An understanding of search engine marketing terms will help you feel more comfortable in the SEO world. Here are the most commonly used terms:
Acquisition – the process of acquiring a client, i.e. coming into possession or ownership. Acquisition can be through a sale, a subscription and other similar methods.
Affiliate – a form of “partnership” between websites, where one is linking to another, helping to increase the partner’s traffic and sales.
Affiliate Linking – the provision of reciprocal links between affiliates.
Algorithms – certain criteria and rules used by search engines to rank websites.
Automated Spider Engines – engines that use an automated program to visit and retrieve search engine data from your site.
Bid Capping – setting a maximum bid limit to be used by a bid-listing monitoring service, such as the one offered by BMM.
Bidding Engine – search engines that practice a bid-listing model.
Bid Listing – the use of pay-per-click models by search engines in a dynamic, real time auction for search listings. The auction is ever-going and real time, so your listings get changed as the bidding level changes. As budgets run dry, bids also lower or get cancelled, and then new bids are added.
Bid-Listing Monitoring – the process of monitoring bid engine activity to maintain good competitiveness of bid listing campaign.
Bookmarking – marking a webpage in your browser in order to be able to find it easily later.
Brand Infringement – a misuse of another company’s brand, e.g. inclusion in meta tags, making statements on behalf of that company, or spreading false information about that company.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) – files that give directions to browsers regarding a website’s format (which fonts to use, how links should function, etc.) Different browsers may treat CSS in different ways.
Click – the act of selecting a link or search engine listing. Used: “the ad got 2000 clicks today.”
Client-Side – web coding used to provide instructions to the browser to undertake a task; opposite to server-side.
Cloaking – same as IP Delivery.
CPA – abbreviation for Cost Per Acquisition.
CPC – abbreviation from Cost per Click, the actual average cost the advertiser pays when a potential customer follows a link found on, for example, a SERP.
CPM – abbreviation from Cost per Impression (1,000 page views).
Creatives – titles and descriptions submitted to directory editors.
Data gathering – the process of building customer profile database by monitoring their activity. This data helps you provide better products and customer service.
Database Presence – the inclusion of database driven content into the website.
Design Technology – technology that used while designing a website.
Directory Search – a search made within directory categories without use of keywords or phrases.
Domain Name – a unique identifier of one or more IP addresses, making it easier to find the website.
Domain Mapping – identifying a domain at a specific location or IP address.
E-Commerce – an Internet-based business (product selling, service providing, etc).
Editorial Search Engine – engines that use human editors to rank a site as opposite to reading meta tags.
Emergency Alert – a signal that you get by email or SMS, when the event that is being monitored has occurred.
Featured Site – the term used by various search properties that incorporate some element of bid-listing results in their normal search results.
Feed – a large number of pages listed in one file to be indexed by search engine spiders, which can download and read it automatically from a website. Some feeds are created by using a simple spreadsheet, others, such as RSS and Google SiteMaps, may require some knowledge of XML.
Flash – macromedia Flash Technology.
Generic Keywords – general terms relating to subject matter without providing specifications.
Google Page Rank – Google’s own system for ranking web pages.
Hit – refers to any file download from a website, including one hit for the HTML page and one for each embedded file such as graphics, Flash movies, WAV files etc. So, one page view can generate several hits. Sometimes, the word hit is misused where the phrase “visitor session” would be more appropriate.
HTML Coding – HyperText Markup Language is a coding language used to make HyperText web documents.
IP Address – a four-byte numeral, which represents an exact address of an Internet location, e.g. 255.0.192.47. Though each IP address is meant to be unique, the number of IP addresses available currently is not enough for global use; therefore, some users have to share IP addresses through a proxy server.
IP Delivery (Cloaking) – a forbidden technique presenting false content to search engine spiders in an attempt to gain higher ranking. Search engine spiders are recognized by their IP address.
IT – abbreviation from Information Technology
Javascript – web coding language with different capabilities to HTML. Not recognized by search engine spiders.
JHTML – normal HTML that includes “server-side” JavaScript instructions.
Keyword Search – a search performed by typing a keyword or combination of words in a search box on a search engine, directory or portal.
Key Phrase – combination of keywords used for search, also called “search terms”.
Keyword Search Frequency – number of search requests for particular keyword.
Keywords – the words closely related to a site’s content, which are used to describe the site in meta tags and creatives. Help users find the site using “searches.”
Link – an electronic connection between two websites (also called hyper-link).
Link Farm – web pages created with the purpose to increase the number of links between sites and artificially boost link popularity. A technique considered unethical by search engines.
Link Popularity – a method used by search engines to determine the importance of a website. The basic idea is that a site with many inbound links is more credible than one without inbound links.
Message Board – a website (or one of a website’s pages) that allows visitors to post and reply to messages. All the messages are public and anyone can join in a discussion. Normally, such discussions are themed by subject matter.
Meta Search Engine – a search engine referring to several search properties simultaneously in order to retrieve search results.
Meta Tag – HTML coding embedded in the site in order to provide search engine spiders with keyword information.
Newsletter Marketing – the process of mass distributing emails featuring new products or services and interesting content to existing customers; gaining new customers by publishing news, reviews, etc. related to the business or industry.
Obfuscation – the use of IP delivery in an attempt to provide excellent SEO content to search engine spiders, and deliberately poor SEO content to users with the idea that any content theft by competitors will result in poor search engine rankings.
Paid Linking – payment made to another website in order to get a link to your own site.
Page View (Impression) – one view of a web page (or banner ad) by a user.
Partner Site – a term used by bid engines to identify a website that also displays some or all of the bid listing results from that bid engine.
Pay Per Click – a model used by search engine listings charging for each user’s click on that search engine listing.
Permission Based Email – an ethical, permission based mass distribution (the recipient should first provide the permission to be emailed).
Portal – web sites combining a number of services, like search, email, news, weather, shopping, etc.
PPC – abbreviation from Pay per Click
PR – abbreviation from Public Relations, i.e. establishing and maintaining your relationship with the public and your public image.
Proxy Server – an Internet server that allows multiple users to share one Internet connection. This requires fewer IP addresses, which get assigned from a limited range, as and when they are required.
Rank – the position attained by a website in search engines, directories and searchable portals.
Rebrand – change of an established brand and managing that change effectively to continue brand recognition.
Reciprocal Linking – the act of two websites linking to each other without any cost involved. Serves to mutual benefit.
Robot – program which meta search engines send out to read the metas and/or body HTML of a submitted website.
Robots Exclusion Protocol (REP) – a specially coded text file placed to prevent spider trawls of private or sensitive areas, image folders, stats files and so on.
ROI (Return On Investment) – a result of a marketing campaign weighed in comparison to the money spent on that campaign.
Search Engine – a website that searches and presents a list of useful links (SERPs) in response to a text query. Search engines can be either pure search engines, or portals (combining search with various services and interesting content).
Search Engine Optimization – the process of adjusting web pages to maximize their effectiveness at matching common search phrases in search engines. Helps boost the site’s popularity and attain high search engine ranking. The key element in search engine marketing.
Search Engine Log Data – actual search engine logs, which can be used to retrieve data on search frequency of particular keywords.
Search Engine Results Page – the page displaying search results in return to a query submitted by the user.
Search Term Evolution – the appearance of new words or phrases which are relevant to a particular industry.
SEO – abbreviation for Search Engine Optimization.
SERP – abbreviation for Search Engine Results Page.
Semantic Web – an aspiration to make all worldwide web information understandable to computers, using technology such as XML and SOAP.
Server-Side – web coding that provides instructions to a server to undertake a task. Opposite to client-side.
SHTML – HTML with “server-side” instructions included.
Slang – the use of alternative or colloquial phrases; in search engine marketing slang is an important consideration in the process of building an optimization strategy.
Spam – any practices used in advertising and SEM, that are disapproved by the engines and editors.
Spider – same as Robot.
Style Sheet Error – an error occurred when Cascading Style Sheets designed for one browser are viewed through another.
Submission – the act of submitting a website or web page to search engines in order to make them aware of their existence and index the new pages. Submission rules vary with each search engine.
Top Listings – search engine listings displayed within the first 30 of results.
Targeted Traffic – technique used to attract traffic to a website by providing what users want.
Unique User – each individual user to a website, who will be counted as one irrespective of the number of times he/she may visit the site.
URL – abbreviation from Universal Resource Locator (the unique address of a website).
User Agent Delivery – a spam technique similar to IP delivery with the only difference that search engine spiders are recognized by their name rather than by their IP address.
Viral Marketing – a self sustaining and self promoting form of marketing based on “the word of mouth” principle. It creates an idea that is so appealing to the public that it starts spreading by itself. The strategy is cheap and very effective, though hard to control.
Visitor Session – a time period marking one complete visit by a user to a website from start to finish. There is usually a set length of time necessary for the visit to be regarded as complete.
Web Trawler – same as Robot.
XML Trusted Feed Campaign Management – the process of submitting a feed of a website’s content in XML format to search engines, instead of relying on their spiders (robots) to index the website. This allows you to control the process and is especially useful to websites whose content tends to change frequently. It is also helpful when a conventional spider-based technology can’t access the site.
