Digital Marketing Terms Glossary A-Z

301 Redirect
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect that informs search engines that a page has permanently moved to a new address. It directs traffic from the old page to the new page.

404 Error
A 404 error occurs when a user attempts to access a page that does not exist on a website. It indicates to the user that the requested page could not be found.

A/B Testing
A/B testing involves testing different variations of a web page or marketing message to determine which variation performs best. It helps optimize conversion rates and identify what content or design resonates most with audiences.

Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing involves partnering with websites and influencers to promote a business in exchange for a commission on sales or leads generated. It allows leveraging third-party networks and influencers to gain new customers.

Alt-Text
Alt-text provides a text-based description of an image for users who are visually impaired or cannot view images. It improves accessibility and understanding of images for all users.

Anchor Text
Anchor text is the visible clickable text in hyperlinks that provides context and understanding for what will be found on the linked page. It helps users understand where the link will guide them.

Analytics
Analytics refers to the measurement and analysis of web traffic and online consumer behaviour. It provides insights to improve campaigns, optimise websites and track performance.

Attribution
Attribution tracks which marketing campaigns and activities influence a conversion event like a purchase. It helps determine the success of different tactics and distribute credit appropriately.

Backlink
A backlink is when one website links to another using HTML code. Backlinks are a key factor in determining search engine rankings, with more relevant backlinks boosting a site’s authority.

Behavioural Targeting
Behavioural targeting involves serving tailored ads to people based on their past online activities and behaviours. It aims ads at receptive audiences likely to be interested.

Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave a website from the entrance page without interacting with the content. A high rate indicates usability or content issues.

Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is the degree of recognition and familiarity with a brand. Strong awareness generates recognition and trust important for marketing efforts.

Brand Personality
Brand personality refers to the set of human attributes and characteristics represented by a brand. A consistent personality helps create attachment and loyalty.

Brand Recognition
Brand recognition relates to the memorability of a brand, as defined by visual elements like logo, color schemes, fonts and slogans that comprise its identity system.

Branded Resources
Branded resources provide value to consumers but not always through direct sales. They strengthen relationships through helpful, use-oriented assets that reinforce a brand.

Bread Crumbs
Breadcrumbs are navigational links at the top of pages indicating the website structure. They show the visitor’s current location within a hierachy to enable easy navigation back.

Business To Business (B2B)
Business to business describes commercial transactions between companies as opposed to interactions with individual consumers. B2B sales focus on other businesses or organisations.

Business To Consumer (B2C)
Business to consumer encompasses commercial interactions direct to end users and private customers rather than other companies. B2C marketing targets individual consumers.

Buyer Persona
A buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer based on real behavioural insights and market research. Personas aid targeted outreach and content.

Call to Action (CTA)
A call to action prompts a desired response, usually through a clearly labeled button or link. It should motivate visitors using benefits and next action instructions for conversions.

Call to Action (CTA) Button
A call to action button is the prominent clickable element used on websites to induce a specific action through clear and compelling messaging.

Canonical Tag
The canonical tag informs search engines which URL is preferred when duplicate or similar content exists. It alleviates duplicate content issues hampering rankings.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Cascading Style Sheets are a language used to describe how HTML elements are presented including colors, fonts, layout and formatting. CSS separates structure from presentation.

Churn Rate
Churn rate indicates the percentage of customers lost over time. It reveals how well a business retains customers, and where improvements can boost customer loyalty.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)
CTR signifies the percentage of impressions that result in a click when shown an ad or search listing. It evaluates audience engagement on channels like Google Ads.

Click-To-Open Rate (CTOR)
The click-to-open rate gauges email performance based on unique clicks divided by unique opens. It assesses how many opens translate into button clicks and subscriber engagement.

Cohort
A cohort comprises a specific group of individuals sharing common traits for analysis. In marketing, cohorts identify behavioural patterns of visitors, prospects and customers.

Content Calendar
A content calendar is a planning tool that maps out topics, types and a publishing schedule for blog posts, social updates, videos and other editorial content over time.

Content Management System
A content management system (CMS) allows non-technical users to easily manage and publish content to a website without code knowledge. Popular platforms include WordPress and Drupal.

Conversational & Brand Building Content
Conversational content aims to start meaningful discussions instead of one-way pitch messages. When combined with brand values, it nurtures loyalty through engagement and community.

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)
CRO described efforts to increase conversions by testing and refining website variables. The goal is a higher percentage of visitors completing key goals like purchases, signups and downloads.

Conversion Rate
The conversion rate indicates the percentage of site visitors who complete a desired action, such as a purchase, sign up or download. It reflects how effectively traffic translates into outcomes.

Conversion
A conversion represents the successful completion of a predefined goal, such as a sale, signup, download or page visit. Conversions demonstrate engagement and are crucial metrics.

Cookies
A cookie is a small file deposited by a website on a visitor’s device to store useful data during their session. Common uses include tracking shopping carts, authenticating, customizing content and retargeting ads.

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
Cost per acquisition metrics examine the total spend required to achieve a conversion event like obtaining a qualified lead or acquiring a new paying customer.

Cost Per Click (CPC)
Cost per click indicates the fee charged each time an ad is clicked in paid marketing campaigns on platforms like search engines or social networks.

Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM)
CPM rates the cost per one thousand ad impressions on digital channels. It provides an alternative metric to CPC when the objective involves visibility over clicks.

Cost To Acquire A Customer (CAC)
Used in software, CAC evaluates the total investment to obtain a single paying customer. Dividing costs by new subscribers calculates efficiency of acquisition strategies.

Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)
Customer lifetime value predicts the total net profit attributed to the ongoing relationship with a customer over time, helping maximize retention and recoup acquisition expenditures.

Demographics
Demographics define characteristics of a population, like age, gender, income level, occupation, location and more. They help segment audiences for precision targeting and personalised campaigns.

Drip Marketing
Drip marketing automates communications along a planned schedule to prospects and customers according to goals like nurturing or reactivation. It sustains engagement over long periods.

Dynamic Content
Dynamic content tailors messaging on web pages based on visitor attributes without human intervention. For instance, content may highlight different promotions for new versus returning site visitors.

Dynamic Retargeting
Also called prospecting, dynamic retargeting serves ads to past website visitors containing images of products they specifically browsed. It fosters top-of-mind awareness through personalized follow-ups.

Email Automation/Autoresponders
Email automation enables predefined, self-triggered messages like welcome sequences and reactivation reminders. Autoresponders maintain relationships and move subscribers along sales and marketing funnels.

Email Marketing
Email marketing refers to promotional emails intentionally sent to opt-in subscribers or customers. With the right strategy and content, it remains a powerful lead generation and reengagement tool.

Engagement Rate
Engagement rate indicates user interactions with content, such as likes, comments, shares or downloads. It evaluates how successfully a message resonates and inspires connectivity beyond views alone.

Evergreen Content
Evergreen content stays relevant over long periods without an expiration date. Topics cover universal issues so future audiences still find value whenever they encounter the asset. Evergreen pieces bolster search visibility and authority.

Favicon
A favicon (favorite icon) is the small icon image representing a website in browser tabs. It improves brand recall and visual identification among competitors in the address bar for a better user experience.

Friction
Any irritating or cumbersome element of a website that discourages or prevents visitors from accomplishing their goals. Reducing friction improves conversions by smoothing the customer journey.

Geo-Targeting
Geo-targeting customises digital outreach according to geographic location factors. Location data enables focused content and ads matching local tastes, trends, issues and niches wherever an audience resides.

Hashtag
A hashtag precedes a clickable keyword or phrase on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram. It categorizes posts, making them easier for users to find in broader conversations when browsing related hashtags.

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
HTML describes and defines the structure and layout of web content semantically using elements like headings, paragraphs, images and links. Browsers interpret HTML code into visible pages.

Impression
An impression records each ad exposure, such as when an internet user sees a sponsored listing on a search results page or visits a webpage containing a banner ad. Marketers track impressions to assess reach.

Influencer Marketing
Leveraging relationships with social media personalities and subject experts to promote brands in a credible, authentic way. Influencers vouch for products and services to their loyal audience through genuine recommendations.

Instagram Marketing
Instagram comprises a key marketing channel due its massive user engagement with visual storytelling. Tactics integrate posts, IG ads, Stories, highlights and more to spark connections around photos and short videos.

Javascript
Javascript brings interactivity to static websites by interacting with HTML and CSS objects dynamically. It controls advanced behaviors from simple forms to animations, slides and multimedia elements powered by code execution on the client-side.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
KPIs establish quantifiable metrics used to define and measure progress towards goals. Analyzing multiple KPIs over time reveals what drives success or requires improvement to refine strategies based on data.

Keyword Stuffing
The shady practice of loading a webpage with target keywords excessively and unnaturally solely to manipulate search engine rankings at the cost of usability. Stuffing results in penalties rather than organic traffic.

Keyword
Keywords are the specific terms or phrases people enter to find products or services online through search engines or onsite keywords. Proper keyword selection aims ads and content at high intent searches.

Keywords Research
Research exposes the most popular related phrases for a topic to aid SEO keyword strategy selection. Competitive analysis of high ranking content sheds light on what covertly motivates clicks to inform new angles and focus.

Landing Page
A landing page represents the destination webpage for a specific promotion, link or call-to-action. Its sole focus optimizes lead capture by directly addressing the visitor’s need, doubt or interest driving them from the referring content or channel.

Lead
A qualified sales lead represents an individual or business with verified interest after raising their hand, often by filling out a form, to receive additional information about potentially solving problems with products or services.

Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords denote more specific multi-word search phrases versus ambiguous one or two word terms. They typically yield less volume but often offer easier rankings and a better user experience through matched intent and content.

Marketing Funnel
The marketing funnel visualises the consumer journey from awareness to loyalty as a pyramid. It breaks prospects into defined stages from top to bottom – awareness, consideration, intent, purchase, advocacy – to map lifecycle touchpoints and optimize each step’s conversion rates.

Meta Description
The meta description provides an at-a-glance overview for how pages land in search results. At around 150 characters, the condensed teaser aims to accurately portray content to intrigue clicks from listings while indexing priorities to Googlebots.

Meta Tag
Meta tags contain hidden HTML codes revealing crucial data unavailable in visible text, like the title, description, keywords and handling of duplicate pages. They communicate with search engines how to understand and represent a site.

Open Rate
The open rate signifies the percentage of email recipients who opened a specific campaign. It reveals subscribers’ initial willingness to engage, though high opens don’t guarantee message effectiveness or conversions without compelling copy.

Organic Search
Organic or natural search describes the free, editorial listings websites can achieve in engine result pages by excelling content and technical SEO best practices rather than paid ads. It represents the bulk of traffic for many established companies.

Page Speed
Page speed, or load time, measures how long a browser requires to fully fetch all elements like images and render an optimally responsive website experience for the end user. Faster speeds boost conversions significantly.

Paid Search
Paid search advertising, including Pay Per Click through Google Ads, involves purchasing placement within search engines’ algorithmic results for targeted keywords. Marketers control budgets, bids and schedules managing these promoted listings separately from organic rankings.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Pay-Per-Click describes advertising cost models on platforms like Google and social networks charging fees per click on text or image ads. PPC campaigns usually represent the tentpole of acquisition budgets and lead generation programs.

Promotional Content
Promotional content pushes particular deals or offers explicitly tied to purchases or sales. Its primary goal converts browsing into transactions through overt calls-to-action related to special pricing, limited inventory or seasonal product lines.

Quality Score
A numerical Google algorithm rating campaigns and ads based on factors like landing page experience, relevance between ad text and destination, and click-through rates. Higher scores correlate ads to stronger positions within paid search results.

Rankings
The term rankings refer to a website’s placement within search engine result pages (SERPs) for associated keywords. Positions may climb or drop over time when factors like fresh content, links or site changes affect SEO performance signals.

Reach
Reach indicates the total audience a social media campaign or content publication achieves, rather than single impressions which represent individual views or playbacks that may count the same user repeatedly.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
RSS empowers users to subscribe to updated content across many websites favourably in personalised feeds rather than individually checking each page. Publishers benefit from exposed readers following via syndicated headlines and blurbs.

Remarketing
Also called retargeting, remarketing displays ads promoting previous site visitors on unrelated third-party websites or their social channels. By continued exposure to familiar brands, remarketing improves navigational targeting and purchase consideration.

Responsive Design
Responsive web design dynamically adjusts layouts and components based on devices’ varying screen sizes through fluid, proportional grids and media queries. It adapts content seamlessly for desktops, mobile or any browser width for an optimised user experience regardless of how users access sites.

Retention Rate
The retention rate measures customer loyalty by indicating the percentage of a user base that continues engagement over a specific period. It complements new acquisition and reflects the success of nurturing lifetime value beyond initial conversions alone.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
ROAS weighs advertising efficiency by dividing total revenue generated by a campaign into its spending to yield the uptick in income per dollar invested. The better the ROAS, the more economic results prove for future investments in specific advertising channels.

Return on Investment (ROI)
ROI supplies a more generalised formula assessing the total profits or benefits realised in relation to costs over the lifespan of a program, project or change rather than pinpointing marketing alone. Any dollars funnelled into growth should aim strong, repeatable ROI.

Sales Funnel
The sales funnel builds on top of the overall marketing funnel’s awareness stages by encompassing the unique sequence of events experience by prospects engaging qualified sales representatives until purchase commitment. It funnels interest into transactions through commitment and advocacy stages.

Schema Markup
Schema markup denotes HTML tags describing structured data types to search engines like businesses, events or reviews associated with pages. This supplemental information helps search pattern matches to surface optimised snippets, enhancing relevance for intent-based queries.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO comprises technical and content-based best practices to increase the organic visibility of websites within search engine results pages through earned editorial rankings rather than paid placement. It drives qualified traffic at scale.

Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
A SERP refers to the compilation of algorithmic and potentially sponsored listings search engines display in response to keywords entered into their interfaces. Optimizing for SERPs constitutes a core consideration of SEO and digital marketing strategies.

Search Intent
Search intent reviews the motivation behind an internet user’s actual search queries to better understand their problem, need or question at that moment. Proper intent leads searchers to helpful, relevant responses satisfying underlying goals or questions.

Search Term
Search terms represent the particular keywords or phrases internet users enter into search engines or onsite search boxes looking for information. Analyzing popular search terms guides content and promotion matching latent curiosities.

Sitemap
A sitemap provides search engine web crawlers an index to discover, index and keep updated on all pages of a website through an XML file listing URLs and metadata. It helps search engines understand a site’s information architecture holistically.

Social Media Marketing
Managing presences and campaigns across social networking platforms to engage prospective and current customers through organic posts, paid promotions and platform-specific features like hashtags or Stories. The goal grows recognition while fostering interactions strengthening relationships.

Tracking Code
Tracking codes resemble digital breadcrumbs planted on websites and marketing collateral allowing analytics platforms to recognize visitors across sessions and sources. These scripts power data segmentation and multi-touch attribution modelling.

User Experience (UX)
User experience focuses on how people feel when interacting with a website, app or software. UX design improves usability, functionality and satisfaction to retain users and maximise conversions through an optimised journey aligned to their expectations and tasks.

User Interface (UI)
The User Interface encompasses all design elements a person directly interacts with like buttons, menus, sliders or text fields. Combined with UX best practices, an intuitive UI streamlines completing tasks while minimising frustrations from inconsistent, confusing or overloaded surfaces.

User-Generated Content
User-generated material comprises any type of unpaid media created and shared publicly by customers or enthusiasts themselves rather than commissioned from the host brand or its agency. Social endorsement benefits from customer advocacy and perspectives.

Video Marketing
Video marketing leverages short and long-form video formats with consistent branding to humanise companies and resonate with emotions better activating memory than other mediums. Whether hosted natively or embedded elsewhere, video engages content consumers.

Website Analytics
Website analytics solutions operate server-side code revealing a visitors’ behaviour including entry and exit pages, time spent, device used and common paths taken. These key metrics optimise the customer journey and inform UX/UI as well as marketing strategy improvements.