Do you know your SEO from your SEM? Your CTA from your CTR?
With all the acronyms and industry-specific jargon, it’s no wonder that people new to the world of content marketing are left scratching their heads!
Let’s break it down and make it simple for you. Here are some of the most commonly used terms in online marketing and search engine optimization.
The Much-Needed Glossary:
Anchor text: If you see underlined (or different color) text that you can click on – to navigate to a new page – that’s anchor text!
CTA: “Subscribe to receive my very best FREE tips on content marketing!” There’s a CTA for you. The CTA, or “call to action,” is text that entices the reader to perform an action such as: buying a product, clicking a link, signing up for an email list, etc.
CTR: If you’ve ever clicked on an ad on the internet, you have contributed to that company’s CTR. The “clickthrough rate” is the ratio of how often people who see your ad actually end up clicking it. The CTR helps you gauge how well your keywords and ads are performing.
Crawlers: Crawlers, also known as spiders or web crawlers, are internet bots utilized by Google and other search engines to collect data from all the websites on the web and rank them in importance or relevance. You can think of them a bit like librarians, who catalog and sort all the information online so you can access exactly what you need when you type in a search query.
H1/H2/H3: Headers tell not only the reader, but also the search engine, what a page is about. Headers are ranked in a system from 1 to 6. An H1 is the largest and most important header that emcompasses what the webpage is about. An H2 (or Header 2) is a subsection of the page, and H3 is a subsection within that, etc. Not only are the headers larger and bolder the smaller the number, they are actually given more importance in Google rankings and SEO. It is important to include keywords in your headers, so they can easily be picked up by search engine crawlers.
Hyperlink: Remember that anchor text? It was the visible text of a “hyperlink” which you can click on to move to another location within the current webpage, or another webpage altogether.
Interlinking: If a hyperlink takes you to another location within the same website domain, that’s interlinking.
KPI: To understand how well a business is performing, and measure what has been achieved, we can use KPIs or “Key Performance Indicators.” Some examples of KPIs in the marketing world include (but are not limited to): cost per acquisition (CPA), cost per lead, sales target & growth, return on investment (ROI), landing page conversion rates, cost-per-click (CPC). bounce rate, and click-through rate (CTR).
KW: KW stands for “keywords.” In terms of SEO, keywords are whatever words users type into a search engine. You want to use keywords relevant to your content on your webpage, so that users can find your page. Some keywords are more competitive than others. You may need to use a more specific search query to narrow down the focus. One way of doing this is through “long tail keywords.” Long tail keywords are search queries with low search volume but very specific intent such as: “how to find the best long tail keywords.”
Meta description: A meta description is the content displayed on a SERP (search engine results page) underneath your page’s meta title. The purpose of a meta description is to summarize the content of your webpage in a way that entices a user to click the link to your website. Your meta description should ideally include keywords and contain between 155-160 characters.
Meta title: Meta titles (or title tags) are the clickable, blue titles on a search engine results page. Meta titles are given a lot of weight by search engine algorithms, and can greatly affect a website’s SEO, so make sure they accurately and concisely describe your page’s content. You should aim to keep your title tags under 60 characters, so they can be fully displayed in a Google search.
On page SEO: As the name implies, on page SEO is optimizing the content on your actual webpage for search engines. Some examples of On page SEO are: killer copy, meta titles and meta descriptions, properly used headers, and mobile-friendly content.
Off page SEO: Activities you perform outside of your website to boost sales and drive traffic to your website are called off page SEO. Some examples include: social media marketing, link building, and brand mentions.
PPC: PPC is the abbreviation for Pay-Per-Click. Pay-per-click advertising is used to drive traffic to websites. The advertiser is only charged when a user clicks on their ad. There are many types of PPC ads, but one of the most common is a paid search ad. These are ads that show up on the top and right-hand side of your page when you perform a search on Google.
SEM: Generally, SEM, or “Search Engine Marketing,” refers to paid search marketing – a system where businesses pay to have their ads show up in Google search results. SEM can be a highly effective way to drive conversions through PPC ads.
SEO: SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the process of increasing a website’s traffic through optimizing their content for Google search rankings. The higher a website ranks in a Google search, the more likely their website will be visited. There are many components to SEO, including keyword research, on-page SEO, and off-page SEO. SEO differs from SEM because it improves traffic through organic (and not paid) means.
SERP: When you type a search query into a search engine, your results are displayed on a “SERP.” This simply stands for Search Engine Results Page.
SOP: If you want something to be done correctly, you need a standard operating procedure (SOP). Standard operating procedures are written step-by-step instructions on how to complete a task. SOPs should be written in a simple and easy to understand manner. It is important to have SOPs to train new employees, and ensure current employees can complete a task the exact same way across the board.
SOW: A “Scope of Work” (SOW) is a written agreement between contractor and client that explains exactly what deliverables or products are expected. A SOW should contain milestones and reports, as a well as payment agreements and a timeframe for the project.
SV: Want to know how competitive your keywords are? Check out their “SV” or “MSV” using a keyword analysis program like SEMrush or Moz. “Search Volume,” or “Monthly Search Volume,” shows you how many times a keyword has been searched within a specific time frame – and helps you decide the most strategic keywords to use in your content.
USP: What sets you apart from the pack? That’s your USP. Your “Unique Selling Point” or “Unique Selling Proposition” could be affordability, exceptional customer service, free shipping, the first product of its kind, you name it!
Is there another term you’re confused about?
Hopefully you’re now feeling confident enough to understand what the heck you’re supposed to do with your work day. If not, leave me a comment and I’ll add a new term to the list for you.
Happy marketing!