Above the fold
The part of a Web page that is visible without scrolling. Material in this area is considered more valuable because the reader sees it first. It refers to a printing term for the top half of a newspaper above the fold but, unlike a newspaper, email and Web page fold locations aren't predictable. Your fold may be affected by the users' preview pane, monitor size, monitor resolution and any headers placed by email programs.
Algorithm
Set of mathematical rules that describe or determine a circumstance or action. In the case of search engines, unique algorithms determine the ranking of Websites returned within search queries.
Awareness
The first phase of the product marketing cycle, during which prospects gain awareness of the product/service.
B-to-B
Business-to-Business
B-to-C
Business-to-Consumer
Call to Action
In a marketing message, Web ad, email, etc., the link or body copy that tells the recipient what action to take, i.e., pick up the phone; come buy from me now!
Click Through
The process of clicking on a link in a search engine output page to visit an indexed site.
Click Through Rate (CTR)
Total number of clicks on search ads, emails, etc. divided by the number of ads viewed, emails sent, page views, etc.
Content Rich
Refers to a Web page that contains relevant content specific to the topic at hand. Usually refers to repeating keywords within the body copy of a Website, relevant to search terms.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of visitors/users who "convert" on the action of a Web page, email sent or campaign. For example, actions may be purchasing, downloading content, calling a phone number, emailing or making an extended site visit.
Cost Per Lead (CPL)
Cost of the marketing campaign divided by the number of leads generated.
Crawlers
Domain Name System
How computer networks locate Internet domain names and translate them into IP addresses. The domain name is the actual name for an IP address or range of IP addresses.
Dynamic Content
Web page information that changes according to rules set by the client or server, and can adapt to instructions. For example, a dynamic content system makes it possible for unique home pages to be delivered to millions of Yahoo! users whose personal preferences have been set.
Eye Tracking
A type of Web page testing that follows the eye movements of participants to gauge how they interact with the page.
Heat Map
A map of a Web page that displays where the consumers most likely direct their eyesight on the page.
Keyword
A word which forms all or part of a search engine query.
Keyword Phrase
A phrase which forms all or part of a search engine query.
Meta Tag
A part of the source code used to build a Website. Meta Tags should correspond to the content of the site and the goals of the search engine marketing campaign. For example, if your business sells BMWs, BMW would be a relevant Meta Tag.
Micro Sites
A cross between a landing page and a regular Website. They often have their own domain names and even separate brands from the organization's core brand. Used when a marketer wants to offer a user an extended experience for branding or educational purposes.
Natural Results
Organic listings
(Also Natural Listings) Search page results that are provided free and based on the search algorithms of the search engine. A site might have a high "organic" ranking without paying the search engine anything at all.
Paid Placement
Ad model where search engines return paid advertising when appropriate queries are used. For example, if someone searches for "new cars", a paid ad from a major auto manufacturer may appear. Advertisers bid on specific keywords which are contained in search queries, and attach specific text ads to them.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
Paid search advertising is usually based on this model, where advertisers pay a bounty for each click originating from a source of traffic. Pay per click is a search engine marketing service where the advertiser must pay on a per-click basis to generate traffic for their Website. The highest "bidder" ranks the best.
Phrase Matching
A variation on broad matching that allows the search engine to return results that include your phrase. For example, you've bid on "Hawaii surf" and the phrase-matched query "Hawaii surf shop" will return your ad, but won't return "surf pros in Hawaii."
Qualified Lead
While the definition varies from marketer to marketer, a qualified lead is generally the next step up from inquiry—the lead fits some criteria to warrant lead development. It may be as simple as "anyone who searched for this term is qualified" to "they only corresponded to three of five criteria from our registration form, they are not qualified."
Query
A word, phrase or string of words used to define the response from a search engine or database.
Ranking
A Web page's position in search engine results for a particular keyword/search phrase. Higher rankings typically indicate better SEO, high volume and quality traffic.
Return on investment (ROI)
Either mathematical or anecdotal analysis of payback for a project.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
All of the tactics and versions of search engine advertising.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The practice of designing and writing Web pages to be attractive to the search engines. SEO attempts to place pages highly within the "natural" listings on search engines, as opposed to paid ads.
Server
A program or computer that stores and distributes email from one mailbox to another, or relays email from one server to another in a network.
Spider
(Also Crawler or Bot) A small program that surfs the Web to index information for a search engine.
Unique Visitor
A single visitor to a Website determined by the number of unique IP addresses that hit the site.
URL / Uniform Resource Locator
The Web address for a page, always beginning with http:// or https:// for secure pages, and followed by www, then the domain name, i.e., http://www.marketingsherpa.com.
