Dictionary of Marketing Terms
Honey, there ain’t no need to feel stupid if you don’t know what the whole passel of them trendy acronyms being flung left and right mean.
If you’re a bit mystified by the lingo being used all over the internet, just pull up a stool and feel free to browse through this list.
Trust me, it’ll make ya feel real special.
Blog:
Short for web log. Blogs started out as a sort of internet diary and began with limited popularity. Soon, savvy marketers realized what a great tool they could be and they became the new century’s de rigeur marketing tool.
E-commerce, E-tail:
Two terms used for selling products or services over the internet (as opposed to retail at a bricks and mortar location).
Google Page Rank (PR):
Google is the number one search engine on the world wide web. It constantly revises its ranking algorithms, so in order for a web site to remain popular with Google, marketing professionals must stay on top of these modifications. Truly, it is nearly a full-time job keeping up with their page ranking specifications.
Inbound Link:
An inbound link is one which a user clicks on and the user is directed from one web page to another. If you found this site from another web page, than you just used an inbound link.
Metadata:
Metadata are simply pieces of information on a web page easily recognized by search engines. Metadata defines the characteristics of content on web pages. They are descriptions which hide behind the visible content to alert search engines to their content based on the words and phrases entered there. There are three areas with metadata which can be revised in order to improve search engine ranking (H1 titles, meta description, meta keywords). While this is not a greatly influential factor in today’s search engines world, it is still worthwhile to update.
Organic Links:
These are the links enjoyed by websites without the benefit of a focused marketing campaign. They occur naturally – or organically – because of the page’s content and popularity.
Outbound Link:
Outbound links send visitors away from your web site. While some believe they have little value, they do increase your page’s ranking.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
Search Engine Optimization refers to increasing the number of visitors to a website through a high ranking from search engines. The higher the ranking, the higher in the returned results for a search on particular key words.
Search Engine Ranking:
Search engines look for particular keywords and return a list of those best qualified (according to algorithms) to be useful.
Search Engine Results Page (SERP):
Where a web page shows up in the results of a keyword search. This is a major factor in converting surfers to buyers, or loyal followers.
Social Media Optimization (SMO):
In a nutshell, this is using social media, such as a site like Digg or even Myspace, to create links to a website. It may sound simple, but it’s not as easy as you may think and requires a good bit of time to maintain a presence at each social networking site. The results of utilizing SMO, however, are often beyond compare, as it brings in website traffic which is basically prequalified.
Social Media Marketing (SMM):
This refers to marketing through means of spreading links across the internet. It can be accomplished by simply writing good content on a blog and finding a following of users who will spread the word, or it can be artificially induced. It is very closely related to SMO and often, people use the two terms interchangeably.
Time on Site (ToS):
Refers to the amount of time a visitor spends scrolling through your website. The longer the ToS, the more advertisements they will view. Optimized web pages have proven to capture the interest of visitors for a longer period of time and result in lower drop-off rates (when a visitor leaves due to lack of interest or relevancy).
