Online marketing introduces a lot of new concepts and terms. We’ve assembed a glossary of online marketing terms for you here, broken into three sections:
| Term |
Definition |
| above the fold |
The viewable area of the window. Approximately 50% of viewers scroll below. Anything you have to scroll down to see is ‘below the fold’ |
| affiliate marketing |
This is a system of revenue sharing between one site (the affiliate merchant) which features an ad or content designed to drive traffic to another site (the advertiser). The affiliate will receive a fee based on the amount of traffic generated |
| AIDA |
Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. The four standard steps of direct marketing. |
| analytics |
The art of using traffic and sales statistics to understand user behaviour and improve the performance of your site |
| anchor page |
Keyword rich information pages. They assist in increasing search engine ranking and provide specialised/specific information on a niche area |
| authority page |
see anchor page |
| autoresponder |
Email messages sent automatically in response to an email or as part of the cycle of activity of a web site |
| banner ad |
Linkable online graphic display advertising. A branded advertisement, often found at the top of the page |
| blog |
A form of online journal that allows you to ’speak’ in a casual manner about any subject and receive comments from others |
| call to action |
A marketing technique that asks prospects to take a specific action to move toward a sale |
| cannibalisation |
The act of drawing activity/sales from one area of your company to benefit another |
| cascading style sheets (CSS) |
Used to globally define how elements in a Web page are displayed instead of relying on HTML code in the page. Makes designs more flexible and reduces HTML file sizes |
| click-through rate (CTR) |
The percentage of people who see an advertisement and click on in through to the web site |
| content management system (CMS) |
A system for the creation, modification, archiving and removal of information resources from an organised repository. Includes tools for publishing, format management, revision control, indexing, search and retrieval |
| conversion rate |
The number of actions taken or purchases made divided by the number of clicks received. Often called, ‘converting browsers to buyers’ |
| cookie |
Identifying code downloaded to a users machine to recognise repeat visitors or track online activity |
| cost-per-action (CPA) |
Cost to an advertiser for each visitor that takes a specific action in response to an ad, such as subscribing to an ezine, requesting a free trial, or making a purchase. Also used to describe advertising employing this model |
| cost-per-lead (CPL) |
Advertising expenditure required to obtain each new sales lead |
| cost-per-sale (CPS) |
Advertising expenditure divided by sales generated to determine the cost to make each sale; or the commission payable for each sale generated by an affiliate |
| cost per thousand impressions (CPM) |
The advertising cost to reach 1000 viewers. Allows you to compare costs from one ad venue or type to another. Work out CPM to establish success of PPC campaign |
| cost-per-click (CPC) |
The actual dollar value you payfor a click through to a site from an ad |
| CPC bid |
The amount of money you are willing to pay for a keyword advertisement |
| crawler |
Automated programs used by search engines to visit web sites and index their content |
| domain name |
An internet address (eg. www.om4tourism.com) |
entry page |
an introductory web page used as a lead-in to the home page. Usually graphically intensive or use rich media with navigation to other parts of the site |
| exit page |
The last page that users view. Sometimes used as a ‘thank-you’ |
| frame |
An older method of progamming that places multiple web pages within a single page |
| guerilla marketing |
Marketing techniques that employ unconventional promotion methos to reach an audience at a low cost |
| guestbook |
Areas where users register and share communal experiences, solicit feedback etc. |
| hit rate |
The number of files downloaded as part of a web page |
| hyperlink |
a link between two parts of a document or between documents |
| impressions |
A single instance of an online advertisement being displayed |
| inbound link |
Links from other sites to yours |
| Key Performance Indicators (KPI) |
Chosen factors that directly and indirectly influence the effectiveness of a product or process |
| keyword |
The word or words that relate to a particular topic. Keywords or phrases are used to construct a search statement to find information |
| keyword density |
the ratio of the number of occurrences of a particular keyword or phrase to the total number of words in a page |
| keyword effectiveness index (KEI) |
The KEI compares the number of searches for a keyword with the number of search results to pinpoint which keywords are most effective. The higher the KEI, the more popular the keywords are, and the less competition they have |
| landing page |
The destination page on your site that veiwers see when they click on your ad |
| link farm |
Sites that randomly link thousands of other sites (also known as Free For All - FFA) |
| message board |
a facility on the internet for holding discussions and posting user generated content |
| meta tag |
Information that appears at the beginning of the code on each web page to provide information to browsers and search engines |
| natural search |
Search results produced by a search engine’s algorithm (rules) when indexing unpaid submissions |
| netiquette |
Rules about what is appropriate and inappropriate to write about/post in public forums |
| niche marketing |
Marketing to a small, targeted interest group |
| open source |
Software whose source code is available to developers to use, modify and redistribute without charge |
| organic search |
see Natural Search |
| page rank |
a link analysis algorithm which assigns a numerical weighting to each element of a web site with the purpose of measuring its relative importance |
| pay-per-impression (PPI) |
Where an advertiser pays for each display (impression) of their advertisement (usually a banner) |
| pay-per-action (PPA) |
Affiliate commissions where a set amount is paid for generating a specific action, such as taking a free trial or subscribing to an ezine. PPL, PPC and PPS are usually considered as PPA |
| pay-per-click (PPC) |
Payment method for online ads in which advertisers pay for each click-through, rather than by number of impressions or flat rate (see CPM) |
| pay-per-lead (PPL) |
Where a commission is paid for each sales lead generated by an affiliate. A “lead” is usually defined as somebody who signs up for a free trial, or requests further information, etc. |
| pay-per-sale (PPS) |
Where a commission is paid for each sale generated by an affiliate. The commission is usually a percentage of the sale, although sometimes it’s a fixed amount |
| podcast |
Radio on demand, over the interent |
| Real Simple Syndication (RSS) |
A tool allowing users to receive automatic notifications of new content on the page |
| return on investment (ROI) |
The profit made divided by the cost of the advertising investment |
| search engine (SE) |
A searchable database of pages on the Web. Different from an Index (like Yahoo) in that pages are not reviewed by a human editor before inclusion |
| search engine marketing (SEM) |
The combination of SEO with paid search marketing through PPC, paid inclusion or paid appearance |
| search engine optimisation (SEO) |
The process of making a web site search-engine-friendly to improve ranking in search results |
| search engine positioning (SEP) |
Getting your page listed on the search engine results page. Similar to SEO |
| search engine results page (SERP) |
The page of listings displayed upon completion of a search at a search engine |
| search string |
Words that users entered in to a search engine when they found your site |
| signature block |
The email equivalent of a business card or letterhead, appearing at the foot of an email |
| sitemap |
A linkable outline of your web site. It allows search engines to identify dynamically generated pages as well as static ones |
| spam |
Unwanted, unsolicited emails |
| spider |
see Crawler |
| splash page |
an introductory web page used as a lead-in to the home page. Usually graphically intensive or use rich media; but have no navigation other than a link to the the site |
| stickiness |
The term used for keeping people on your web site |
| streaming |
the process of transmitting digital data in a continuous, steady flow, so that it may be processed and displayed as it is received |
| thumbnail |
Small image files designed to give the viewer a preview of the image and are clicked on to enlarge/open |
| Uniform Resource Locator (URL) |
Address designating the location of information on the web; includes a registered domain name |
| unique selling proposition (USP) |
The reason why somebody should buy from you and not your competition. The unique benefits that your products or services offer consumers. What it is that makes you special, different |
| video blog (vlog) |
Short video clips with a distribution channel (the video version of a blog) |
| viral marketing |
These techniques use consumers to promote awareness of your product or site. Generally involves an email that is forwarded endlessly |
| webcast |
Live, video-only, internet broadcast |
| webinar |
A combination of various multimedia components used to relay information in real-time to consumers |
| weblog |
see Blog |
| wiki |
An area where multiple users add, delete and edit each other’s web content |
| Resource |
Description |
| aMember |
Membership plugin. Integrates with PHP sites, enables subscribers to pay online and automatically be granted access to secured areas of a website. One off and subscription payments. Links to wide range of payment providers including PayPal. aMember Pro |
| Aweber |
Provider of a email autoresponder service with verified opt-in, useful for publishing newsletters, multi-part email education series. Good deliverability statistics. Aweber Note: this is not an affiliate link. OM4Tourism is an affiliate of Aweber. |
| Blogger |
Hosted blog provider. Blogger provides a free hosted blog. Easy to setup, more restrictions than Wordpress.com. Owned by Google. Blogger |
| Del.icio.us |
Collections of bookmarks. Del.icio.us users bookmark sites, and popular sites often experience a growth in traffic. Del.icio.us |
| Digg |
Online news community. Users ‘digg’ web articles, and the articles with the most diggs move to the top of the list at digg.com. A top ranked article on Digg will lead to many thousands of visitors (often crashing websites in the process). Digg |
| Feedburner |
Alternative RSS feed provider. The free service provides more statistics than most default RSS feeds, and includes a free email subscription facility. Paid upgrades available for additional RSS feed services such as advertising. Owned by Google. Feedburner |
| Flickr |
Photo sharing community, owned by Yahoo. Users upload and tag photos. Interesting photo streams often included on blogs. Great source of interesting photos for blog posts - contact the owner of the image to request permission before posting. Flickr |
| Google AdSense |
Google’s advertising system for web publishers. Publishers receive payment from Google when they sell their soul ads are displayed on their site Google AdSense |
| Google AdWords |
Google advertising tool for advertisers. Advertisers write text ads, bid for defined keywords and pay whenever their ad is clicked on. Google AdWords |
| Google Reader |
RSS feed reader. Allows you to subscribe to multiple blog feeds and destroy your productivity reading them all. Google Reader |
| Google Webmasters |
Google site for webmasters and DIY search engine optimizers. Register your website and you can find out how Google sees your site, including links, crawl rates, sitemaps and errors. Google Webmasters |
| LinkedIn |
Social networking site. Useful for finding the next job, connecting up with old school/uni/work colleagues, or finding joint venture partners. LinkedIn |
| PayPal |
Payment provider. Allows you to accept payments online without having a merchant account (from a bank), at a cost of around 3-4% commission on payments. One off and recurring (subscription) payments. Shopping cart or Buy Now (individual product) buttons. Free to register, fees on payments. Be prepared to jump through hoops verifying your bank account, so allow 2 weeks to get arranged before planning to use online. Not a bank - can freeze your account at any time (unlike a bank). Small payment amounts can be processed without customers signing up, but once amounts get into the early thousands, PayPal will enforce customer registration. PayPal |
| iStockPhoto |
Stock photo website. Images can be purchased for websites for $1-$2 each, useful to find images for blog posts, articles or buttons. iStockPhoto |
| StumbleUpon |
Community of recommended websites. A site that is highly recommended by StumbleUpon can lead to a lot of traffic. StumbleUpon addicts users notice and recommend sites (a lot). StumbleUpon. |
| Technorati |
Search engine for blogs. Blogs can be listed in Technorati, and nominated as Favourites by Technorati users. Official list of who is who in the blogging zoo, particularly the Technorati Top 100. Good source of information on what keywords people are blogging about. Technorati |
| Wordpress |
Open source blog and content management software. Wordpress.com provides a free hosted blog, with some paid upgrades - well over 1 million hosted blogs, including some of the highest volume blogs in the world. Wordpress.org is the source for the free downloadable version of Wordpress - this requires hosting and setup, but gives more flexibility in terms of themes, plugins and integration with other software. WordpressMU is the multi-user version of Wordpress, used to support Wordpress.com. Wordpress is a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Wordpress) poster child, but also runs on WAMP. Wordpress |
