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A Guide to Search Engine MarketingEvents
A-Z of online marketing
Abandon
Refers to when a user chooses not to complete a transaction.
Ad Serving
Meaning the delivery of online adverts to a user's computer by an ad management system, allowing different online adverts to be served in order to target different audience groups.
Affiliate Marketing
Where an affiliate (a web site owner or publisher), displays an advert on their website for a merchant (the brand or advertiser). When a consumer visits the affiliate's site, clicks on the merchant's advert and goes through to perform a specified action (usually a purchase) on an advertisers site, this results in the affiliate receiving a commission.
Algorithm
The set of 'rules' search engines use to decide the relevance of a web page in its organic search results.
Banner Advert
A long, horizontal, online advert often found positioned across the top of a page in a fixed placement.
Blog
Short for weblog, an on-line web-zine or diary (usually with facilities for reader comments and discussion threads) made accessible through the World Wide Web. This term is widespread and readily forms derivatives, of which the best known may be blogosphere.
Broadband
Refers to an internet connection that is always on. Broadband delivers a higher bit rate than standard dial-up connection, allowing for a better online experience as pages load quicker and download time is faster.
Click-through
When a user views an advertisement and clicks through to the advertiser's website.
CTR (click-through rate)
Refers to the frequency of click-throughs as a percentage of impressions served. CTR is used to measure the effectiveness of advertising.
Contextual advertising
Refers to advertising that is targeted to the content on the web page being viewed by a user at that specific time.
Conversion rate
Refers to the measuring of success of an online ad when compared to the click-through rate. Conversion depends on the specified marketing objective, for example: it can be defined as a sale or newsletter sign up.
CPA (Meaning 1: Cost per Action)
Refers to a pricing model that only charges advertising on an action being conducted, for example, a sale or a newsletter sign up.
CPA (Meaning 2: Cost per Acquisition)
Refers to the cost to acquire a new customer.
CPC (Cost per Click)
Refers to the amount paid by an advertiser for a click on their sponsored listing.
CPM (Cost per Mille)
Also referred to as Cost per Thousand. Online advertising can be purchased on the basis of what it costs to show the ad to one thousand viewers (CPM). It is used in marketing as a benchmark to calculate the relative cost of an advertising campaign or an ad message in a given medium. Rather than an absolute cost, CPM estimates the cost per 1000 views of the ad.
Domain Name
The unique name of an internet site, for example www.essentialmarketer.com.
Emoticons
Refers to emoticon symbols that are used to indicate a users mood. It is an electronic mode of communication, for example J means happy.
Expandable banner/skyscraper
Refers to fixed online advertising placements that expand over the page in the response to user action, for example, when users mouseover.
Firewall Software
Firewall software provides security for a computer or local network by preventing unauthorised access. It acts as a barrier between the internet and your computer; it is used to prevent hacking, viruses or unapproved data transfer.
Flash
Refers to web design software that creates animation and interactive elements which are quick to download.
Flash impression
Refers to the total number of requests made for pages using flash-based content by users of that site in the period being measured.
HTML
Stands for HyperText Markup Language. It is the set of commands used by web browsers to interpret and display page content to users.
Impressions
Refers to the metric used in measuring views of a webpage and its elements. Most online advertising is sold through ad impressions and the cost is quoted in terms of the cost per thousand impressions (CPM).
Interruptive formats
Refers to online advertising formats that appear on users' screens; they appear on top of web content and range from static, one-page splash screens to full-motion animated advertisements.
IP address
Stands for Internet Protocol and refers to the numerical internet address assigned to each computer on a network so that it can be distinguished from other computers. IP's are expressed as four groups of numbers separated by dots.
ISP (Internet Service Provider)
Refers to a company who provide users with the means to connect to the internet.
Keyword marketing
Refers to the purchase of keywords/keyphrases (also referred to as 'search terms') by advertisers in search listings.
LAN (Local Area Network)
Refers to a group of computers connected together, which are at one physical location.
Log files
Refers to the recording of all the hits a web server has received over a given period of time.
Meta-tags/ descriptions
Refers to HTML tags that identify the content of a web page for the search engines.
Microsite
Refers to a purpose built sub-site which users reach via clicking on an advert. Users stays on the publisher's website but have access to more information from the advertiser.
Natural search results
Refers to the 'natural' (or Organic) search results that appear as a result of searching on a search engine. The natural listings are found in a separate section to the paid listings. These results are unpaid and are ranked by the search engine (using spiders or algorithms) according to the relevancy to the term searched upon.
Opt-in
Refers to an individual who has given a company permission to use his/her data for marketing purposes.
Opt-out
Refers to an individual who has advised that they do not want a company to use his/her data for marketing purposes.
Organic search results
Refers to the 'natural' (or Organic) search results that appear as a result of searching on a search engine. The natural listings are found in a separate section to the paid listings. These results are unpaid and are ranked by the search engine (using spiders or algorithms) according to the relevancy to the term searched upon.
Paid Inclusion
Refers to when a search engine guarantees to list/review pages from a website in exchange for a payment.
Paid Listings
Refers to the search results list in which advertisers pay to be featured according to the PPC model. This list usually appears in a separate section to the organic search results - usually at the top of the page or down the right hand side.
Phishing
Refers to an illegal method where legitimate looking e-mails, for example appearing to come from a well-known company, are used in an attempt to get personal information that can be used to steal a user's identity.
Pharming
Refers to an illegal method of redirecting traffic from another company's website to a fake one designed to look similar in order to steal user details when they try to log in.
Pop-up
Referring to an online advert that 'pops up' in a window over the top of a web page.
PPC (Pay per Click)
PPC allows advertisers to bid for placement in the paid listings search results on search terms that are relevant to their business. Advertisers only pay the amount of their bid when a potential customer clicks on their listing.
Reach
Referring to the number of unique web users potentially seeing a website one or more times in a given time period expressed as a percentage of the total active web population for that period.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
Refers to software that permits you to flag website content and aggregate new entries to this content into an easy to read format that is delivered directly to a user's PC.
SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
Refers to the process that aims to get websites listed in search-engine results through search-engine optimisation (SEO), sponsored search and paid inclusion.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Refers to the process that aims to get websites listed within search engine's organic search results.
SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages)
Refers to the page generated by a search engine when a search query is completed, listing relevant websites.
Session
Refers to the time spent between a user starting an application, computer, website...etc and logging off or quitting.
Site analytics
Refers to the reporting and analysis of website activity, in particular user behaviour on the site. All websites have a weblog which can be used for this purpose, but other third party software is available for a more sophisticated service.
Skyscraper
Refers to a long, vertical, online advert usually found running down the side of a page in a fixed placement.
Solus email advertising
Where the body of the email, including both text and graphical elements, is determined by the advertiser and is sent on their behalf by an email list manager or owner. Solus email advertising is conducted on an opt-in basis where the recipient has given their consent to receive communications.
Spam
Refers to unsolicited junk mail.
Spider
Refers to a programme which crawls the web and fetches web pages in order for them to be indexed against keywords. Spiders are used by search engines to formulate search result pages.
Sponsored Search
See Pay Per Click (PPC).
Stickiness
This refers to the measure used to gauge the effectiveness of a site in retaining its users. Stickiness is usually measured by the duration of the visit.
Traffic
Refers to the number of visitors who come to a website.
Universal Advertising Package
Refers to a set of online advertising formats that are standardised placements as defined the by the IAB.
Unique users
Refers to the number of different individuals who visit a site within a specific time period.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
This is the technical term used to refer to the web address of a particular website.
User generated content (UGC)
Refers to the online content created by website users rather than media owners or publishers. This is usually through reviews, blogging, podcasting or posting comments, pictures or video clips. This form of web usage has become more and more popular with a host of websites encouraging interaction; some of these include MySpace, YouTube, Wikipedia and Flickr.
Viral Marketing
Referring to the idea that people will pass on and share striking and entertaining content; often sponsored by a brand, which is looking to build awareness of a product or service. These viral commercials often take the form of funny video clips, or interactive Flash games, images, and even text.
VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol)
Refers to technology that allows the use of a broadband Internet connection to make telephone calls.
Web 2.0
The term Web 2.0 - describes the next generation of online use. Web 2.0 identifies the consumer as a major contributor in the evolution of the internet into a two-way medium.
Whitelist
An e-mail whitelist is a list of contacts that the user deems are acceptable to receive email from and should not be sent to the trash folder
WAP (Wireless Application Protocol)
Standard for providing mobile data services on hand-held devices.
Wiki
A wiki is a type of website that allows the visitors themselves to easily add, remove, and otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes without the need for registration.