Digital marketing jargon explained

We know there’s a lot of jargon used in digital marketing. We have a knack for shortening phrases and creating acronyms that can be confusing to non-marketers. That’s why we’ve put together the ultimate dictionary with all the jargon and acronyms you’ll hear us, and other marketers, use frequently.

A/B testing – (Also called split-testing) is a method in marketing research where variables in a control scenario are changed to test alternate strategies (headlines, time of send out, images, etc), in order to improve the effectiveness of the final marketing strategy.

Ad spend – the amount of money spent on advertising.

Affiliate marketing – revenue sharing, typically between businesses and influencers/content creators, whereby compensation is based on performance measures, typically in the form of sales, clicks, registrations, or a hybrid model.

ALT text – HTML attribute that provides alternative text when images/videos/graphics cannot be displayed. Also used by on-screen-readers for those with low vision.

Bounce rate – 

1.) In web analytics, the percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing a single page.

2.) In email marketing, the percentage of emails in a campaign that are unable to be delivered.

Call to action (CTA) – the part of a marketing message that attempts to persuade a person to perform the desired action. Eg. ‘Book Now’ ‘Shop Now’ ‘Sign Up’ ‘Learn More’.

Channels – different advertising sources and platforms used. Eg. search engines, websites, mobile apps, email, social media, etc.

Click-through rate (CTR) – the average number of click-throughs per hundred ad impressions, expressed as a percentage.

Conversion rate – the percentage of visitors who take the desired action. Eg. Make a purchase, add to cart, fill out an enquiry form, etc.

Cost per action (CPA) –  the cost or cost-equivalent paid per qualifying action such as sales or registrations.

Cost per click (CPC) – the cost or cost-equivalent paid per click-through.

CPM – cost per thousand impressions. (technically it stands for cost per million but is measured per thousand… we don’t know why).

Domain name – your website identifier, like feeddigital.com.au – where your site can be found on the internet.

Doorway page (or unlisted page) – a page made specifically to rank well in search engines for particular keywords, serving as an entry point through which visitors pass to the main content. Typically talks about one specific topic and cannot be found via your page’s navigation menu.

Email marketing – the promotion of products or services via email.

Email spam – unwanted, unsolicited email.

Favicon – a small icon that is used by some browsers to identify a bookmarked website. Also appears on your open webpages tab (like Feed Digital’s Logo in this browser tab).

Frequency cap – restriction on the number of times a specific visitor is shown a particular advertisement. A good method to avoid advertising fatigue and reserve adspend.

Geo-targeting – a method of detecting a website visitor’s location to serve location-based content or advertisements.

HTML email – email that is formatted using Hypertext Markup Language (coding), as opposed to plain text email.

Impression – a single instance of an online advertisement being displayed to someone.

Inbound link – occur when another website links back to your site.

Keyword – a word used in performing a web search.

Keyword density – keywords as a percentage of indexable text words (how often the keyword appears in your text).

Keyword marketing – putting your message in front of people who are searching using particular keywords and keyphrases that compliment your brand’s offering.

Keyword research – the research and analysis of keywords related to your website, and the analysis of which ones yield the highest return on investment (ROI).

Keyword stuffing – the excessive, unnatural use of keywords on a web page for search engine optimization purposes. A bad practice to partake in as Google will lower your search ranking.

Lead magnet – a specific deliverable that is offered to prospects in return for contact information, typically to join an email list. Eg. A free how-to guide, a discount code, etc.

Link building – the process of increasing the number of inbound links to a website in a way that will increase search engine rankings and build credibility.

Marketing automation – the use of software to automate repetitive tasks related to marketing activities and connect different parts of the marketing funnel. Eg. using automated email threads to reach out to leads that haven’t booked your service yet. 

Marketing metrics – data-driven digital marketing metrics include web traffic sources, cost per lead, returning visitors, website traffic leads, online conversion rates, customer lifetime value, and click through rate.

Marketing plan – a plan outlining the marketing strategy for a brand, product or service.

META tags – tags to describe various aspects of a web page.

Navigation – that menu on your website that facilitates movement from one web page to another.

Opt-in email – an email that explicitly requested, or confirms a request, to be signed up to your mailing list by the recipient.

Opt-out – to remove oneself from an opt-out program. Eg. opting-out of your email marketing campaigns.

Organic search – unpaid search results/traffic your website receives based on their contents’ relevance to the keyword query.

Outbound link – a link on your site to a website outside of your domain.

Page view – request to load a single HTML page.

Pay per click (PPC) – online advertising payment model in which payment is based solely on qualifying click-throughs.

Pay per lead (PPL) – online advertising payment model in which payment is based solely on qualifying leads.

Pay per sale (PPS) – online advertising payment model in which payment is based solely on qualifying sales.

Pop-up ad – an ad that displays either within your webpage and needs to be exited before a viewer can continue, or appears in a new browser window.

Return on ad spend (ROAS) – the amount of revenue that is earned for every dollar spent on a campaign.

Search engine – a program that indexes information, then attempts to match information relevant to the users search requests. Eg. Google.

Search engine optimization (SEO) – the process of choosing targeted keyword phrases related to a site, and ensuring that the site places well when those keyword phrases are part of a web search.

Social proof – the idea that when people shop, they look for reviews, recommendations and ways that others have used a product before making their decision.

Text ad – advertisement using text-based hyperlinks.

Title tag – HTML tag used to define the text in the top line of a Web browser, also used by many search engines as the title of search listings.

Unique visitors – individuals who have visited a website (or network) at least once during a fixed time frame. 

Uniform Resource Locator (URL) – location of a resource on the internet.

Video Blog (Vlog) – a form of blog for which the medium is video.

Web browser – a software application that allows for the browsing of the World Wide Web. Eg. Google Chrome. 

Web design – the selection and coordination of available components to create the layout and structure of a web page in your branding.

Web Directory – an organised, categorised listing of websites like Yellow Pages Online

Web hosting – the business of providing the storage, connectivity, and services necessary to serve files for a website.

Website traffic – the number of visitors and visits a website receives.

Website usability – the ease with which visitors are able to use a website.

Word-of-mouth marketing – a marketing method that relies on casual social interactions to promote a product.

If you need a hand deciphering your digital marketing, get in touch with us today to learn how Feed Digital can help!