A

Above the fold

All of the information is viewable on a web page prior to scrolling.

Ad Auction

The method used to decide the cost and placement of digital advertising on certain ad networks. A new ad auction occurs each time an ad is placed on an ad network.

Ad Extensions

Additional information can be included in paid search ads. Often used to provide more detail and improve a user’s interaction with an advertisement.

Ad Group

A collection of ads and keywords that share a similar theme. Ad groups live within a Campaign.

Ad Network

A group of websites that have ad inventory for advertisers to purchase. In the digital space, popular ad networks include Google Display Network, Google Search Partners, and Facebook Audience Network. 

Ad Platform

A place for advertisers to create advertising campaigns and select where to show their ads from the available inventory. Google & Facebook are two of the largest ad platforms.

Ad Rank

The rank of an ad in a given auction compared to other ads in that auction is used to determine the ad’s position. Ad rank may be different in each auction.

App Store Optimization (ASO)

A branch of digital marketing focused on strategies and techniques designed to improve the visibility of apps in the app store. This can include optimizing the app’s metadata with targeted keywords, enhancing app creatives, and more.

Attribution

A method of assigning the full or partial value of an action to various touchpoints along the customer journey. There are several different types of attribution models that marketers use such as first-touch, last-touch, and multi-touch attribution models.

Average Cost Per Click (CPC)

The average price an advertiser pays when a user clicks on their ad. 

Average Cost per Conversion (also known as Cost per Acquisition or CPA)

The average amount of money spent to generate each conversion. This is calculated by dividing the total cost of advertising during a period of time by the total number of conversions over the same period of time.

Average Cost Per Thousand Impressions or Cost Per Mille (CPM)

The average cost for every 1000 impressions that are received. This is measured by dividing the total cost of advertising by the number of impressions then multiplying by 1000. 

Average Position

A metric used to define the order of appearance of listings and ads on search engines. 

Organic Search Results

The average organic rank of a website on the search engine results page.

PPC Advertising

The average rank of an ad in relation to the other ads. Average Position is being sunsetted by Google as of September 2019 due to the confusion it can cause about the actual ad position.

A/B Testing

If you want to improve your marketing efforts, A/B testing may come in handy. This is the process of comparing two variations of the same variable to find out which one performs best The variations can be changed in copy, call-to-actions, landing pages, etc.

Ad Servers

Isn’t it nice to have someone who does the job for you? Yes, it is, and that’s why ad servers exist! Ad servers are automated servers that help you request, bid on, and place your ads on websites, as well as monitor the progress of each campaign. For advertisers handling billions of data per day, ad servers make it easy to select the ads with the most potential and place them on appropriate websites.

Affiliate Marketing

This is a type of performance-based marketing where a brand rewards affiliate partners for each website visitor or customer brought by the affiliate’s own advertising efforts. Affiliates typically receive discounts or payments based on the number of visitors or customers they bring.

API (Application Program Interface)

An API is a way of getting specific information from other applications or websites, which you can use for a variety of different needs. It is similar to a set of tools used for building a software application. The better the tools, the easier it is to make a good product. In the case of an API, the better the API, the easier it is to develop a program.

B

Backlink

An incoming line from an external website to another website. For example, a link from a local Chamber of Commerce to one of the member businesses would be a backlink to the member business.

Banner Ad

A type of display advertising which appears alongside regular content on a website or app. Most often this ad type includes an image or graphic. Although the dimensions of banner ads range in size, common dimensions include 720×90, 300×250, and 160×600.

Bing or Google Webmaster Tools

A free tool with reports used to monitor how a website is being crawled, indexed, appearing and performing in search results on Bing.

Bounce Rate

The per cent of sessions where a user only visited one page or did not complete any predefined events before leaving the website.

Behavioural Targeting

This is serving tailored advertising to audiences by utilising their previous web browsing behaviour in order to drive more engagement.

Bottom of the Funnel

The bottom of the funnel is the last stage in the buying process when your prospects are close to becoming new customers. Messages at this stage usually include a product offer, a product demo, a free consultation, etc.

Bounce Rate

It often happens that you click on a random link and you end up on a website that you are not interested in anyway. Even though you immediately leave that website, your visit still counts in website analytics. Congratulations, you have just contributed to the bounce rate of that website! In other words, the bounce rate is the percentage of visitors that have landed on your website but have not stayed long enough or clicked on other pages.

C

Churn Rate

This is the metric that comes in handy when you want to find out how many customers your business retains and at what value. To find out your churn rate, divide the number of customers you lose within a specific timeframe to the total number you had at the beginning of that period.

Closed-Loop Marketing

If your goal is figuring out how your inbound marketing drives quantifiable business growth, you might want to take a look at this one. The practice means being able to execute and tie in marketing efforts to bottom-line impact.

Cloud Computing

If you do not have the space or resources to build your own computing infrastructure, then cloud computing is for you! It allows its users to store, manage, and transfer data using host servers. There are several types of clouds with different purposes and benefits. 

CMP (Cloud Management Platform)

CMP is a group of products that can be used to manage and monitor cloud computing resources either in private, public, or multi-cloud models.

Conversion Path

This is defined as a series of actions by which an anonymous website visitor becomes a known lead. Typical steps in your conversion path may be a call-to-action, a lead capturing form, a thank you page, etc.

CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)

In advertising, CPA (short for 'Cost Per Acquisition' or 'Cost Per Action)  measures the cost that you are willing to pay to get a goal conversion. It is similar to CPC (Cost Per Click) and CPM (Cost Per Mile).

CPM (Cost Per Mille) / CPT (Cost Per Thousand)

When your ad loads and displays for a user, it counts as one impression. Cost Per Mille (CPM), also called Cost Per Thousand (CPT), is used for a thousand impressions on one website. It is similar to CPC (Cost Per Click) and CPA (Cost Per Action).

CR (Conversion Rate)

The percentage rate gathering the online audiences that followed and completed the campaign action that you wanted. (e.g: signing up to your service or mailing list or buying your product). A good CR means that your marketing game is strong!

CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

CRM is the approach of managing and analysing your brand’s relationship with potential and existing customers. Digital marketers usually use a CRM system to support this strategy - to streamline processes and increase profitability.

CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)

CRO is short for Conversion Rate Optimization. If your conversion rate is not impressive, then it is time to take action and employ conversion rate optimisation methods. Because good CR is synonymous with a high number of conversions that in turn, reflects a good website and SoMe performance.

CTA (Call To Action

(When it comes to online advertising, a good choice of words and a persuasive CTA are essential. A CTA is a message that appeals to potential customers, and it is often the last push to drive a specific action such as buying a product, subscribing to a newsletter, etc.

Call Only Ads

A type of advertisement used on mobile devices that allows the user to click on the advertisement to directly call the business rather than have to first visit the business website or dial the business phone number themselves.

Call To Action

A phrase is used to prompt a certain action or immediate response such as “Learn More” or “Sign Up Today”.

Call Tracking Number (CTN)

A phone number on a website is used for tracking purposes, such as to determine how consumers found the business or their reason for calling.

Campaign [Digital Advertising]

A collection of ad groups or ad sets centred around a common goal.

Channel

In Google Analytics, the Channel refers to the general group of sources that directed a user to a website. There are both default channels built into Google Analytics, such as social, organic, and direct, as well as the option to create custom channels.

Chatbot

A computer program is used to simulate a chat or conversation via either text or voice. Chatbots are often used to help users find frequently requested information and enhance the user experience by providing 24/7 connectivity and support. Chatbots can be used on a variety of platforms including SMS, webchat, smart home devices, and smart speakers.

Click Share

A Google Ads metric that notes the percentage of clicks your ads received out of the estimated total number of clicks your ads were eligible to receive.

Clicks

The number of times a user clicked on an ad or listing. 

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The number of clicks received divided by the number of impressions received is expressed as a percentage. This can also be thought of as the average likelihood that a user will click on your ad or listing after seeing it. It can be helpful in determining the quality of a listing or ad. 

Container Tag

A single code snippet placed on a website holds other tracking codes or pixels and information on when to “fire” those other tags and pixels. The container tag code should be placed on every page of a website and allows for a single tracking code to be used, rather than placing many individual tracking codes on a website. Using a container tag, the individual tags are added via a separate user interface (UI) instead of editing the website’s code. A popular example of a container tag is Google Tag Manager.

Content Management System (CMS)

Software or system used to organise the creation and management of digital content. Common examples include WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix.

Content Marketing

A branch of marketing focused on creating content to capture the attention of potential customers. In the digital marketing space, content marketing can include blog articles, email campaigns, social media posts or videos, and much more.

Conversion

A defined action of importance (eg making a phone call or reaching a thank you page on a website) is deemed valuable to a business. Conversions are used to help measure the effectiveness and return on investment of digital marketing campaigns and strategies.

Conversion Rate (CVR)

A measurement of how often a click turns into a conversion is calculated by dividing the number of conversions by the number of clicks on an advertisement or listing.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

A strategy used to increase the number of users who take a certain action (which has been deemed a conversion) on a web page. 

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

The total cost it takes to acquire one new customer, which often includes marketing expenses and employee wages.

Customer Journey

The phases a customer goes through while interacting with your business. There are several schools of thought on what the Customer Journey looks like, such as the AIDA marketing funnel or McKinsey Loyalty Loop.

D

Daily Active Users (DAU)

the number of active users and accounts used in any given platform is the most common apps.

DAM (Digital Asset Management)

When you’re handling many digital files on a daily basis, DAM may come in handy. This process helps you store and categorise your digital assets easier so that you can access them at any time from one place.

Data Visualisation

This is the process of visually representing specific information to make it easier to understand. Dashboards and infographics are common examples of visualisations.

DoubleClick (Google Marketing Platform)

DoubleClick is a subsidiary of Google that develops and provides Internet ad serving services. At the beginning of 2018, Google announced the merge of DoubleClick and Google Analytics 360 Suite into a new Google Marketing Platform and Google Ad Manager.

Drip Nurturing

This is a lead nurturing method that uses automated tailored content & triggers that are ‘dripped’ at a specific time with the goal of driving the desired action (e.g: a sale). Drip campaigns or drip emails are usually used here.

Dynamic Content

Dynamic content is the process of displaying different messaging on your website or in your online advertising (e.g. Facebook’s Dynamic Ads) based on the information you have or your enriching about your target audience.

Digital Advertising

Advertising (paid placements) on any digital platform. This can include social platforms like Instagram, Pinterest & Facebook as well as search engines like Google or Bing and individual websites.

Digital Advertising Audit

An inspection or examination of a business’s current digital advertising performance and tactics. 

Digital Marketing

The segment of marketing refers to any marketing initiatives performed in the digital landscape. Common types of digital marketing include email marketing, SEO, SEM, digital advertising, social media marketing, and content marketing among others. 

Display Ads

Advertising is shown on a web page that a consumer is using. Most often in the form of images, banners, video, or rich formats (animations or slideshows). 

Display Network

A group of websites where display ads may be shown. For example, the Google Display Network (GDN) is a display network comprised of over 2M websites that can show ads to users when the advertiser uses the Google platform to advertise.

Dwell Time

The amount of time between when a user clicks on a result on the search engine results page and when the user returns to the search engine results page.

E

Engagement Rate

This is a valuable metric used to describe the amount of social media interaction a post, ad, or campaign has. This is usually measured based on interactions like Comments, Shares, and Like.

Event Tracking

If you want to track beyond revenue and conversion metrics, keep an eye on Event Tracking. This is a method for analytics and social (e.g. using Facebook’s pixel) that helps you track your customers’ journey every step of the way by analysing certain behaviours as form fills, cart additions, or newsletter sign-ups.

Evergreen Content

This is the type of content that is always relevant to your audiences, no matter when they read it. Compared to time-sensitive content such as seasonal articles or campaigns, evergreen content continues to provide value way beyond its release date.

Earned Media

Any media exposure that does not come directly from your business. This includes things like shared posts, reviews of your business, or mentions from another site. 

Engagement Metrics

Metrics are used to measure how engaging a website is. These often include bounce rate, time on site, pages per visit, and social shares.

Event

A specific action or occurrence on a website. Events may be automatically tracked or businesses may choose to define their own events. These business defined events are typically tracking information important to the business such as how many people clicked to download, submitted a form, or visited a particular page. Events may also be time-based, such as sessions that lasted at least two minutes. 

Exit Page

The page from which a visitor leaves a website.

F

Facebook Business Manager

A platform created by Facebook designed to help marketers manage the Facebook ads and pages of multiple businesses from one central account.

Featured Snippet

A reverse listing appears on the search engine results page with the information above the link to the website. A featured snippet is a type of rich result.

Frequency

A display advertising metric that counts the average number of times a user has seen an ad. Video, display, and social media advertising often measure the frequency; however, search ads do not include the frequency measurement in their reporting.

G

Geo-Targeting

Geo-Targeting is an effective way of increasing conversions where content is delivered to audiences based on their geographic locations. It’s effectively used in paid search or social campaign. The location can be a country, state, city and more.

Google Ads

Google Ads is an online advertising service made by Google where customers can create and manage ads within the Google universe (on Google Search, Display, YouTube, etc.).

Google Analytics

Even if you are entirely new to the digital marketing world, you have most likely heard about Google Analytics already. This analytics service is provided by Google, and it helps you track, analyse, and measure all types of revenues and costs of your website, advertising campaigns, videos, social channels, etc.

Geofencing

Using a person’s location to trigger a response when a person enters or leaves a virtually fenced area. For example, a person with GPS enabled on their cell phone enters a one-mile radius of a smoothie shop and they are sent a text message with a 10% off coupon for that smoothie shop.  

Geo-modifier

Appending a location-based term to a keyword, such as “Dentist in Bend.” Here, Bend is the Geo-modifier.

Geo-targeting

Showing ads to people based on their physical location. Locations are usually determined by IP address or mobile GPS signals.

Google Analytics

A free tool that collects data and organizes the data into reports used to show how users interact with websites. 

Google My Business

Google’s knowledge panel for local businesses. It contains information provided by the business and the business’ customers along with additional automatically generated information pulled from other sources on the web.

Google Search Console

A free tool with reports used to monitor how a website is being crawled, indexed, appearing, and performing in search results on Google.

H

Hard Bounce

In email marketing, hard bounces are simply emails that were not delivered. This can happen for different reasons: the recipient email address could be wrong or inactive, the recipient might have blocked you or reported your emails as spam etc.

Heat Map

A data visualisation tool is often used in digital marketing to show how users have interacted with a website.

Hits

An interaction that results in data being sent to a tracking solution (i.e. Google Analytics). One session can include multiple hits such as page views, events, or social interactions.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

The coding language is used to build almost all websites. HTML is the foundation of a website. It is often paired with CSS and Javascript for style and functionality.  

Hyperlink

A connection from one page, element, or document on the internet to another. 

I

Interactive Content

Interactive content is the type of online content that engages audiences in a certain activity. In return, participants get real-type and relevant results. Think of a survey tool or an interactive infographic that captures your attention right from the start.

Impressions

The number of times an ad or listing appeared. This does not always mean that a user actually viewed the ad or listing. Multiple impressions can come from the same person if that person saw the ad or listing more than once.  

Impression Share

A measurement of the number of times an ad was shown out of the total number of times it was eligible to show. This can help measure how much of the available audience an ad is reaching. 

Impression to Conversion Rate (Imp CVR)

A measurement of how often an impression turns into a conversion is calculated by dividing the number of conversions by the number of impressions. 

Indexing

A method of collecting, arranging and categorizing the information that crawlers, bots, or spiders find on websites. 

Internal Link

A link from one page to another page on the same website. 

Internet Marketing

See Digital Marketing.

K

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

Any important metric used to measure success as it relates to a marketing goal.

Keyword

A word or phrase is used to match website content to a user inquiry. In paid search advertising, this word or phrase is used to match a search query to an ad. For search engine optimisation, this word or phrase is used to create content that will be relevant to users when found in a search query. 

Keyword Bid

The maximum amount an advertiser is willing to pay for a click in an ad auction. 

Knowledge Graph

A collection of information about real-world objects and entities that search engines use to create knowledge panels.

Knowledge Panel

A box of information that appears on the search engine results page and is meant to give the searcher a brief look at the information available on the web about the topic. The knowledge panel is automatically generated by the search engines and is shown for entities that are included in the knowledge graph.

L

Landing Page

The web page a visitor first encounters when visiting a website. 

Lead Generation

The process of creating and capturing consumer interest in a product, service, or business. This is usually measured by counting conversions, collecting contact information, or newsletter sign-ups.  

Lifetime Value (LTV)

The average amount of revenue one customer will bring to a business over their lifetime. Lifetime may be defined as the average time someone remains a customer.

Lookalike Audience

A Facebook Ads audience type is comprised of a group of users defined by their similarity to another group of users. In order to create a Lookalike Audience, there must first be a custom audience to act as a base or seed list.

M

Lead Generation

In marketing and sales, lead generation is the process of attracting and converting new potential customers in order to drive future sales. For many companies, this is a crucial stage of their sales and marketing strategy

Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing is a process used in inbound marketing for pushing leads further in the buying lifecycle by targeting them with contextually-relevant content. This can be done through different channels like email or social media

Lifecycle (Customer Lifecycle)

These are stages used to define the relationship that you have with your potential or existing customers. Common lifecycle stages are Awareness, Evaluation, Purchase, and Retention.

Lookalike Audience

A lookalike audience is a type of custom audience used in social media targeting - popularised by Facebook and LinkedIn. It helps you target audiences with similar characteristics to existing ones. Here’s an example: let’s say you have many people visiting your website. With a Lookalike Audience, you could easily advertise to people similar to your visitors.

LTV (Lifetime Value)

LTV is a useful metric that helps you find out what customer groups are valuable to your business and what total worth they bring during their lifetime. Differently said, it shows the total revenue your business can expect from every single customer.

Match Type

A keyword setting for search engine ads that refine when an advertisement is eligible to show based on how keywords are used in a user’s search query. 

Max CPC

See Keyword Bid.  

Medium

In Google Analytics, the Medium refers to the way a user came to a website. Examples include “organic” meaning they found a website via an organic listing in the search results, “none” meaning they came directly to a website by typing it into the browser, or “referral” meaning they came to a website via a link on another website.

Meta Description

A summary of a page’s content that appears on search engine results pages but does not appear anywhere on the actual page. This is critical for search engines to understand page contents as well as giving users an idea of the information they will find after clicking the link. 

Mobile Friendliness

A measure of how easy a website is to use and access on mobile devices.

Marketing Automation

Do you want to make your life as a marketer easier by managing and automating all your marketing processes across channels? You’re in luck! This is precisely what marketing automation does.

Martech (Marketing Technology)

Simply put, Martech is a term used to describe the overlap between marketing and technology. Software suites & tech tools used by marketers to drive more marketing impact usually fall under the martech umbrella.

MVP (Minimum Viable Product): A minimum viable product is a term mostly used in software to describe the most basic version of a product that can carry out its desired function.

N

Native Advertising

Native advertising is a popular type of social media advertising where an ad follows the form, function, and feel of the content of the media where it’s placed. Native ads are currently considered more effective in terms of engagement, as they enable marketers to target audiences with content that closely matches their experience.

O

Omnichannel Marketing

Omnichannel Marketing is a cross-channel marketing strategy that focuses on delivering unified experiences - regardless of the touch-points or devices your customers are using.

Open Rate

Open rate is used in relation to email marketing. Simply put, it’s the value that shows you many recipients have opened your email. Open Rate should not be confused with Total Opens. The latter shows you many times your email has been opened by everyone. This can be done by the same users who have chosen to open your email multiple times.

Organic Listing

A listing on the SERP is achieved without directly paying the search engine. The entire field of search engine optimisation is dedicated to improving the performance of organic listings on the SERP.

Owned Media: Any digital platform or medium that a business fully controls, such as the business website, social media profiles, and Google My Business.

P

Page Speed

A metric from 1 to 100 measures how quickly a website page loads. According to Google, Page Speed is a ranking factor as it has a direct impact on user experience.

Pages per Visit

The number of web pages an average user views during a session on a website.

Paid Ad

Any advertising placement earned via a payment. See also Digital Advertising.

Paid Media

Any type of paid marketing or advertising including pay per click advertising or social media advertising. 

Phone-through Rate (PTR)

An advertising metric measuring the number of phone calls received from an ad divided by the total number of times the phone number was shown in an ad.

Pixel

An invisible image file placed on a website is used to pass information, such as a cookie, to a server. Pixels can be used to determine touchpoints with a brand across different platforms. 

PPC (Pay per Click)

A type of digital advertising in which advertisers pay each time a user clicks on one of their advertisements. 

Programmatic Advertising

An automated bidding method is used to purchase display ad inventory for a specific audience. Often called real-time bidding (RTB). 

Progressive Web Apps: A type of web page that functions as an app and is designed for a more immersive user experience. Learn more about Progressive Web Apps.

Q

Qualified Lead

In digital marketing, a Qualified Lead is a term used to describe a lead that has shown interest in your brand and is likely to become a new customer based on a specific set of qualification criteria. This can be anything from a guide they have downloaded or a service they have signed up to.

Quality Score

A score out of 10 given by Google Ads to indicate how closely related an ad & landing page are to the keywords. Since Quality Score is one of the factors in Ad Rank, it can have an impact on the number of times an ad is shown and the price an advertiser pays for ads.

R

RankBrain

A component of the Google algorithm that uses machine learning to determine the most relevant results for search queries, especially queries that are entered for the first time. 

Reach

A display advertising metric that counts the number of users who have seen your ad. Video, display, and social media advertising often measure reach; however, search ads do not include reach in their reporting.

Referral

In Google Analytics, this is the website a user visited prior to visiting another website. Typically the user clicked on a link to the website they are visiting from the referring website.

Remarketing / Retargeting

Showing advertising to an audience who has already interacted with a business in some way. For example, showing an ad to people who have visited a business’ website, but not yet purchased anything. 

Responsive Web Design

A style of website design that ensures that the website appears appropriately on devices with different screen sizes. 

Return On Ad Spend (ROAS)

A performance metric is used to describe the amount of revenue generated from spending on advertising. It is calculated by dividing the revenue generated by the actual spending on advertising. For example, if a company spends $7000 on an advertising campaign that generates $28,000 in revenue, the return on ad spend it $28,000/$7,0000 or 4:1. Unlike ROI, this does not take into account other costs such as employee time or other technologies.

Return On Investment (ROI)

The amount of revenue returned to a business in regards to the amount spent to create that revenue. As a simplified example, if a business spends $2,000 on a digital advertising campaign that generates $10,000, the business’s ROI is 500% or 5:1. Five dollars earned for every one dollar spent.

S

Search Engine

An online tool, like Google or Bing, provides results to answer a given search query. Search engines have more recently been referred to as answer engines as they are providing answers to user queries instead of just a list of results. 

Search Engine Algorithm

A formula or set of rules that search engines use to define which websites to show on the search engine results page. Each search engine uses a different algorithm that is updated regularly. 

Search Engine Marketing

The act of promoting or selling products or services via search engines. This would include search engine optimization and any digital advertising through search engines, such as Google search ads and Microsoft advertising. This does not include other digital marketing types such as social media management or social media advertising.

Search Engine Results Page (SERP)

The web page displaying the results of a search query to the user of a search engine. 

Search Intent

The goal or meaning of a user’s search query. 

Search Query

The word or phrase that is typed into a search engine to signal the information the user would like to find.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

A methodology used to improve a website’s performance in organic search results. At its core, this means helping search engines better understand a website’s contents and providing users a better experience.

SEO Audit

An inspection or examination of a website and its digital performance as it relates to search engine optimization tactics.

Session Duration (also known as Time on Site)

The amount of time an average user spends on a website is calculated per session.

Sessions

A group of interactions or hits with your website. A session may include several web page visits and interactions or it may contain just one. A new session begins if a user visited a website via one campaign, leaves and comes back via a different campaign. A new session will also start after midnight or after 30 minutes of inactivity. This means a single user might have multiple sessions in a single day or over several weeks. 

Shopping Ads (also known as Product Ads)

A digital ad format designed specifically for products that are sold online. 

Similar To Audiences

A Google Ads audience type is comprised of a group of users defined by their similarity to another group of users. In order to create a Similar To Audience, there must be a seed audience to act as a base or seed list.

Sitelink (or Sitelink Extension)

A type of rich result that shows links to various pages on a website, resulting in a larger listing for the website on the SERP. Sitelinks are sometimes automatically generated by search engines if deemed relevant to the user’s search query. 

Sitemap

A file in a specific format used to provide information to search engines about the content on a website and the relationship between the content. Sitemaps make it easier for search engines to crawl websites and find pages to index.

Social Media Optimization (SMO)

A branch of digital marketing focused on strategies and techniques used to effectively market a business on social media platforms. Social Media Optimization can include enhancing profile information, planning and posting organic content, engagement, and more.

Source

In Google Analytics, the Source is the origin of the user prior to visiting a website for any type of traffic, whether it is organic, paid, social, referral, or direct. Examples include “google”, a visit originating from the search engine, “yelp.com”, a visit originating from a certain web page, or “direct” a user typing in the URL of the visited website directly into the browser.

T

Touchpoint

An instance of interaction between a customer and a brand.

Tracking Code (or Tracking Snippet)

A piece of code that monitors how a user is interacting with a website. The code is stored on each page of a website and sends data to an analytics tool to be used by businesses for marketing purposes and other business purposes. 

TruView

A measurement used by Google to indicate the number of times users choose to watch a video ad.

U

Universal Resource Locator (URL)

The online address of a resource, website, or page. 

Universal App Install (UAI)

A Google Ads product that enables advertisers to promote mobile apps across a range of placements.

URL Parameter

A code appended to a URL that can change the functionality of a website or be used as a tracking dimension. A parameter often starts with a question mark and is followed by the items that define the parameter after an equals sign.

User Experience (UX)

A phrase is used to describe how a visitor interacts with a website.

User Interface (UI)

The conduit on a display allows a human to interact with a computer more easily.

Users: People using a website. The same person may be counted as multiple users if that person uses multiple unlinked devices to access a website.

V

Voice Search

Voice search is an increasingly popular technology that allows users to search the web, a website or an app using a voice command.

View-through Conversion

A type of conversion in which a user views an ad, but does not click on the ad and later completes a conversion action.

View-through Conversion Window

A conversion setting in Google Ads defines the maximum length of time that a view-through action will still be attributed as a view-through conversion. As an example, if the view-through conversion window is set to 30 days, any conversion action completed by a user who saw an ad but did not click on the ad within 30 days of seeing that ad will be counted as a view-through conversion.

Voice Search

Refers to any search query conducted using voice technology. This can be a search on a mobile device or on a smart speaker such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home.