Have you ever been in a meeting or a lecture where the speaker used terms you didn’t understand?
We’ve all been there—including myself, especially when I first started in the digital industry.
Over the past 14 years, working with over 100 different companies worldwide, I’ve encountered many quirky terms that might not be self-explanatory. This has resulted in a small digital dictionary to help you get a grasp on common terms in the digital world.
I hope you will share this dictionary with others working in the industry.
If you think a word or term is missing, feel free to leave a comment below.
SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It refers to the organic (non-paid) results you see when you search on Google (or other search engines). The term SEO has emerged from years of testing and knowledge about search engine algorithms.
Google Adwords
Google Adwords, in contrast to SEO, is the paid form of advertising on search engines. These are the ads you see at the top, bottom, and sides when you search for products or anything else via Google. Google Adwords is also the tool to manage display advertising (those banner ads that follow you around the web) and YouTube advertising.
SEM
SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing, and it covers both paid and organic advertising in search results. In other words, it is a term that encompasses all marketing that can be “carried out” in search engines.
CPA
CPA stands for Cost Per Acquisition, also known as Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). In Danish, it means: “the price for acquiring a new customer,” essentially: “how much does it cost to bring a new customer into your store?” Many investors find CPA interesting—and for good reason, as Cost Per Acquisition gives a good indication of the scalability of the business.
CLV
CLV stands for Customer Lifetime Value. In Danish, this means: “the customer’s value over their lifetime.” CLV is a commonly used term and principle to determine what a customer is worth over a specific number of days, months, or years. Like CPA/CAC, this is also an area that excites many investors—especially if there is a healthy relationship between CPA/CAC and CLV. After all, why pay a lot for your customers if their CLV (i.e., their value over time) is very low?
Churn rate
Churn rate is used to describe the percentage of your current users/customers you lose each month. The term is most often used in connection with software companies or subscription businesses, as it is essential for these types of companies to know how many customers they lose each month. The ‘churn rate’ can also be a good indicator of market trends and whether you are getting better or worse at retaining your customers, providing you with actionable data.
Lead
The term “lead” can be referred to in many ways, but essentially a lead is a potential customer. It could be an inquiry to customer service or a newsletter signup—a lead is, in other words, a measurable KPI that can turn into a sale/conversion.
Conversion rate
The term “conversion rate” is widely used in e-commerce, and it is expressed as a percentage to explain the portion of your visitors that convert into customers or sales. Therefore, one can discuss conversion optimization, which aims to improve the percentage so that more of your visitors become customers.
Funding
Funding is a widely used term in startups—it can, in short, be defined as an investment. You may hear terms like “we are seeking funding” or “we have been funded,” which simply means an investment has been made in one way or another. It is an English term for investment, and as is often the case in Denmark, we tend to adopt English terms—I’ve done the same here.
VC
VC stands for venture capital. These are venture capital companies that often invest in startups and acquire companies experiencing massive growth. People often talk about VCs because they step in to manage a company once it reaches a certain size, and when the opportunity to scale the business is within reach. Nowadays, this is often with an exit in mind (exit means selling the company).
Big data
Big data essentially means data collection. Today, we can collect much more data than ever before—and that’s a good thing. With the increasing amount of data, the term “big data” has emerged. And this ‘big data’ often needs to be filtered down into smaller data sets to be useful for specific purposes.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free data tool provided by Google. Through a small code on your website, you can extract all the data you want about your users (well, almost). Therefore, Google Analytics is often used in conjunction with the above term, Big Data, as the system can give you a better overview of the data you collect.
Co-hort analysis
A Co-hort analysis covers an analysis of the users you have acquired—the central question being: “how do they perform over time?” Co-hort analysis can thus give you an indication of how good you are at retaining customers you acquired back in January 2015 when you ran a TV commercial. By looking at user behavior over time, you can also spot trends you weren’t initially aware of.
A/B testing
A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a very popular term in the marketing field. A/B testing gives you the opportunity to test different versions of your website against each other. Essentially, it means you can test version A against version B, and from the data you gather, conclude which version performs best.
Link building
Link building is a major part of SEO. Link building involves creating links to your website that have a positive impact on search results. Whether through PR or reaching out to partners, link building is a strategy you should focus on when running a business online.
Content marketing
Content marketing is one of the biggest buzzwords of our time. It fundamentally means creating content (hence content) that is marketing in itself. Higher and higher prices on paid advertising have driven us towards other forms of marketing—namely content marketing.
Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing refers to collaborating with various influencers. These could be bloggers, YouTubers, celebrities, etc., so the term covers collaboration with individuals who can have a positive impact on your business. Influencer marketing is a term often used in connection with blog partnerships.
Long tail
The term “long tail” is often encountered in conjunction with the previously mentioned term, SEO. Long tail searches refer to searches that consist of more than one word. When we search on Google, we often use multiple words or an entire sentence. These long tail words/phrases are “easier” to rank for in Google’s search engine because the competition is not as fierce on long tail words as it is on single words.
No-follow & do-follow tags
When creating a link, you can add different tags. A link with a no-follow tag in the URL tells Google that this link should not be given the same value. A link without a no-follow tag in the URL will have a do-follow tag. There are many discussions in the industry about whether no-follow tags are valuable or not. In my view, you should be careful not to conclude too much, as Google always has the final say, so think of the user before you think of Google.
PPC
PPC is short for Pay Per Click—paid advertising. It doesn’t have to be Google Adwords advertising, but it can be any form of paid advertising where you pay per click.
CPC
CPC stands for “Cost Per Click”—translated: How much does each click on your ad cost? Typically, when you launch a PPC campaign (paid advertising), you will have a CPC after some time, allowing you to evaluate whether it is worth paying per click by comparing it with the data you get from Google Analytics and your CRM system.
CPM
With CPM, you do not pay per click but per 1,000 impressions. It is often used for branding campaigns as the goal is to reach as many people as possible. Another abbreviation in the same category is CPI—Cost Per Impression—meaning the price for each individual exposure.
ROI
ROI stands for “Return on Investment”—translated: “What do you get out of your investment?” The term is often used in the marketing field because, naturally, you want to know what return you get when you spend a certain amount of money. What you include in an ROI calculation can vary. It might be revenue minus marketing costs, but it could also include everything such as salaries, etc. However, when you include everything, be careful about which amounts should be subtracted or added to ensure consistency.
ROAS
ROAS stands for “Return on Advertising Spend” and is a measure of how much revenue is generated compared to the amount spent on advertising. ROAS is a key metric in digital marketing as it helps evaluate the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and identify areas where adjustments can be made.
CTR
CTR stands for “Click-Through Rate” and is a measure of how many users click on an ad or link relative to the number of times the ad or link was shown. CTR is an important metric in digital marketing as it helps evaluate the effectiveness of an ad and identify areas where adjustments can be made.
KPI
Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable outcome used to evaluate the effectiveness of a specific marketing activity or strategy. It is a valuable tool that can help businesses identify whether their marketing efforts are successful and where there is room for improvement.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is an extension of Google Analytics. It is a small extra tool that can provide more insight into your website’s performance in search results. You can see which keywords you are found for and how Google views your website, among other things.
Reputation management
Reputation management gives you the ability to manage your “reputation.” If a company has received a lot of negative publicity online, you can take steps to reduce the visibility of negative topics in Google. For example, you can create social media profiles, publish PR, and do much more to push negative reviews further down in Google’s search results.
API: Application Programming Interface
API stands for Application Programming Interface, and it is a set of protocols, tools, and routines that enable different software applications to communicate with each other and exchange data. APIs allow different systems to work together and integrate, which is crucial for many online marketing activities, such as integrating payment gateways, e-commerce platforms, social media, and analytics tools.
Pixel – a small tracking code
A pixel is a small piece of code, typically a 1×1 pixel graphic embedded on a web page to track user behavior. The pixel can be part of a tracking code or script execution on the page, and it works by sending a small amount of data to a third-party server when the page is loaded in the user’s browser.
Programmatic advertising
Programmatic advertising is a form of digital advertising that uses automated technology and data to target ads to the right audience. It is a more efficient and scalable method of buying and placing ads on digital platforms, as it automates the entire buying process and eliminates the need for manual intervention.
Geofencing
Geofencing is a technology used to create a virtual boundary around a specific geographic location using GPS or other location-based technologies. It can be used to deliver targeted content or ads to users in the area, such as sending a message about a special offer when a user passes by a store or event.
Native advertising
Native advertising is a form of advertising where ads are designed to blend in with the natural content of a given platform, such as an article or a social media post. Native ads are usually labeled as ads or sponsored content, but they differ from traditional ads by being more integrated and less intrusive.
Gamification
Gamification is a method that uses game elements and mechanics in marketing to engage and motivate users. It is a creative approach to marketing that can be used to create a more interactive and entertaining experience for users and increase the chances of conversions.
Social proof
Social proof is a concept in marketing that describes the tendency of people to follow the behavior or decisions of others. Social proof can be used to increase trust and engagement with potential customers and help persuade them to take a desired action, such as purchasing a product or signing up for a service.
Bounce rate
Bounce rate is a measurement of the percentage of visitors to a web page who leave the page without interacting with it. Bounce rate is an important metric in digital marketing as it can help evaluate whether a web page is relevant and engaging to users.
Heatmap
A heatmap is a visual representation of where users click and interact most on a web page. A heatmap can help evaluate user behavior on a web page and identify areas that attract the most attention. It is often used in conjunction with A/B split testing.
Page rank
Page rank is an algorithm used by search engines like Google to assess a web page’s popularity and relevance for specific keywords and phrases. Page rank is one of the key factors in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as it helps determine how high a web page should appear in search results. However, it is considered an outdated metric in several SEO circles. Systems such as Ahrefs still use it to rank pages.
Voice search optimization (VSO)
Voice search optimization focuses on adapting web content and SEO strategies for voice searches performed via digital assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant. This requires an understanding of how people speak to their devices, including longer and more conversational search queries. Optimizing for voice search also involves using natural language, long-tail keywords, and location-based searches, as well as ensuring websites are mobile-friendly and have fast loading times.
Omnichannel marketing
Omnichannel marketing is about creating an integrated and cohesive customer experience across all marketing channels, both online and offline. This includes social media, email, physical stores, customer service, and more. The goal is to deliver a seamless experience regardless of where the customer interacts with the brand. This requires a holistic approach to data collection and analysis to understand the customer’s journey and preferences across different touchpoints.
Customer data platform (CDP)
A Customer Data Platform (CDP) is a centralized software solution that collects and organizes customer data from various sources to create a single, unified customer view. This allows businesses to personalize their marketing efforts, improve customer experience, and optimize their campaigns. A CDP integrates with other systems and tools, making the data easily accessible and usable across different marketing channels.
Predictive analytics
Predictive analytics uses data, statistical algorithms, and machine learning to identify likely future outcomes based on historical data. In marketing, this can be used to predict customer behavior, such as which products they are likely to buy or the likelihood of them leaving a service. This allows businesses to take proactive steps to improve their strategies and customer satisfaction.
Net promoter score (NPS)
NPS is a metric that measures customer loyalty by asking customers how likely they are to recommend a business to others. The score is used to improve customer service and product development.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence refers to the ability of machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as image recognition, speech processing, and decision-making.
Blockchain
Blockchain is a decentralized technology used to record transactions securely and transparently, often associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Cookie
A cookie is a small file stored on a user’s device by a website to remember the user’s information and preferences for future visits.
Customer journey mapping
Customer journey mapping is a visual representation of all the steps and interactions a customer has with a company, from the first contact to purchase and beyond.
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