There is a lot of jargon and terminology used in digital marketing that can be confusing if you are new to the industry, or are running your own business and trying to navigate the digital marketing world. So, I thought I'd break down into a glossary and explain some of the more confusing language that is often used...
Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)
SERPs are the pages of results you get from searching a topic on a search engine, such as Google.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO is the optimisation of a website so that it ranks higher in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). It involves regularly updating your website, ensuring a fast loading speed and having appropriate content displayed.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
SEM is the practice of promoting a website directly on a Search Engine, so that the results page displays the website at the top.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
This is a popular type of digital advertising that is used by businesses; you pay a fee every time someone clicks on one of their ads.
Conversion Rate
This is how many visitors take a desired action, be it a purchase or click on an advert.
A/B Testing
Otherwise known as Split Testing, A/B Testing is when you test two versions of digital content with an audience, measuring the conversion rate to assess the success of each.
Call-To-Action (CTA)
A CTA needs to be included on every webpage, advert or social media post that you share, so as to remind your visitors/customers what they should be doing with the information they gather and ideally prompt them into making a purchase, subscribing to your newsletter, engaging your services or contacting you.
Content Strategy
Something everything marketer must employ in order to be successful; planning and implementing the main digital content for the business, including social media content, website content, blog posts, videos, etc.
Brand Positioning
A business's brand is very important to demonstrate your knowledge and skills to your audience. By having a strong and memorable presence, your clients should recognise and trust you.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
These are the metrics that are used to measure the success of a marketing campaign; they can include website traffic, social media engagement, click-throughs and email link clicks.
Backlink
This is a link to your website from another website. Backlinks help to improve your SEO and tell search engines that you are a trustworthy website.
Meta Tags
Meta Tags are HTML pieces of information that tell search engines about your website, that form a vital part of your SEO.
Domain Authority
This is a metric used by search engines to rate your website; the higher the domain authority, the higher the website will be ranked on the search engine. Several key factors contribute to this, including the domain age, backlinks and the quality of the content on the website.
Organic Reach
This is the number of people who see your original posts or content on social media without you having to use paid promotion. Organic reach is essential for businesses to utilise in order to grow your brand awareness and engage online with your audience.
Bounce Rate
The bounce rate is the number of people who land on a page of your website and then immediately leave. Ideally a website with a lower bounce rate is better than one with a high bounce rate, but this does depend on the type of page they are landing on and the related CTA.
What other terms and phrases do you think should be included here? Let me know.
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