A simple guide to Internet Marketing terms

by Shoshana Yossef
A lot of different Internet marketing terms are used by publishers, agencies and the media. Some of them are so popular they are reduced to acronyms. This leaves many Internet "newbies" in the dark when they first start to explore how to get traffic to their website. So here is a shortlist of the most relevant terms that you should know.

Hits
A fuzzy term meaning the number of times a webserver has been "hit" by a request for a webpage or a graphic image. Since perhaps 5 out 6 "hits" are for graphic images, the number of "hits" can be grossly misleading. Usually people mean by "hits" the number of times a webpage has been seen, but to be precise, the better term is "views," "pageviews," or (more sophisticated) "impressions."

Page impressions or pageviews
Refers to the number of times a webpage has been requested by the server.

Banner views or impressions
Refers to the number of times a banner has been viewed. Almost the same as "page views," but some banner server programs don't count the banner view unless the visitor stays on the page long enough for the banner to be fully downloaded from the banner server.

CPM
This stands for "Cost Per Thousand," using the Roman numeral "M" to stand for one thousand. A price of $5 CPM means, $5 for every thousand times a banner is displayed.

Banner ad
An ad graphic hyperlinked to the URL of the advertiser. These are sometimes static graphic images, but animated gif, jpeg and flash banners are also common The most common banner size used to be 468 x 60 pixels (Full Banner). To standardize, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) specifies ad sizes in their Ad Unit Guidelines. The sizes they're recommending these days are 300x250 (Medium Rectangle), 728x90 (Leaderboard), and 160x600 (Wide Skyscraper). Also popular today is the125x125 (Square Button).

Creative
"Ad-speak" for the actual banner graphic.

Click
When a visitor clicks the mouse on a banner ad, they are transferred to the advertiser's site. The number of responses to a banner ad is sometimes referred to as the number of "clicks."

Clickthroughs
Same as "click," commonly used to count the number of visitors who click on the banner and are transferred to the advertiser's site.

Click Through Rate (CTR)
The percentage of clickthroughs to banner views. A 1% CTR means that 1% of each 1000 banner views (or 10 visitors) have clicked through.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator )
In popular language, a URL is referred to as a Web address. The typical form of a URL would be:
http://google.com

HTML ( HyperText Markup Language)
This is the predominant markup language for web pages. It provides a means to describe the structure of text-based information in a document—by denoting certain text as links, headings, paragraphs, lists, etc.—and to supplement that text with interactive forms, embedded images, and other objects. HTML is written in the form of "tags" that are surrounded by angle brackets. HTML can also describe, to some degree, the appearance and semantics of a document, and can include embedded scripting language code (such as JavaScript).

Landing Page
Sometimes known as a lead capture page, is the page that appears when a potential customer clicks on an advertisement or a search-engine result link. The page will usually display content that is a logical extension of the advertisement or link, and that is designed to result in an action.

Conversion Rate
The percentage of shoppers in an online store who actually make a purchase. This varies a great deal, and depends a great deal on the quality of the landing page.

Run of Site (ROS)
Refers to displaying a banner ad throughout a website or a banner network with no targeting by site page or keyword. Run of site advertising will usually be lower in cost than homepage or targeted advertising.

Search engine optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines eg. Google via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. Typically, the earlier a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. Optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Search Engine Marketing is a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs). SEM methods include: search engine optimization, paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion.

Pay Per Click (PPC)
Pay Per Click (PPC) is an Internet advertising model used on search engines, advertising networks, and content sites, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market. Content sites commonly charge a fixed price per click rather than use a bidding system.

Websites that utilize PPC ads will display an advertisement when a keyword query matches an advertiser's keyword list, or when a content site displays relevant content. Such advertisements are called sponsored links or sponsored ads, and appear adjacent to or above organic results on search engine results pages, or anywhere a web developer chooses on a content site. Although many PPC providers exist, Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing are the two largest operators.

Cost per Visitor
CPM / (1000 x CTR)
Here are some arbitrary numbers to use in our calculation:
CPM = $3 (a not untypical rate for websites)
CTR = 0.20%
Cost per Visitor = $3.00 / (1000 x .002) = $1.50

In this example, the $3 you spent to show the banner ad to 1000 people netted you 0.2% or 2 visitors to your site. Each visitor cost you $1.50 to get there.

Cost per Sale
Cost per Sale = Cost per Visitor / Conversion Rate
Here are some arbitrary numbers to use in our calculation:
Conversion Rate = 2% (from your landing page)
Cost per Sale = $1.50 / .02 = $75

At a 2% conversion rate from your landing page it would take 75 visitors to make one sale.

Social Media Marketing (SMM)
Social media marketing is an engagement with online communities to generate exposure, opportunity and sales. The number-one advantage is generating exposure for the business, followed by increasing traffic and building new business partnerships. Common social media marketing tools include Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.

Some social media marketers offer to write content (such as white papers) that are unique and newsworthy. This content can then be marketed by popularizing it or even by creating a “viral” video on YouTube and other video sites, including getting involved in blogs, forums, and niche communities.


Compiled with the help of:
Wikpedia
Web Marketing Today