facebook. At a minimum, it includes a name, description, profile, cover photo, and a call to action (CTA) such as “visit our website” or “give us a call.” These pages can include images, videos, and text about your brand and products. They can also be promoted like ads to help you find new followers. Business hours, location details, and even shopping widgets can be added to your Facebook business page to encourage followers to take specific actions.
Your personal home on Facebook. This is similar to a Facebook business page but designed for a human—or the occasional pet—rather than a business. It typically includes basic information such as your name, location, and profile picture. Your Facebook profile is where your timeline, shared photos and videos, and other Facebook content lives. Profiles can be fully public or only visible to certain people based on your privacy settings.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a United States government agency that regulates communication devices and systems, which includes the internet. They ensure all citizens have fair access to these communication platforms and that they’re safely performing in the interest of the public and national security. In most cases, the FCC is the agency responsible for crafting consumer protection rules such as privacy protections, while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces these rules.
A section of Google’s search engine results page that tries to answer a question without a person having to click through to another web page. They include Google’s best guess at an answer, the title of the page the answer comes from, the page’s URL, and an image from the page. While featured snippets are designed to save time for the person searching, they’re mostly machine generated and aren’t fact checked.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is tasked with promoting competition in the United States marketplace and protecting consumers. In the world of e-commerce and digital marketing, the FTC is responsible for providing rules and guidance around online advertising, which it refers to as the “rules of the road.” It enforces the CAN-SPAM Act to ensure email marketing isn’t misleading or harassing.
A plan that helps you launch your new business, product, service, or brand to your customers. It usually includes target audience research, the key differentiators in your market, and a planned approach for marketing and distribution.
Algorithms are a list of mathematical calculations and if/then statements that decide what action a computer program should take. The Google algorithm is the rules-based system Google uses to sort through hundreds of billions of websites to deliver relevant results to users’ search queries. The results are ranked in order of usefulness on the search engine results page (SERP). The algorithm also uses personal context, such as your current location and past search history, to tailor the results.
A platform that measures and reports on website traffic. It provides information about how people use your website, which includes the most popular content, the time spent on each page, and what devices are used to browse. Google Analytics can be connected to Google Ads to learn which campaigns are driving the most traffic and converting casual visitors into customers. Additionally, the platform offers rich insights about your audience, such as terms they use to search and location data.
A free service that lets you provide more detail about your business when it appears in search. Beyond a URL and description, you can add photos, videos, telephone numbers, business hours, a delivery area, and links to reservation services. A cover photo and snippets from Google Maps and Google Street View help potential customers know what to expect when they arrive for the first time. A word of warning: Users can suggest edits to your profile, so check it regularly for accuracy.
Also called retargeting, Google remarketing is the technology that enables your Google Ads to follow potential customers as they move across the internet. When a user visits, a small snippet of code on your website adds them to a remarketing list. Then when they visit another website that uses the Google Ad network, they are served your ad. Google allows you to customize who sees your remarketed ads. For example, you can prioritize new or returning customers.
A Google tool that helps you optimize your website content to improve its performance and your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. You can submit URLs and full sitemaps to Google Search Console to make sure your most important pages are indexed in Google’s search engine. It makes recommendations about how to structure your content so it appears as “rich results” on the search engine results page (SERP). For example, recipe pages can display a photo of the dish right in the results.
GPT-3, or Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3, is a remarkable language model that has taken the world by storm. With its ability to generate human-like text, it has revolutionized the field of natural language processing.
Learn more about how it works and the advantages and limitations of this large language model.
A math equation that multiplies the number of times an ad is run by the percentage of the target audience that sees it, multiplied by 100. Gross rating points (GRPs) are commonly used in television ad buying to help media planners decide when and where to place their ads. Though the math is a bit too complicated for this short description, GRPs can be calculated for online ads as well. Some planners find this helpful when determining their media mix of TV and online advertising.
An HTML tag used to identify the highest level of information on a page. In practice, page titles and headlines are usually marked with H1 tags and are the largest pieces of text on a page. H1 tags can be associated with specific styles or formatting in a web page’s CSS so that headlines always appear in a certain font, color, and size. H1s play an important role in search engine optimization (SEO) and make it easier to index content. If something is in an H1 tag, search engines know it’s important.
An email that is rejected by an email server for a permanent reason. An email may hard bounce if a recipient email address or domain name doesn't exist—or the recipient email server has completely blocked the delivery. There are, however, occasionally times when a valid email address will hard bounce.
A hash or pound sign (#) used after a word or phrase to label content and make it easier to find. Hashtags are common on social media and used to connect posts on related topics. For example, if you click #mailoodeer on Twitter, it will bring up a list of tweets that include that hashtag. Hashtags can combine multiple words and are often styled with internal capitalization so they’re #MuchEasierToRead.
A visual representation of data that uses color to communicate areas of highest use or likelihood. A click map is a special type of heat map that shows which parts of web pages receive the most clicks. Using a scale of red (“hot”) to blue (“cold”), areas where people look or click the most are labeled with red. Web designers can combine the data from an eye-tracking heat map and a click map to position call-to-action buttons where they are most likely to be seen and clicked.
Hypertext markup language (HTML) is the coding language used to create web pages. With the help of CSS and JavaScript, HTML tells a web browser how to format, style, and link together text and images on a page. For example, the
tag is used to separate a block of text into paragraphs. HTML tags can also include attributes and values that tell the web browser what to do with the content.
Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) is the application (or program) that a web browser uses to ask a web server for information. When you type “https://mailoodeer.com” into your browser, a domain name system (DNS) helps it reach out to mailoodeer’s web server to return the page you requested. Think of it as the internet version of call and response. HTTPS is the secure (encrypted) version of HTTP called hypertext transfer protocol secure.
A piece of text or an image on a website that takes you to another web page when you click on it. Hyperlinked text is often blue and underlined, but thanks to CSS, it can appear any way a web designer chooses. Hyperlinks can also link to different areas on the same page (see the jump navigation to the left of this definition), or they can trigger actions with the help of JavaScript (such as launching an overlay screen).
An iframe is a section of a web page that contains content that comes from another page. It’s a page within a page. Iframes are typically used to pull in content from third parties. For example, you can set up iframes on your website to display banner ads from Google Ads or another ad network. Iframes are different from framesets (also called just “frames”), which were used in the early days of the internet to make page layouts easier and navigation consistent.
A marketing strategy that encourages people to actively seek out and engage with your brand. Social media, content marketing (such as sponsored content and blogs), and search engine optimization (SEO) are common tactics. Inbound marketing offers consumers something they want—information, entertainment, a chance to be heard—and places information about a product and service within this context. Inbound marketing attracts prospects and encourages them to engage with your brand in the hopes of converting them to paid customers.
The homepage of a website. If you type mailoodeer.com into your browser, the page that appears is our index page. Sometimes people refer to pages that collect all of a website’s links, images, or headlines into a single page as an index page like a book. Both are correct, which just makes things more confusing. If you’re talking with a web developer, they probably mean the homepage when talking about index pages. Ask for clarification if you’re not sure.
Instagram posts that promote a business’s products or services. The posts can appear in an Instagram feed, stories, or both. They can include images or video along with copy and a link to the web page of the company’s choice. The main advantage of advertising on Instagram is that it uses data Facebook users provide about themselves to help your ads reach a highly targeted audience. (Facebook is the parent company of Instagram.)
The practice of aligning all marketing tactics to the same core messaging for a consistent customer experience with your brand. Through integrated marketing, communications tactics such as display ads, landing pages, email marketing, direct mail, and product catalogs all work in the same direction toward your marketing objectives. One example is making your call to action (CTA) consistent across all online and offline tactics for a particular campaign.
Internet protocol (IP) address, a unique number much like your street address that uses commas and periods to identify a device accessing the internet. Your personal desktop, laptop, tablet, and smartphone each have a different IP address each time you log on. Each of your business devices may have its own static address that doesn't change. See domain name system (DNS).
A coding language that works with HTML to make dynamic web page content possible. Contact forms, sign-in pages, and shopping carts are all brought to you courtesy of JavaScript. JavaScript is also a key player in responsive web design, which uses the same code for desktop and mobile devices, making the user experience (UX) seamless.
The 5 elements that determine whether or not a company will be effective in capturing its target audience. The key success factors are strategic focus, people, operations, marketing, and finances. These factors are also known as strategic posture or competitive emphasis.
A word or phrase in the content of your web pages that matches the words and phrases users are entering into search engines as closely as possible. The idea is to speak the same language as users when they make their search queries so you rank higher in their organic search results based on relevance. mailoodeer.com keywords include: marketing platform, email marketing, landing pages, and automation tools. The keyword is the cornerstone of search engine optimization (SEO).
The number of times a keyword is used on a web page out of the total number of words on the page. Let’s say your keyword is “handmade quilt.” The formula would be: number of “handmade quilt” / total number of words, x 100. If your page includes “handmade quilt” 10 times, and your page has 300 total words, your keyword density for “handmade quilt” is 3%. The higher your keyword density, the higher search engines will rank your page for relevance. Just avoid “keyword stuffing.”
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable measures that help businesses evaluate their progress toward achieving important objectives. Although different businesses use different metrics, KPIs are always central to understanding how your company is performing and how you can improve that performance.
A person who has shown interest in your company's product or service. “Lead” is a term used more often in the sale of business-to-business (B2B) products and services than retail or consumer packaged goods. Leads can come from website users who complete a contact form, trade show attendees who provide contact information in person, or lists you purchase from another company such as a list broker. Sales and marketing professionals further vet, or “qualify,” leads to prioritize their fit with the company’s buyer profiles.
A platform for promoting your company’s products or services on LinkedIn. Several formats are available, including text-only ads, sponsored ads with images and button links, and sponsored InMail communications. The LinkedIn advertising platform allows you to select your target audience based on criteria such as industry, title, and geographic location. It also provides reporting tools for analyzing ad impressions and click-through rate (CTR). A/B tests are part of the package as well.
Your individual landing page on LinkedIn. Like a resume, professional bio, or CV, the purpose of your LinkedIn Profile is to describe your experience, education, and skills in a succinct format for potential employers or business partners. LinkedIn members searching for “someone like you” will have an easier time finding “you” if you incorporate relevant keywords into your content and maximize the number of profile features you use, such as uploading a photo and linking to publications.
A business that specializes in sourcing contact lists that direct marketers can rent for an email or marketing campaign. List brokers typically have access to a huge variety of lists and existing relationships with list owners. They also have expertise in recommending the best lists to use based on your target audience, brand, and marketing goals. In exchange for you renting a list, the list broker typically charges a commission, which the list owner pays for.
Mailoodeer’s lookalike audience finder is an attribute of social ads that uses what you already know about your contacts and data from our large audience network to build a lookalike audience. A lookalike audience is made up of people who share interests with your existing contacts but aren’t a part of your audience yet. These people will not be added to your audience unless they opt in or engage with your marketing.
A math-based discipline that seeks to find patterns in data to increase actionable knowledge. Analytics employs statistics, predictive modeling, and machine learning to reveal insights and answer questions. Weather predictions, batting averages, and life insurance policies are all the result of analytics. In the world of digital marketing, analytics is critical to understanding and predicting user behavior and optimizing the user experience (UX) to drive sales.
A process that enables technology to take over repetitive marketing tasks from people, freeing people to focus on strategy. Technology can automate scheduled email sends and social site postings. It can determine clear winners among deployed advertising options and optimize accordingly. Instead of a person (let’s call her “Joan”) having to zig every time a customer zags...Joan can determine the strategy that a marketing automation platform should execute upfront.
Digital or print materials that accompany a primary advertising campaign. Before the internet, “collateral” was practically synonymous with “brochures” that supported traditional TV commercials, such as a savings account brochure from your local bank branch. Today, “collateral” can refer to any printed or digital piece that supports and extends a campaign. Common digital collateral includes websites, landing pages, and banner ads.
The 4 “P”s: price, product, promotion, and place (point of sale). Your marketing mix covers these must-have elements when bringing a product to market. The marketing mix is inextricable from the marketing objectives in your business plan. Some companies add “P”s that are of high importance to them, such as packaging or positioning. Packaging and positioning arguably overlap with promotion, but calling out the extra “P”s can be useful in focusing your organization.
What you want a marketing initiative such as an advertising campaign to accomplish for the bottom line of your business. Common marketing objectives are customer acquisition, order value, engagement, and contribution to revenue. Objectives usually follow the SMART format: specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and time-bound. An example for email marketing is a goal to acquire 5,000 new customers this quarter through the “friends and family” loyalty discount email campaign.
Gathering and analyzing information about a market to inform how best to offer a product or service to customers. Marketing research is based on the principles of scientific inquiry and should be objective and systematic. Common methods are focus groups, one-on-one customer interviews, online or telephone customer surveys, and A/B testing different advertising tactics.
A brief summary of what a web page is about in the HTML code of the page. Character counts may vary by search engine, but 160 characters with spaces is a good guideline. Search engines consider meta descriptions when ranking your page for relevance to user searches, but it’s not one of the most important factors.
Words and phrases in the HTML meta keywords tag of a web page. Meta keywords help search engines identify what the page is about and rank its relevance to user searches accordingly. The keywords in your tag should reflect the content of your page. Otherwise, search engines will disregard the meta. In other words, you can’t add keywords to the meta tag to make up for a lack of relevant keywords in the content itself.
A Google Ads metric that rates how relevant your pay-per-click (PPC) ads and landing pages are to your chosen keywords. Google doesn’t reveal its exact calculation, but your estimate is based on ad relevance to keywords, expected click-through rate (CTR), and landing page experience. If you want to improve your Quality Score, Google recommends optimizing your ads and landing pages as well as revisiting your keyword strategy.
A set of questions about a topic that’s used for research purposes. Questionnaires are commonly used in digital marketing to get feedback on user experience (UX). For example, you might send one after a customer makes a purchase to find out if they experienced any confusion during the checkout process. Marketers also commonly use questionnaires after someone unsubscribes from a newsletter or other mailing list.
Sending a user to a different web page than the one they requested with a URL. Redirects send readers to a new page if content has been moved or an older page has been deleted. This helps prevent 404 errors. They can allow people to type in short, easy-to-remember URLs rather than complicated URLs with many slashes and hyphens.
When a website sends traffic to another website. Tracking referrals can help you understand how people find your website without using a search engine. For example, if you put links to your website in your social media posts on Facebook and Twitter, these sites would be listed as a source of referral traffic. Referrals can also come from websites that posts news articles, reviews, and other industry-relevant content.
An approach to website design that enables a single page to be displayed comfortably whether it’s on a phone, tablet, or desktop. Sites that use responsive web design first evaluate the type of device and its screen size. Then with the help of CSS, they render the text, images, and other elements in a predefined layout that works for that particular device.
The ratio of the amount of revenue generated by an ad campaign to its cost. If you generated $10,000 from a campaign that cost $1,000, your return on ad spend (ROAS) would be 10:1. While similar to return on investment (ROI), ROAS is more focused on the hard cost of a campaign rather than on the overall value of running a campaign, which could include brand awareness or other marketing objectives.
A calculation of the monetary value of an investment versus its cost. The mathematical formula is: (profit minus cost) / cost. If you made $10,000 from a $1,000 effort, your return on investment (ROI) would be 0.9, or 90%. ROI is often used to evaluate business strategy, including all advertising and marketing efforts. Return on ad spend (ROAS) is a similar metric, but it focuses more on specific tactics, such as an individual ad campaign.
A file placed on a web server that gives instructions to search engine crawlers, which are the robots that index web pages for search engines. Robots.txt files tell web crawlers what they should include in their index—and what they should ignore. Pages such as form results pages (“thank you” pages that are triggered when users submit a form, for example) can be hidden from search engines.
Really simple syndication (RSS) takes the content of a website and packages it into a feed that can be easily displayed on other websites. Aggregators take multiple RSS feeds and combine them into a single interface, which can help people track updates to multiple websites at once. RSS also allows websites to syndicate content from third parties.
Bits of code added to a web page that help search engines understand the content of the page. With better understanding comes the ability to format content when it appears on the search engine results page (SERP). Photos of a recipe appear next to its description, for example, or a list of upcoming events is added to the results blurb of a concert venue’s website. Schema markup generate featured snippets on Google’s SERP.
Paid advertising on a search engine results page (SERP). This is also called paid search. Search engine marketing (SEM) ads are used to drive traffic to websites but can include other calls to action, such as making a phone call or visiting a local store. Keywords in a search query trigger SEM ads. They usually appear at the top of search results and sometimes to the side. Most SEM is pay-per-click (PPC), so you only get charged if someone clicks on the ad.
Changes made to the content and structure of a website to improve ranking on a search engine results page (SERP). Search engines recommend search engine optimization (SEO) efforts that benefit both the user and page’s ranking (white hat SEO). These include the use of relevant keywords in headlines (H1) and subheads, “friendly” URLs with keywords rather than strings of numbers, and schema markup to make results richer and more detailed.
The page that a search engine returns after a user submits a search query. In addition to organic search results, search engine results pages (SERPs) usually include paid search and pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Thanks to search engine optimization (SEO), ranking position on a SERP can be highly competitive since users are more likely to click on results at the top of the page. With the launch of schema markup, SERPs are becoming much more complex to try to anticipate user needs.
Software used to find information and websites on the internet. Google, Yahoo, and Bing are the big 3 search engines in the United States, although Google is the clear leader. Search engines “crawl” across website content and index it into their databases. Then they display results based on the keywords in the search query. Search engines play an important part in inbound marketing through search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM).
The string of words users enter into a search engine to receive a result. Search queries are the raw text that people type into the search engine, such as, “Will it rain today?” When you look at search queries that lead to your website, you can determine which keywords to include for search engine optimization (SEO). In this instance, “rain forecast” may be a more popular query.
An ad extension that places more than 1 link in a paid search ad. For example, beyond your standard ad copy and call to action, you could add a link to your current sales page or your store hours page. Sitelinks are typically free to use. And just like any other pay-per-click (PPC) ad, they don’t incur a charge unless someone clicks on the link.
A list of pages on a website that search engines should index. Written in extensible markup language (XML), both humans and computers can understand a sitemap XML. In addition to page URLs, they include modification dates so search engines can tell whether or not a page has been crawled since it was updated. Sitemap XML- and robots.txt-related search engine optimization (SEO) tactics approach indexing from different sides of the same coin. Sitemap XML says “yes” while robots.txt says “no.”
An email that is rejected by an email server for a temporary reason. An email may soft bounce if a mailbox is full, the recipient email server is down or offline, or the email message is too large.
The digital equivalent of junk mail. Spam can be an email, text message, social media direct message, or any other unwanted or unsolicited electronic communication. Marketers can ask people to actively opt into email lists and provide easy ways to unsubscribe to prevent their digital marketing communications from being considered spam.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a method of encryption that protects data being sent between websites. SSL is closely related to Transport Layer Security (TLS), another encryption method, and the two acronyms are often used interchangeably.
The people you want to reach with your marketing efforts. These are the consumers who will be most interested in your products or services—and most likely to convert from leads into customers. Target audiences can be based on demographics (age, gender identity, location), psychographics (aspirations, concerns, values), or behavior (likely to buy online). Target audiences are often broad and varied, so audience segmentation can help deliver a more personalized and effective message.
An HTML tag that designates the title of a page. Confusingly, the title tag isn’t responsible for the headline that appears on a web page—the H1 tag defines that. Text contained in the title tag is usually rendered in the top of the browser window or in a tab label. Title tags are an important part of search engine optimization (SEO) and should contain 1 or more keywords to help with search engine ranking.
A small piece of JavaScript placed on a website that sends data to Google Analytics. The tracking code is what enables Google Analytics to report information about your audience, including how they got to your website, how long they stayed, and what they did while they were there.
Automated emails sent from one sender to one recipient, usually related to account activity or a commercial transaction.
Twitter’s advertising platform. Twitter ads are tweets that are promoted to a specific target audience. Since they are tweets, they can include text, images, video, or polls. Character count restrictions also still apply. You can target your ads to people based on their location, interests, or who they follow. When you optimize Twitter, it can help you gain followers and get engagements, such as likes and retweets. It can also drive traffic to your website or increase brand awareness.
A web address. Uniform resource locators (URLs) can point to a website or any other resource on the web, such as an image or video. They can use letters, numbers, or a combination of both. Certain characters such as brackets and braces are considered “unsafe.” Various web browsers handle them differently, which can lead to errors.
The reason people should buy your product or services according to your marketing and advertising. In any ad, your unique selling proposition can be summed up as “buy X, and you’ll get Y.” For example: “Buy these sneakers, and you’ll run faster.”
The number of individuals who visited your website in a defined amount of time. This is often compared to visits, which is the number of times your website was accessed during a set period. If 2 people went to your website 10 times in a day, you would have 20 visits and 2 unique visitors. Repeat visits are important because they could be a sign of loyalty or a response to an abandoned cart email.
How a person feels about using a product or service. The discipline of user experience (UX) makes digital experiences efficient, effective, and sometimes entertaining. In the world of digital marketing, UX is often equated with optimizing the user interface (UI) on the website. For example, e-commerce companies want to know about the browsing and checkout experience on their websites.
The visual and audio elements on a website or app presented to a visitor. User interface (UI) elements can include text, images, sound, animation, video, or a combination of them. Keep in mind UI elements may be rendered in different ways depending on user preferences. For example, a person with low vision may use a screen reader to consume content. UI layout and testing is a major focus of user experience (UX) designers.
A short description of a company’s goals for the future. Vision statements tend to be highly aspirational, serving to motivate employees while guiding day-to-day decision making. Vision statements (future goals) are often paired with mission statements (today’s goal) and value statements (how a company goes about reaching all of its goals).
Webhooks are a way for one application to provide other applications with real-time information. They allow one application to send a notification to another application when a certain event occurs rather than constantly polling for new data. This can help save on server resources and costs.
A message to a new subscriber or customer. Welcome emails are a follow-up to a newsletter signup, service subscription, loyalty program, or any initial or next-level interaction with a business. If someone gives you their email, say hello and thank you. Welcome emails give you the opportunity to build relationships, tell brand stories, and, ideally, turn subscribers into customers. They’re a great candidate for marketing automation, especially if sent in a series.
Search engine optimization (SEO) techniques that benefit both websites and the people who use them. White hat SEO fights for the users. It also improves the accessibility and quality of a website’s content, boosting its ranking and relevance. For example, it can examine search queries to identify new target keywords and create original content to support them.
A blueprint for a website’s user interface (UI). Wireframes are simplified sketches—often drawn by hand—of how content and functionality come together in a layout. They focus on how elements are ordered and placed on a page but rarely include specifics about the final visual design. For example, photographs are represented by a box with an X through them. Wireframes are an essential step in responsive web design, since the same elements need to be reordered for different screen sizes.
Person-to-person conversation that promotes a product or service. For example: “Hey, I loved that movie. You should check it out.” Word-of-mouth marketing (WOM marketing) can be organic. A brand can also script and direct it. In social media marketing, influencers are a common type of WOM marketing. A trusted expert or celebrity is paid to talk about their experience with a product or service. Authenticity is essential for WOM marketing to be successful, so it’s not always as positive as other types of marketing messages.
Yahoo’s ad platform. Yahoo offers various formats and placements much like other ad networks. Pay-per-click (PPC) ads on appear on its search engine results page (SERP). Display ads are served on its homepage, content portals, and articles pages—and can be re-served to viewers much like Google remarketing ads.
Video ads that appear across YouTube. Since Google owns YouTube, YouTube advertising shares many of the core features of Google Ads, but with 1 big difference: They’re videos. Ads can play before (“pre-roll”) or after (“bumper”) a video a user has selected. They can also be inserted into the middle of a playlist (“TrueView”) or a video longer than 10 minutes (“mid-roll”). YouTube ads can be pay-per-click (PPC) or pay per view based on their length and placement.
Social Media Marketing
Using social media to advertise a brand, products, or services. Social media marketing allows a brand to insert itself into ongoing conversations on channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Best practices for social media marketing include creating interesting content that links back to your website as well as publicly replying to questions and comments. Posts can be organic, meaning you don’t pay anything to “boost” them, or they can be promoted with media dollars.