Here is a list of common acronyms and definitions found throughout web marketing sources. I will expand on these in the future. For now, here is the short version:
- SEO - Search Engine Optimization, Methods used to improve search results.
- SEM - Search Engine Marketing
- Content Network - Google's network of ads displayed on pages around the web.
- EPC - Earnings Per Click, How much you are paid when a visitor clicks your ad.
- TOS - Terms of Service, What you agree to when you check the box in the corner of the form.
- CTR - Click Thru Rate, The rate that visitors click on a link, ad, or any other Click Thruable thing.
- CPC - Cost Per Click, The amount it cost to click on an ad or whatever else you clicked on.
- Impressions - The number of times a page, ad, link, etc. is viewed.
- CPM - Cost Per Thousand Impressions
- ECPM - Estimated Cost Per Thousand Impressions
- PPC - Pay Per Click, How much is paid per click, usually relating to an ad.
- PPV - Pay Per View, How much is paid each time an ad is viewed.
- Conversion
- Page Rank - The ranking system Google uses to rank web pages based on links. Higher quality links are valued more.
- Unique Visits - Visitors that are at the web site for their first time.
- Traffic - The number of people visiting your website.
- Page Views - The number of times a page has been viewed.
- Impr. - Impressions
- Cost/Conv. - How much it costs to get one conversion.
- Quality score - Google uses the quality score
- E-book - Electronic Book, typically a ".PDF" formatted document. This book may be for sale or be part of a traffic enhancing giveaway, etc.
- Above the fold - The area that shows up first on the browser when it shows a new search landing page.
- Header - The portion of text that marks a topical break for the reader (and the Search Engine Optimizer.) Make sure you include useful keywords here!
- SERP - Search Engine Results Pages
- Organic Search - The non paid search results below the sponsored results. This comes from the web crawlers analysis of your site's content and keyword match.
- Targeted - The degree to which a keyword matches user questions in the following order, 1. Customer or Visitor's Idea of what they want -> 2. Search Keyword -> 3. Meta Tags and Header Keywords -> 4. Actual text content words. The better this sequence matches the original users Idea, the more Targeted a Search Keyword is. Think like your the one looking and answer the question with the ad copy and product match.
- Campaign - A grouping of advertisements based on a particular target product or conversion goal. This is very useful when you track the performance of you ads or types of ad projects.
- Ad group - A particular subset of ads, typically grouped around a keyword set. Again this allows a more targeted advertising test program.
- Ezine - A simple article or collection of articles in an electronic format. These are often simple html or text files for re-distribution via web or email.
- Auto responder - A vital tool for maintaining email web communications. This allows a subscriber to "opt-in" to an interesting relevant email list. This is used to keep them informed on topics and products they want. If they "opt-out", the Auto responder removes them from the email list.
- Opt in/out list - A database or list maintained by the auto-responder tool set so that no laws are broken and users welcome your regular information and offerings.
- Subscription - A users log of contact data that allows you the web marketer to contact them with useful information, including Ezine's, Ebooks, Products and Services. Many of the best projects have a subscription as the hub of the customer contact. Remember this is something they subscribe to and therefore they want to get. Honor that role and your success will grow.
- Hit tail - The portion of statistically less significant keyword traffic. Typically they are 30% of the traffic volume that happens on the top 10% of the keywords. the remaining 70% is on less frequently used more targeted keyword phrases. These less frequent keywords will bring much cheaper traffic and often for free if the matching landing page content attracts organic search queries.
- Hit - A visit to a web page.
- Landing page - A Web page designed to receieve a visit from a search engine.
- Keyword - A word or phrase used by a search engine to match phrases compiled into a database from visits to landing pages found over the web. The other end of this is the user and advertiser's setting of keywords for matching landing pages to keywords.
- Site map - The collection of pages found on a web site, includes visit importance weights and relationships between pages. They are usually XML. Make sure this is clean or the indexing bot will not understand what your site is about.
- URL - Uniform Resource Locator
- Cookie - A script device that is used to track traffic and account for customer transactions and affiliate priorities. For example who got the customer first.
