A-Z of Digital Marketing - Copper Bay Digital

Your easy-to-read A-Z of Digital Marketing

Are you ready for the ultimate A-Z of digital marketing? We cover the key terms you need to know to understand digital marketing!

A –

A/B Testing –

This is where you test a single element change (e.g. a different title colour or updated copy) to see if it has a positive effect on your audience. Both of the variables will have the same amount of exposure to measure the impact the change has fairly.

ALT Text –

Stands for alternative text. It’s the process of adding a text alternative to images. This is particularly useful for those with visual impairment using a screen reader and search engine crawlers.

B –

Bounce rate –

This relates to traffic visiting your website. It’s a percentage of visitors that leave your site almost immediately without interacting with anything within the page/site.

Backlinks –

This is where an external website links back to yours! It’s extremely valuable for SEO.

B2C –

Business to a customer, where your audience is individual customers rather than businesses.

B2B –

Business to business, where your focus is on targeting other businesses.

C –

CTA (Call-To-Action) –

A prompt used to encourage customers to take action e.g. ‘Buy now’ or ‘Call us today’.

CTR (Click Through Rate) –

A percentage of users who click on an ad after they’ve seen it.

CPC (Cost per click) –

The cost of a single ad click on a paid campaign.

D –

Digital marketing strategy –

A structured digital marketing plan should guide all of your campaign activities (including the channels used).

Display advertising –

A form of online advertising that uses images, videos, or interactive media to display ads on websites, social media platforms, or mobile apps.

Domain Authority –

A metric developed that predicts the ranking potential of a website in search engine results based on various factors like backlinks, site structure, and content quality.

E –

Email marketing –

The process of sending emails to customers who have given express permission.

Engagement Rate –

A metric that measures the level of interaction, such as likes, comments, shares, and clicks, that a piece of content receives relative to the number of people who view it.

Evergreen Content-

Content that remains relevant and valuable over a long period of time, providing ongoing traffic, engagement, and SEO benefits.

F –

Favicon –

It’s the small graphic/icon used by a browser to signify the bookmarked website.

Funnel –

A visual representation of the customer journey. This is often divided into stages such as awareness, consideration, and conversion.

Frequency –

In advertising, it refers to the number of times an advertisement or message is displayed to a user within a given time period.

G –

Geotagging –

The process of associating an image with a geographical location. This helps show Google where you are operating.

Google Analytics –

A web analytics tool provided by Google that helps track and analyse website traffic, user behaviour, and other important metrics.

Google My Business –

A free tool provided by Google that allows businesses to manage their online presence on Google, including their business listing, reviews, and location information. Also sometimes called Google Local.

H –

Heatmap –

A visual representation of the journey that customers use when they visit your site. This is usually in the form of a video, but can also be an image highlighting popular areas where users spend their time. This is a great indicator of what’s working well, and what might need more work.

Hyperlink –

A clickable text or image that, when clicked, directs the user to another web page or a different section of the same page.

Hashtag –

A word or phrase preceded by the “#” symbol used on social media platforms to categorise and organize content around a specific topic or theme.

I –

Impressions –

Refers to the number of times your ad has been shown to someone online.

Inbound Link –

Also known as a backlink, it is a link on a website that leads to another website. Inbound links are important for SEO, as they can improve a website’s visibility and authority.

Inbound Marketing –

A marketing methodology that focuses on attracting and engaging potential customers through valuable content, SEO, social media, and other non-intrusive tactics. It has the ultimate goal of building trust and generating leads.

J –

JavaScript –

A web programming language used to create dynamic content. Examples are pop-up light boxes reminding website visitors of an ongoing sale/offer.

Journey Mapping –

The process of visualising and understanding the customer journey. From initial awareness to the final conversion or purchase. This is done in order to identify pain points, optimise touchpoints, and improve the overall customer experience.

K –

Keyword research –

The process of researching appropriate keywords for use in your website copy, other content like blogs, or paid ads campaigns. It usually consists of scoring each keyword based on search level, relevancy to the brand and competition level.

Keyword stuffing –

This is where you push too many keywords into a copy. Although you should aim to use appropriate keywords, your copy should still be realistic and pleasing to the reader. Keyword stuffing is a tactic frowned upon by Google.

Key Performance Indicator (KPI) –

A measurable value that is used to evaluate the success or performance of a marketing campaign or strategy. KPIs can include metrics like website traffic, conversion rate, customer acquisition cost, and more.

L –

Lead magnet –

Where you offer something in exchange for valuable contact details. For example a guide on how to make the most of website traffic or even a newsletter.

Landing page –

A page that a user is taken to after clicking on a link. They are frequently used to ensure you appear in local searches and with Google Ads.

Local SEO –

Search engine optimisation strategies and techniques that focus on improving a website’s visibility and rankings in local search results. This is especially powerful for location-based businesses.

M –

Marketing Automation –

Software that is used to automate repetitive tasks within digital marketing such as abandoned cart emails.

Mobile Optimisation –

The process of adapting and optimising websites, content, and advertising for mobile devices. This is to provide a seamless user experience and improve mobile search rankings.

Metrics –

Quantifiable measurements that are used to track and assess the performance and effectiveness of marketing campaigns and strategies.

Meta Tags –

HTML tags that provide information about a web page’s content to search engines and website visitors.

N –

Niche marketing –

Where you strategically target smaller sections of your target audience.

Newsletter –

A regularly distributed email or digital publication that provides updates, news, or valuable content to subscribers who have opted in to receive it.

O –

Organic search traffic –

Traffic that finds a website organically through searching and not through other means e.g. paid ads.

Open Rate –

In email marketing, the percentage of recipients who open an email out of the total number of emails delivered. It is used to measure the effectiveness of email campaigns and subject lines.

On-Page Optimisation –

The process of optimising elements within a web page, such as content, meta tags, headers, and URLs, to improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results.

P –

PPC (pay-per-click) –

This is where you pay to appear to your target audience (for example Bing Ads, Google Ads or Social Media Ads). You usually only pay when the ad is clicked by the user.

Personas –

A fictional character designed to help you visualise your desired target audience. Once created, you can then create appropriate marketing which targets them.

PageRank –

An algorithm developed by Google that evaluates the importance and relevance of web pages based on the number and quality of incoming links. It is a factor used in determining search engine rankings.

R –

Return on Investment (ROI) –

The return you get from a marketing campaign. Revenue generated – Marketing Spend = Return on Investment. This is usually calculated as a percentage or a numerical figure.

Responsive Design –

A web design approach that ensures websites and content adapt and display properly across different devices and screen sizes.

Retargeting –

A digital advertising strategy that targets users who have previously interacted with a website or brand. It then displays relevant ads to encourage them to revisit or complete a desired action.

S –

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) –

The process of optimising your website to appear as high as possible in organic rankings. There are 3 main categories (on-page SEO, off-page SEO and technical SEO).

Social Media Marketing –

The use of social media platforms to promote a brand, engage with audiences, and drive website traffic or conversions. It involves creating and sharing content, running ads, and engaging with followers with content.

Split Testing –

Also known as A/B testing. It is the process of comparing two or more versions of a webpage, ad, or marketing campaign to see which one performs better in terms of user engagement or conversion rate.

T –

Target Audience –

This is the group of people who share a characteristic that you are targeting your product or services to. For example, Female business owners who are 25-35 years old.

Title tag –

An HTML tag that signifies a page topic/title.

Traffic –

The number of visitors or users who visit a website or interact with a digital platform within a specific time period. It can be measured in terms of overall traffic, organic traffic, referral traffic, or paid traffic.

U –

Unique visitors –

Analytic tools such as Google Analytics will show the number of users visiting your website. Unique visitors refer to unique IP addresses – it will not show multiple visits by the same user.

UTM Parameters –

A custom URL which can be used to track the source, medium and campaign that brought a visitor to your page.

V –

Vlog –

A blog that is done using video instead of text copy.

Vanity Metrics –

Metrics that may look impressive but do not provide meaningful insights into the success or effectiveness of a marketing campaign. Examples include social media followers, likes, and shares, which may not directly correlate with business objectives or conversions.

W –

White Papers –

This is a document which offers expert advice or problem-solving. They are completed on a specific topic, for example, ‘How to make the most out of your LinkedIn profile’ and are usually visual.

Word of Mouth Marketing –

The process of promoting a product, service, or brand through personal recommendations and referrals from satisfied customers. Word-of-mouth marketing relies on the power of positive experiences.

Website Optimisation –

The process of improving various elements of a website to enhance its performance, user experience, and search engine visibility.

X –

XML Sitemap –

A document which lists all relevant pages, files, and posts from a website. This helps search engine crawlers identify relevant pages of your website to index.

Y –

YouTube Advertising –

YouTube has a variety of marketing formats that you can utilise. For example, non-skippable video ads, overlay ads or bumper ads. Each has its own costs and formats.

Z –

Zero cost strategy –

A tactic or marketing decision that doesn’t attract a cost/expense.

Zero-Click Searches –

Search engine result page (SERP) interactions where the user’s query is answered directly on the search results page, without the need to click through to a website. Examples include featured snippets, knowledge graphs, and quick answers.