25 Must-Know Digital Marketing Terms and What They Mean
25 Must-Know Digital Marketing Terms and What They Mean
Hearing digital marketing terms for the first time can sound a lot like a foreign language if you’re not experienced in this field. Now you can put all your curiosities and questions to rest, and know what these digital marketing terms mean – once and for all.
1. B2B
B2B stands for “Business-To-Business.” It’s when companies exchange products and services between businesses. When a company is listed as B2B, it means they sell products and/or services to other businesses – not consumers.
2. B2C
B2C stands for “Business-To-Consumer” and is the opposite of B2B. It’s also known as “Direct-To-Consumer.” It’s when a company sells products and/or services directly to consumers.
3. Backlinks
Backlinks are hyperlinked text that takes you to an external website. It connects one website to another. For example, if you find an article that links to another source on a different website – that’s a backlink. They’re important to have for SEO purposes!
4. Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave a website quickly, after viewing only one page. This can significantly impact SEO because it tells Google that people aren’t interested in your website, and you can drop in rankings as a result.
5. Conversion Rate
Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who take a specific, desired action. This “action” takes on many forms, such as signing up for a webinar, opening an email, making a purchase, or something else. Conversion rate is usually calculated this way:
Conversion Rate = Clicks or Visits / Conversions
6. CPC
CPC stands for “Cost-Per-Click.” It’s a model where you pay based on clicks as opposed to impressions. In other words, it’s the amount of money spent for a click on an ad in a pay-per-click campaign.
7. CTA
CTA stands for “Call-To-Action”. A CTA is an invitation for a customer to take some sort of action. Whether it be “buy now”, “learn more”, or “click here,” a CTA is literally calling someone to take action with your business in one way or another.
8. CTR
CTR stands for “Click-Through-Rate.” It’s the number of people that click on a specific link or ad after visiting a certain page or website. To determine your CTR, you will want to divide the number of clicks your ad or link received by the number of times your ad or link was shown.
9. Impressions
An impression is simply this: when a user sees an advertisement. This happens anytime a user opens a website and sees an advertisement. It’s an opportunity for your ad to be seen, heard, and make an “impression” on your customers.
10. Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is the process of attracting customers through tailor-made content and experiences. Rather than overwhelming your audience with a wave of solicitous and impersonal ads, inbound marketing delivers content and experiences tailored to their interests and needs.
11. Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is when you include a lot of repeated keywords into a single piece of content with the hopes that you’ll rank higher. It’s something businesses do to try manipulating a site’s ranking in Google. In fact, keyword stuffing can do the opposite – and can actually get you banned from Google.
12. KPI
KPI stands for “Key Performance Indicator.” Your success as a business isn’t measured at just one level of the sales funnel – it’s measured at all levels. KPI is a measurable value that indicates how effectively your business is hitting your primary business objectives and goals.
13. Landing Page
A landing page is a web page that’s designed specifically for a marketing campaign, usually to get leads or sell products. It’s a standalone page that someone “lands” on after clicking on something – like an email, ad, or other digital location.
14. Lead Generation
Lead generation is exactly how it sounds: generating leads. In otherwise, it’s the process of acquiring new leads for your business. The goal is to transform online users into prospects, or potential customers, for your business. Some ways to acquire new leads online include: social media ad campaigns, email marketing campaigns, and more.
15. Marketing Analytics
Marketing analytics is a data-driven approach to measuring how effective your marketing campaign is. Website traffic, conversions, user metrics, historical data comparisons, and the effectiveness of each channel of marketing can all be managed using analytical tools. Measuring analytics helps you in future campaigns to make them more effective.
16. Negative Keywords
Negative keywords are used in pay-per-click advertising, and prevent your ads from showing up for keyword phrases that aren’t relevant to your business. This, in turn, saves you money on wasted clicks. Not to mention, when you use negative keywords, you’re creating more opportunity for your ad to show up on relevant searches.
17. Organic Traffic
Organic traffic is when customers find you through their own internet search, without paid advertising. With the right SEO strategy and content, organic traffic can bring you a lot of business.
18. PPC
PPC stands for “Pay-Per-Click” and is often referred to as Paid Search. It’s when an advertiser pays per every click on their ad. Companies often put these ads on social media sites or search engines and they generate great, qualified leads.
19. Remarketing
Remarketing is also commonly known as retargeting. It’s the process in which you serve ads to users who have already shown some interest in your business – such as visited your website or a specific page. It’s a second chance for marketers to try and convert or retain customers through ads and campaigns.
20. ROI
ROI stands for “Return-On-Investment”. It’s a way for businesses to measure the return they’re getting from investing in marketing. When you spend money on marketing, it is always helpful to know how much you’re getting back from those efforts. ROI is usually calculated like this:
Profit – Cost / Cost
21. SEO
SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization”, otherwise commonly known as “organic search.” It is the process of developing pages and content that show up on Google search engine results, preferably at the top of the first page.
22. SEM
SEM stands for “Search Engine Marketing.” It’s the practice of using paid advertisements that show up on search engine results pages (otherwise known as SERPs). Many people confuse SEM with SEO, but the two are not the same.
23. SERP
SERP stands for “Search Engine Results Page”. It’s defined as being Google’s response to someone’s search query. When you enter something in the Google search bar, you will see the SERP with all organic search results, paid search results, and featured snippets.
24. Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms to promote products and services. It’s also a way for businesses to engage with and connect with current and future customers.
25. Target Audience
Target audience is a group of people who are more likely to be interested in and benefit from your services and products. Determining who your target audience is through your organic and paid marketing efforts will help boost sales and reach the right people. These are the people who you should tailor your campaigns for. Some things to consider when defining your target audience include: age, gender, income, locations, interests, and more.