Glossary – A Few Web Marketing Terms

It helps to know the jargon when you venture into new territory, like web marketing.  To make the most of your web marketing strategies, familiarizing yourself with the terms in this list will help in your conversations and further research:

Above the fold:  Content and/or ads that appear on a page before a viewer needs to scroll.

B2B (business to business):  Companies and sites that market to other businesses.

B2C (business to consumer):  Companies and sites that market to individual customers.

Banner ad:  A graphic ad that links to the advertiser’s site.

Call to action:  A marketing technique that asks prospects to take a specific action.

Cookie:  Identifying code downloaded to recognize repeat visitors or track online activity.

Conversion rate:  The percent of site visitors who take a particular action or make a purchase, often called converting browsers to buyers.

CPC (cost per click):  Amount actually paid for a click-through to a site from an ad.

CPM (cost per thousand):  The advertising cost to reach 1,000 viewers or listeners; allows comparison among various advertising methods.

CTR (click-through rate):  The percent of people viewing an ad who click on it.

PPC (pay per click):  Payment method for online ads in which advertisers pay for each click-through, rather than by number of impressions or flat rate (see CPM).

ROI (return on investment):  The amount of money earned (or lost) as a percent of the amount invested.

SEO (search engine optimization):  The process of making a website search-engine-friendly to improve ranking in search results.

SEM (search engine marketing):  The combination of SEO with paid search web marketing through PPC, paid inclusion, or paid appearance.

SERP (search engine results page):  Short for search engine results page, the Web page that a search engine returns with the results of its search

Social media:  Two-way communication channels online for networking, sharing news and views, contributing content, and soliciting comments from customers and prospects.  This is also a great tool for web marketing.

URL (uniform resource locator):  Address designating the location of information on the web; includes a registered domain name.

Widget:  Small application tool placed on a website to add value.