Digital marketing is composed of many departments: Social, SEO, Content and PPC, to name a few, and each comes with a long list of terms that might not be recognizable to those outside the confines of Internet marketing circles.
Learning these terms is an important step in tracking and analyzing your data to ensure your digital marketing efforts are effective.
To eliminate any confusion, below is a glossary of the most used, and most important, digital marketing terms:
A/B TESTING: This test compares the success of two versions of a web page to see which performs better, whether through ROI, conversion rate or CTR. Tracking these metrics can help you to create more user-friendly, effective web pages.
ANALYTICS: The collection of data from your website’s traffic, which is analyzed to determine the success of your website and individual campaigns so you can continuously perform better.
BACKLINK: When other websites link to yours.
BOUNCE RATE: The percentage of users who visit your website and leave before visiting other pages on your site. You can measure and track your bounce rate to help you to resolve problems with your website and landing pages.
CONVERSION: A user converts when they perform a desired action, such as filling out a form, signing up for a service, or for ecommerce sites, when a user completes an online checkout.
CPC (Cost Per Click): The amount you pay for the number of users who click on your ads.
CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization): Designing ads, landing pages, website design and more to maximize the chances a user will convert.
CTR (Click Through Rate): The percentage of users who clicked on your ads, out of the total number of users who viewed it.
FUNNEL: A funnel is the predefined path a user takes toward a conversion, such as filling a virtual shopping cart, entering billing information and completing a sale.
IMPRESSION: The amount of people who see your ad.
KEYWORD: A search term or phrase associated with your business that will optimize your search engine ranking. Track your keywords to determine the ones that are most successful.
LANDING PAGE: The page a user lands on when clicking on a search engine result or through an ad campaign, typically involving a call to action.
LINK BUILDING: Generating your number of backlinks through content, SEO and other tactics.
ORGANIC LISTING: Non-paid search results, often reflecting the popularity of website. Digital marketing efforts can help you to boost your organic listing, and data tracking and analysis can help you to determine which methods are most effective.
PPC: Pay-per-click advertising, which appears on a search engine’s results page and is targeted using keywords, which can be tracked using data analysis. The website owner or business only pays when the links are clicked.
SEO: Search engine optimization, designing a website so it ranks higher on search engines. Data tracking and analysis can illustrate which SEO strategies produce the best results.
SERP: Search engine results page, the search results visible after entering a search term.
TRAFFIC: How many users visit your website, and through which channels. Data tracking and analysis can highlight the number of users visiting your site and their route to get there.
WEBCRAWLER: Also known as a “bot” or “spider,” web crawlers are used by search engines to index web pages and gauge their popularity and trustworthiness.
The list doesn’t end here, but these are some of the most common digital marketing terms, and understanding their meaning in relation to data tracking and analysis will help you to better grasp their role and value, and ultimately improve your digital marketing efforts.
