Marketing Glossary

From website design to general marketing jargon, there are many terms thrown around in the industry. Here at Momentum, we have put together a glossary to help everyone stay in the loop every step of the process.

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General Marketing

The use of digital channels (video advertising, email, social media, etc.) to promote and sell products and services.

A factor that helps measure a marketing campaign’s overall performance and success. KPI examples include number of sales, number of leads, conversion rates, and return on investment.

A type of marketing campaign designed to target individuals who are interested in working for a specific organization. The goal of the campaign is to promote the company’s culture, brand, and other elements that would attract qualified candidates.

Sometimes referred to as retargeting, remarketing refers to the practice of delivering targeted ads to online users who have already visited or interacted with a company’s website.

The ratio between a company’s total net earning and total investment cost. It’s typically used as a performance measurement to determine the overall value of investing in a particular product or service. Typically, the higher the ROI, the better.

Web Design & Development

The development of a website, tool, or technology to be usable, understandable, and easily navigable to individuals with disabilities.

Refers to content that is regularly updated on a website, usually to inform the audience on a particular topic.

Messaging on a website that urges the users to perform a specific action. CTAs could be in the form of online forms, buttons, or hyperlinks. Examples include “Request a Free Consultation” or “Ask a Professional.”

A group of servers (remote computers), located in various parts of the world, that helps increase the speed of content delivery. A content delivery network makes it possible for online users around the world to quickly stream a video, download a file, or view web pages. CDNs are typically recommended for websites targeting international audiences or websites that feature dynamic content.

A type of application that allows organizations to create, publish, and store content. WordPress is an example of a Content Management System.

A more detailed version of the sitemap, which is a visual representation of where content will live on a new website.

A general layout of a specific piece of content. It typically includes a heading, subheadings, and specific information to better guide writers on how to create that particular piece of content.

The practice of increasing the percentage of users who perform a desired action (purchasing a product, clicking on a link, etc.) on a website.

One part of the URL structure that helps servers identify websites. For example, in seekmomentum.com, “seek momentum” is the domain name, while “.com” is the top-level domain. There are several types of top-level domains (.edu, .org, .net, .com, etc.). Although servers are reading a website’s IP address, the domain name is what online users see.

The area at the top of a website’s homepage that typically features a large image along with text and/or links.

The practice of storing and maintaining files on a website.

A unique string of characters that identifies websites and devices that are connected to the Internet. It also makes it possible for devices, servers, and websites to send and receive data back and forth.

How quickly a web page loads when a visitor first clicks on the link.

An optional software “add-on” that’s designed to add a unique feature to a software application.

An organization that sells and registers website domain names.

A web development practice where a website is built with a flexible layout so that it can be used across multiple devices (desktop computers, tablets, mobile phones, etc.) without affecting the user experience. For example, a responsive website can identify if a person is using a phone or a computer, and then change its appearance so that all images, text, and links are displayed correctly.

A file that highlights the relationships between the pages, videos, and files on a website.

A technology that helps keep sensitive information (credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc.) safe from cyber criminals. A website with an SSL certificate will usually have “HTTPS” in the URL, and visitors will see a padlock in the search bar, indicating that the website is safe to use.

The device that an individual uses when they interact with an application or a website, such as a display screen, keyboard, or mouse.

How the user perceives and interacts with the website and the elements on the website. User experience factors include utility, ease of use, and efficiency.

Web design refers to one part of the web development process in which various aesthetic factors, including imagery and layout, are considered. The web design process primarily focuses on the user experience (UX) and how they will interact with the website.

An element on a web page that users can fill out with specific information, which is then processed by a server. Examples of information users can fill out on a web form include their name, address, and phone number.

A basic visual map that represents the structure of a website.

An open-source website builder and content management system that anyone can use to make a website.

Search Engine Optimization

A listing that shows three or more businesses; the listing usually appears near the top of the search results after a user submits a query and will feature a large map.

A short, written description that explains what an image looks like to website visitors who cannot see the image.

The visual and clickable text in a hyperlink, which sometimes appears blue and underlined.

Incoming links from one website to another website or web page.

The percentage of online users who land on one page of a website and then leave without viewing a second page.

A set of standardized metrics from Google that help developers understand how users experience a web page.

A report that highlights essential user experience metrics, including cumulative layout shift, first input delay, and largest contentful paint. The data in the report is pulled from various website users with certain Google Chrome features enabled.

When web page elements, like content and images, shift unexpectedly while the web page is downloading.

Measures a user’s first interaction with a web page or website and compares it to the time it took for the user’s browser to respond to that interaction. Examples of web page interactions include clicking on a link or playing a video.

The length of time it takes to load the main content of a web page.

The process of search engine robots, sometimes referred to as crawlers or spiders, discovering new web pages and links on a website.

A search engine ranking score that predicts the likelihood of a website appearing in search engine result pages (SERPS), or the pages that a user will see after submitting a search query.

A term used to describe matching content that appears on more than one web page.

Stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. E-A-T is part of Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines.

Text that appears at the top of a search results page after a user submits a query.

A Google-powered tool that allows businesses and organizations (with physical locations) to appear in search results when a user submits a query. This tool also allows businesses to update their hours of operation and other information, respond to customer reviews and questions, and create service or product-related posts that Google users can see.

Refers to the process of search engine crawlers/spiders storing and organizing new information that they’ve found on a web page or website.

Refers to a web page’s position within search results for a particular keyword or keyword phrase.

Considered to be a search engine ranking factor, link equity refers to the overall value of a particular domain/website and how that value may pass through internal and external linking.

The main address of a website that has one page (or more) that links to another website.

Where the user’s search originated from and how close a business or organization is to that user’s location.

The reputation of a specific organization or brand.

How connected the information on a web page or website is to a user’s search query.

A highlighted section that appears near the top of a search results page; this section answers questions that are related to the user’s initial query.

When additional information appears in an otherwise normal Google search results page; a normal Google search results page will show a headline, publication date, small meta description, and a meta image. A rich snippet may contain reviews, prices, and item availability.

The long-term practice of improving the quality and quantity of unpaid “organic” traffic to a website or web page.

The list of results that a user sees after they submit a search query.

A user’s primary goal when submitting a search query in a search engine.

The user is looking for an answer to a question or any specific information related to a topic or subject.

The user is searching for a specific part of a website.

The user is looking to purchase something.

The user is looking for more information about a business or a business’s services.

A type of result that may appear on a Google search results page, including featured snippets, rich snippets, Google Ads, a local 3-pack, and more.

HTML tags and scripts that are used to help search engines understand and classify the content on a web page or website.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

A set of advertisements that share similar topics or demographics.

The order/ranking of an ad that appears on a search results page relative to similar ads.

Google’s process of determining which ads will appear during a user’s search and the order of those ads on the search results page.

The bid, or maximum CPC, is the highest amount of money an advertiser is willing to pay for each click on their advertisement.

Refers to the three major keyword types that an advertiser can bid on: broad, exact, and phrase, and how they relate to a search query.

This keyword match type opens up an ad to more keyword searches related to the keyword that the advertiser bids on. For example, if an advertiser bids on the keyword “red shoes,” their ad may appear when users search for “pink shoes,” as it’s still related to a part of the keyword phrase.

A stricter keyword match type that only allows an ad to show up for terms/queries that match the exact meaning of the keyword the advertiser bids on. For example, if an advertiser bids on the keyword “forged components,” their ad will most likely only show up if someone searches for “forged components” or an extremely close variant.

This match type offers more flexibility when compared to exact match types, but not as much flexibility as a broad match keyword. For an ad to show up in search results pages, the keyword or keyword phrase that a user searches still needs to have the same meaning as the keyword or keyword phrase that the advertiser bids. For example, if an advertiser bids on the keyword “end of arm tooling,” their ad could still show up when users search for “end of arm tooling for industrial robots,” as long as the meaning of the keyword or keyphrase remains the same.

The number of times a user interacts with (clicks on) an online advertisement.

A metric that gauges the overall performance of an online advertisement. It’s calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of overall impressions.

The moment an online user responds to a specific call-to-action on a website, whether it’s through downloading a free ebook, filling out an online form, or calling a phone number.

Cost-per-click, or CPC, refers to how much advertisers pay for every click that their ad receives.

The moment a user sees a specific advertisement on their search results page.

The total number of impressions an ad has received, divided by the number of impressions that the same ad is eligible for (or how many times an ad could have appeared on a search results page). This metric is used to help advertisers understand the value and potential of increasing or decreasing the maximum cost-per-click or overall budget.

A keyword or phrase that an advertiser doesn’t want their ad to show up for.

An online advertising model that allows an advertiser to pay a publisher (usually a first-tier search engine like Google) every time a user clicks on the ad. If the advertisements are high-quality and relevant to the user’s search, they may appear at the top of a search results page, which helps drive more (paid) traffic to a website or web page.

A diagnostic tool that ranks ads on a scale from 1 to 10. A higher score means that an advertisement is higher in quality when compared to other ads. The three major factors of the quality score include the overall user experience of the landing page for the ad, the relevancy of the ad, and the ad’s average click-through-rate. Additionally, a higher quality score can lower the overall cost-per-click and make an advertisement appear more often in search results.

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