The Small Business marketing Dictionary & Glossary

A

A/B Testing

A method of comparing two versions of a webpage, email, or other marketing asset to determine which performs better in terms of conversion or engagement. By showing different versions to different segments of your audience, you can identify which elements are most effective in driving the desired action, such as clicking a button or completing a form.

Algorithm

A set of rules or calculations that search engines use to determine the relevance and ranking of web pages. These algorithms consider various factors, like keywords, site structure, and backlinks, to deliver the most relevant results to users based on their search queries.

Alt Text (Alternative Text)

Text descriptions of images that help search engines and screen readers understand the content of images. Alt text is crucial for improving accessibility for visually impaired users and plays a role in SEO by providing context about the image to search engines.

B

Backlinks

Links from other websites that point to your site. They are important for SEO because they signal to search engines that your site is credible and authoritative. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the more likely your site will rank higher in search engine results.

Black Hat SEO

Unethical and manipulative SEO practices that violate search engine guidelines. These techniques, such as keyword stuffing, cloaking (showing different content to search engines than users), and using private link networks, aim to boost rankings quickly but can result in severe penalties or even a complete ban from search engines if discovered.

Bounce Rate

The percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing only one page, without interacting further. A high bounce rate can indicate that your site’s content or design isn’t engaging or relevant to visitors, or that it’s not meeting their expectations based on their search query.

C

Call to Action (CTA)

A prompt that encourages users to take a specific action, such as “Buy Now,” “Sign Up,” or “Learn More.” CTAs are essential in guiding users through the customer journey and can significantly impact conversion rates if they are clear, compelling, and well-placed.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The ratio of users who click on a specific link compared to the total number of users who view a page, email, or advertisement. CTR is a key metric in assessing the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns, as it indicates how well your content is driving users to take action.

Content

Any information, such as text, images, videos, or audio, that is created and distributed to inform, entertain, or engage an audience. Content is the cornerstone of digital marketing, used across websites, social media, emails, and other platforms to attract and retain customers by providing value.

Content Marketing

A strategic approach focused on creating, publishing, and distributing valuable and relevant content to attract, engage, and retain a clearly defined audience. The goal of content marketing is to drive profitable customer actions, such as making a purchase or subscribing to a service, by building trust and authority over time.

Content Strategy

The planning, development, and management of content—written, visual, or multimedia—intended to achieve specific business objectives. A content strategy ensures that all content aligns with the brand’s goals, meets the needs of the target audience, and is delivered in the most effective format and channels.

Copywriting

The process of writing persuasive and compelling text (copy) for marketing materials, such as advertisements, websites, emails, and social media posts. The goal of copywriting is to engage the reader and encourage them to take a specific action, such as purchasing a product, signing up for a newsletter, or clicking a link.

Conversion Rate

The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action—like making a purchase, filling out a form, or signing up for a newsletter—compared to the total number of visitors. A higher conversion rate indicates that your website or marketing campaign is effective at persuading visitors to take the action you want.

D

Domain Authority (DA)

A metric developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs). DA is scored on a scale from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating a greater ability to rank. It’s influenced by factors such as the number and quality of backlinks, the site’s content, and overall SEO practices.

Drip Campaign

A series of automated emails sent over time to nurture leads or keep customers engaged. Drip campaigns are designed to gradually move prospects closer to a purchase by delivering relevant information at the right time, often triggered by specific actions like signing up for a newsletter or abandoning a shopping cart.

Duplicate Content

Content that appears on more than one web page, either within your own website or across different websites. Search engines may penalize sites with duplicate content because it can confuse search engines and dilute the value of the content. It’s important to ensure that your content is unique and original to avoid such penalties.

E

Engagement Rate

A measure of how actively involved your audience is with your content, calculated by interactions such as likes, shares, comments, and clicks. A high engagement rate indicates that your content resonates with your audience and encourages them to interact with your brand.

Evergreen Content

Content that remains relevant and valuable over a long period, such as how-to guides, resource pages, and tutorials. Unlike news articles or trend-based content, evergreen content doesn’t become outdated quickly and continues to attract traffic and engagement over time.

F

Funnel

The marketing model that represents the journey a customer takes from awareness to purchase. It typically includes stages like awareness (top of the funnel), consideration (middle of the funnel), and decision (bottom of the funnel). Understanding the funnel helps businesses tailor their marketing efforts to guide customers through each stage.

G

Google Analytics

A free tool provided by Google that tracks and reports website traffic and user behavior. Google Analytics helps businesses understand how visitors interact with their site, which pages are most popular, and how effectively marketing efforts are driving traffic and conversions.

Google My Business

A free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. By optimizing your Google My Business profile, you can improve your visibility in local search results, attract more customers, and provide important information like your address, phone number, and hours of operation.

Google PageSpeed Insights

A free tool provided by Google that analyzes the performance of a web page on both mobile and desktop devices. It provides scores for speed and user experience, along with suggestions on how to improve page load times and overall performance. Optimizing page speed is important for user experience and can positively impact search rankings.

Google Search Console

A free tool offered by Google that helps website owners monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot their site’s presence in Google Search results. It provides insights into how Google crawls and indexes your site, allows you to submit sitemaps, monitor keyword performance, fix indexing issues, and receive alerts about potential problems.

H

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)

The standard language for creating web pages and web applications. HTML structures the content on the page, using elements like headings, paragraphs, links, and images, to make it readable for browsers and search engines.

H1 Tag

An HTML tag used to define the main heading of a web page. The H1 tag is important for SEO because it signals to search engines what the page is about, and it helps organize content for better readability.

Heatmap

A data visualization tool that shows how users interact with a webpage, highlighting areas with the most clicks, scrolls, or interactions. Heatmaps help businesses understand user behavior on their site, revealing what’s working and what may need improvement to enhance user experience.

I

Inbound Marketing

A strategy that focuses on attracting customers through valuable content and interactions, rather than traditional advertising methods like cold calling or direct mail. Inbound marketing involves creating content that answers potential customers’ questions and needs, drawing them in naturally through search engines, social media, and other online platforms.

Impressions

The number of times your content, ad, or web page is displayed, regardless of whether it is clicked. Impressions are a key metric in understanding the reach of your content or advertising campaign, although high impressions don’t necessarily mean high engagement.

Impression Share

A metric that indicates the percentage of impressions your ad received compared to the total number of impressions it could have received. This metric helps assess the visibility of your ads and can signal whether you’re missing out on potential traffic due to budget or competition.

K

Keyword

A specific word or phrase that users enter into search engines to find content. Keywords are crucial for SEO, as they help search engines understand the content of your web pages and match it with relevant user queries. Using the right keywords strategically can improve your site’s visibility in search results.

Keyword Density

The percentage of times a keyword appears on a page compared to the total number of words on the page. While it’s important to include relevant keywords, overusing them can lead to keyword stuffing, which is penalized by search engines.

L

Landing Page

A standalone web page created specifically for a marketing or advertising campaign, where visitors “land” after clicking a link. Landing pages are designed to drive specific actions, such as filling out a form or making a purchase, and are optimized to convert visitors into leads or customers.

Lead Generation

The process of attracting and converting strangers and prospects into someone who has indicated interest in your company’s product or service. Lead generation involves strategies like content marketing, social media engagement, and paid advertising to capture contact information and nurture potential customers.

Local SEO

The process of optimizing your online presence to attract more business from relevant local searches. This involves improving visibility in local search results, managing online reviews, and ensuring that your website content is relevant to the local audience. Local SEO is particularly important for businesses that rely on customers from specific geographic areas.

M

Meta Description

A brief summary of a web page’s content that appears in search engine results below the page title. A well-written meta description can influence whether users click on your link, so it’s important to make it compelling and relevant to the search query.

Mobile Optimization

The process of ensuring that your website content is fully accessible and easy to use on mobile devices. With more people accessing the internet via smartphones and tablets, mobile optimization is crucial for providing a good user experience and maintaining high search rankings.

Marketing Automation

Technology that manages marketing processes and campaigns across multiple channels automatically. Marketing automation is often used to segment audiences, personalize communication, and deliver the right content at the right time, improving efficiency and effectiveness in marketing efforts.

N

Niche Marketing

Targeting a specific, well-defined segment of the market with tailored marketing efforts. Niche marketing allows businesses to focus on a smaller, more specific audience that has particular needs or interests, making it easier to stand out and connect with potential customers.

O

Organic Search

Traffic to your website that comes from unpaid search results, rather than paid advertisements. Organic search is a key indicator of how well your site is optimized for search engines, as it reflects the relevance and authority of your content based on user queries.

Organic Traffic

Organic traffic refers to visitors who arrive at your website through unpaid search results on search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo. Unlike paid traffic, which is generated through ads, organic traffic is driven by the relevance and quality of your content, as well as your website’s optimization for search engines (SEO). High organic traffic typically indicates that your website ranks well in search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords, making it an essential component of a successful online presence.

P

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

An online advertising model where advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. PPC is a way of buying visits to your site, rather than attempting to earn them organically. It allows for targeted advertising based on keywords, demographics, and interests, making it a powerful tool for driving traffic and conversions.

Persona

A detailed description of a fictional character who represents your target audience. Personas are used to tailor marketing efforts by helping businesses understand the needs, goals, and behaviors of their ideal customers, allowing for more effective communication and product development.

Programmatic Advertising

The use of software to automate the buying of digital advertising space. Programmatic advertising uses algorithms and real-time data to target audiences more effectively, making the process more efficient and often more cost-effective than traditional ad buying methods.

R

A measure used to evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment. ROI is calculated by dividing the return (or benefit) of an investment by the cost. In marketing, it’s a key metric for assessing the effectiveness of campaigns and determining where to allocate budget for the best results.

Responsive Design

A web design approach that ensures a site looks good and functions well on all devices and screen sizes, from desktops to smartphones. Responsive design is essential for providing a seamless user experience, improving site accessibility, and maintaining good search engine rankings.

Remarketing

A strategy that involves showing ads to people who have previously visited your website. Remarketing helps keep your brand in front of potential customers, encouraging them to return to your site and complete a desired action, like making a purchase.

Reputation Management

The practice of monitoring and influencing how a brand, company, or individual is perceived online. This involves responding to customer reviews, addressing negative feedback, promoting positive content, and managing public relations to maintain or improve the entity’s reputation. Effective reputation management builds trust and credibility with your audience.

S

Schema Markup

Code added to your website to help search engines return more informative results for users. Schema markup is a form of structured data that can improve how your pages appear in search results, such as by displaying rich snippets like star ratings, prices, or event details.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The practice of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO involves various techniques, including keyword research, on-page optimization, and link building, to increase your site’s visibility and drive organic traffic.

Search Engine Results Page (SERP)

The page displayed by search engines in response to a query by a user. SERPs typically include a mix of organic search results, paid ads, and sometimes additional features like featured snippets or knowledge panels.

Search Intent

The purpose behind a user’s search query, such as finding information, making a purchase, or navigating to a specific website. Understanding search intent helps businesses create content that directly addresses what users are looking for, improving relevance and engagement.

Social Proof

The concept that people are more likely to take action if they see that others are doing the same. In marketing, social proof can be shown through testimonials, reviews, endorsements, and user-generated content, helping to build trust and credibility with potential customers.

T

Traffic

The number of visitors to your website. Traffic is a key metric in digital marketing, as it reflects the reach and effectiveness of your online presence. There are different types of traffic, including organic, paid, referral, and direct, each indicating how users find your site.

Trust Flow

A metric developed by Majestic that measures the quality of links pointing to a site. Trust Flow is an indicator of the trustworthiness of your site based on the credibility of the websites linking to it, with higher scores suggesting a more reliable and authoritative site.

U

User Experience (UX)

The overall experience a user has when interacting with a website, app, or product. UX focuses on ease of use, accessibility, and satisfaction, aiming to provide a seamless and enjoyable experience that meets the user’s needs and encourages them to return.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

The address of a web page on the internet. A URL is what users type into their browser to visit a specific page, and it’s also used by search engines to index and rank pages. A well-structured URL can improve SEO and user experience.

User-Generated Content (UGC)

Any content—such as reviews, testimonials, photos, or videos—created by users or customers, rather than by the brand itself. UGC is valuable in marketing because it provides authentic, social proof, and can help build community and trust among potential customers.

V

Viral Content

Content that rapidly spreads online through social sharing and engagement, often reaching a large audience quickly. Viral content is typically highly engaging, entertaining, or emotional, and can significantly boost brand awareness and reach.

Visual Content

Content that uses images, videos, infographics, or other visual elements to convey information or tell a story. Visual content is highly effective in digital marketing because it captures attention, is easily shareable, and can simplify complex information.

W

Web Hosting

The service that provides space on the internet for your website. Web hosting companies offer servers and technology to store your site’s files and make them accessible to users online. Reliable web hosting is essential for website performance, security, and uptime.

Webinar

An online seminar or presentation that allows participants to interact in real time. Webinars are often used for educational purposes, product demonstrations, or lead generation, providing value to participants while allowing businesses to engage with their audience.

Webmaster

A person responsible for maintaining one or more websites. Duties typically include ensuring the site runs smoothly, managing content updates, troubleshooting technical issues, and optimizing the site for search engines. Webmasters play a crucial role in the day-to-day operation and success of a website.

White Hat SEO

Ethical and legitimate SEO practices that follow search engine guidelines. White Hat SEO focuses on providing value to users, creating high-quality content, and improving user experience, rather than manipulating search rankings. This approach helps build a sustainable online presence and avoids the risks associated with Black Hat SEO.