Digital Marketing Glossary

Marketing is full of short forms and buzzwords. This glossary explains 129 of them in plain English, the way I explain them to founders and to my own team: what each term means, why it matters and how to use it well.

Strategy & Branding

Account-Based Marketing: Account-based marketing (ABM) is a B2B strategy where sales and marketing target a chosen list of high-value companies with personalized campaigns.
Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate marketing is a partnership model where publishers or creators promote your product and earn a commission for each sale or lead they drive.
Brand Awareness: Brand awareness is how well your target audience recognizes and remembers your brand, so they think of you first when they are ready to buy.
Brand Positioning: Brand positioning is the specific place your brand holds in customers' minds compared with alternatives: who it is for and why it fits them best.
Buyer Persona: A buyer persona is a semi-fictional profile of your ideal customer, built from real data, that describes their goals, worries and buying decisions.
Customer Journey: The customer journey is the full path a person takes with your brand, from first noticing a need to buying, using and recommending your product.
Digital Marketing: Digital marketing is the practice of reaching, convincing and keeping customers through online channels like search, social media, email and ads.
Go-to-Market Strategy: A go-to-market (GTM) strategy is the plan for launching a product to a specific market: who to target, what to say, pricing, channels and metrics.
Growth Hacking: Growth hacking is a data-driven approach to growth that runs many small, fast experiments across marketing and product to find what actually works.
Inbound Marketing: Inbound marketing attracts customers with helpful content and experiences, so people come to your business when they are already looking for help.
Lead Generation: Lead generation is the process of attracting potential customers and capturing their contact details so your business can follow up with them.
Marketing Funnel: A marketing funnel is a model of the stages people pass through from awareness to purchase, showing where potential customers drop off along the way.
Omnichannel Marketing: Omnichannel marketing gives customers one connected, consistent experience across every channel they use with your brand, both online and offline.
Outbound Marketing: Outbound marketing is when a business reaches out first, through cold email, sales calls, LinkedIn outreach, ads or events, to start conversations.
Performance Marketing: Performance marketing is digital marketing where spending is tied to measurable results like clicks, leads or sales, and campaigns are optimized with data.
Unique Selling Proposition: A unique selling proposition (USP) is the clear, specific and believable reason a customer should choose your business over every alternative.

SEO

301 Redirect: A 301 redirect permanently sends visitors and search engines from an old URL to a new one, and tells Google to move ranking signals to the new page.
Alt Text: Alt text is a short written description of an image in a web page's code, read aloud by screen readers and used by search engines to understand the image.
Anchor Text: Anchor text is the visible, clickable text of a link. It tells readers and search engines what the linked page is about before anyone clicks.
Backlinks: Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. Search engines read relevant, trusted backlinks as recommendations that support your rankings.
Canonical Tag: A canonical tag is a line of HTML that tells search engines which URL is the main version of a page when similar or duplicate versions exist.
Core Web Vitals: Core Web Vitals are three Google metrics, LCP, INP and CLS, that measure how fast a page loads, how quickly it responds and how stable it looks.
Crawling and Indexing: Crawling is when search engine bots discover and read your pages; indexing is when those pages are stored so they can appear in search results.
Domain Authority: Domain Authority (DA) is a 1 to 100 score by Moz that estimates a website's ranking strength from its links. It is useful, but it is not a Google metric.
Duplicate Content: Duplicate content is the same or very similar content appearing at more than one URL, either on one website or across different websites.
E-E-A-T: E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness, the qualities Google uses to describe reliable, helpful content.
Featured Snippet: A featured snippet is a short answer Google pulls from one web page and shows near the top of search results as a paragraph, list, table or video.
Google Search Console: Google Search Console is a free Google tool that shows how your site performs in Google Search, which pages are indexed and what needs fixing.
Internal Linking: Internal linking means connecting pages on your own website with links, helping visitors and search engines find content and understand how it relates.
Keyword Cannibalization: Keyword cannibalization happens when two or more pages on the same website target the same search intent and end up competing with each other in search.
Keyword Research: Keyword research is finding the words and questions your customers use in search, so you can plan pages that match what they want and how they ask.
Link Building: Link building is the work of earning links from relevant websites to yours, through useful content, digital PR and partnerships, to build search trust.
Long-Tail Keywords: Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific search phrases with lower volume but clearer intent, often easier to rank for and more likely to convert.
Meta Description: A meta description is a short HTML summary of a page that search engines may show under the title. It does not affect rankings, but it shapes clicks.
Mobile-First Indexing: Mobile-first indexing means Google mainly uses the mobile version of your website's content to crawl, index and rank its pages in search results.
Off-Page SEO: Off-page SEO covers the signals outside your website, like backlinks, brand mentions and reviews, that show search engines others trust your brand.
On-Page SEO: On-page SEO is the work you do on a page itself, such as content, titles, headings and internal links, so search engines and readers understand it.
Organic Traffic: Organic traffic is the visitors who reach your website by clicking unpaid search results, rather than through ads, social posts or direct visits.
Robots.txt: Robots.txt is a plain text file at the root of a website that tells search engine crawlers and other bots which parts of the site they may crawl.
Schema Markup: Schema markup is structured data code added to a web page that helps search engines and AI tools understand content such as products, events or reviews.
Search Intent: Search intent is the goal behind a search, such as learning, comparing, finding a brand or buying, and it decides which kind of page deserves to rank.
SEO: SEO is the practice of improving a website so search engines and AI tools can find, understand and trust it, bringing visitors without paid clicks.
SERP: A SERP, or search engine results page, is the page shown after a search, with organic results, ads, maps, videos, snippets and AI Overviews.
Technical SEO: Technical SEO makes sure search engines can crawl, render and index your website, covering speed, mobile use, site structure, redirects and security.
Title Tag: A title tag is the HTML element that sets a page's title. Search engines often show it as the clickable headline in results, so it shapes clicks.
Topical Authority: Topical authority is the trust a website earns with search engines by covering one subject in depth through many connected, genuinely useful pages.
XML Sitemap: An XML sitemap is a file that lists the important URLs on your website so search engines can find, crawl and understand your pages more easily.

Local SEO

Google Business Profile: Google Business Profile is the free Google listing that shows your business details, photos and reviews in Google Search and Google Maps results.
Local Citations: Local citations are online mentions of a business's name, address and phone number on directories, map apps, social sites and local websites.
Local SEO: Local SEO is the work of helping a business show up when nearby people search for its products or services on Google Search, Maps and AI tools.
NAP Consistency: NAP consistency means your business name, address and phone number appear exactly the same on your website, Google profile and every listing online.
Online Reputation Management: Online reputation management is the ongoing work of monitoring, improving and responding to what people see and say about a brand online.

AI Search

AI Overviews: AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that Google shows at the top of some search results, with links to web pages that support the answer.
AI-Generated Content: AI-generated content is text, images, audio or video created fully or partly with generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude.
Answer Engine Optimization: Answer engine optimization shapes content so search features, voice assistants and AI tools can find, trust and use it as a direct answer.
Generative Engine Optimization: Generative engine optimization is the work of helping your brand and content be found, cited and described accurately in AI-generated answers.
llms.txt: llms.txt is a proposed Markdown file at a website's root that gives large language models a short guide to the site's most useful pages.
Prompt Engineering: Prompt engineering is the skill of writing clear instructions, context and examples for AI tools so they give useful, accurate and on-brand results.
Voice Search: Voice search is when people speak a query to a phone, smart speaker or AI assistant instead of typing it, often as a full, natural question.
Zero-Click Search: A zero-click search is a search that ends on the results page itself, because the answer is shown there and the user does not visit any website.

Content Marketing

Brand Storytelling: Brand storytelling shares your purpose, origins and real customer journeys as stories, so people connect with your brand and not only your product.
Content Calendar: A content calendar is a schedule showing what you will publish, where, when and by whom, so your marketing stays consistent and has a clear purpose.
Content Marketing: Content marketing means creating useful articles, videos and guides that answer customer questions, so people trust you before you ask for a sale.
Content Repurposing: Content repurposing turns one piece of content into many formats, such as a blog into Reels, carousels and emails, to reach more people with less effort.
Content Strategy: Content strategy is the plan behind your content: who it is for, which topics you cover, what formats you use and how you will measure results.
Copywriting: Copywriting is writing words that persuade people to take action, such as buy, sign up or call, in ads, landing pages, emails and product pages.
Evergreen Content: Evergreen content stays useful for years, like how-to guides and explainers, and keeps bringing steady traffic long after the day it is published.
Lead Magnet: A lead magnet is a free, useful resource, like a checklist, guide or template, offered in exchange for a visitor's contact details such as an email.
Readability: Readability is how easily people can read and understand your text, shaped by sentence length, word choice, formatting and on-screen layout.
Thought Leadership: Thought leadership is sharing original insights, real experience and clear opinions that make a person or brand a trusted voice in their industry.
Topic Clusters: Topic clusters link one broad pillar page with detailed related articles, helping search engines and AI see your site as an expert on that subject.
User-Generated Content: User-generated content (UGC) is content made by customers, like reviews, photos and videos, that brands share to build trust and social proof.

Social Media

Community Management: Community management is the work of building, engaging and caring for an online audience by replying, moderating and creating real two-way conversation.
Creator Economy: The creator economy is the system of independent creators earning from content, audiences and brand deals, plus the platforms and tools around them.
Engagement Rate: Engagement rate measures how actively people interact with your social content, such as likes, comments, shares and saves, relative to reach or followers.
Hashtags: Hashtags are words or phrases marked with the # symbol that group social posts by topic, making content easier to find, follow and categorize.
Impressions: Impressions count the total number of times your content or ad was displayed on a screen, including repeat views by the same person.
Influencer Marketing: Influencer marketing is a partnership where a brand works with creators who have a trusted audience to promote products, services or ideas authentically.
Reach: Reach is the number of unique people who saw your post, ad or content at least once during a given period, no matter how many times they saw it.
Short-Form Video: Short-form video is brief, usually vertical video made for mobile viewing, such as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, built to deliver value fast.
Social Commerce: Social commerce is selling products directly through social media platforms, letting people discover, explore and buy without leaving the app or chat.
Social Listening: Social listening is tracking and analyzing online conversations about your brand, competitors and industry to understand sentiment and act on insights.
Social Media Algorithm: A social media algorithm is the system a platform uses to decide which posts and videos each user sees, and in what order, based on predicted interest.
Social Media Marketing: Social media marketing is the use of platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and X to build trust, start conversations and win customers.

Paid Advertising

Click-Through Rate: Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who click your ad or link after seeing it, calculated as clicks divided by impressions, times 100.
Cost Per Acquisition: Cost per acquisition (CPA) is the average ad cost to win one conversion, such as a sale or lead, calculated as ad spend divided by conversions.
Cost Per Click: Cost per click (CPC) is the amount you pay each time someone clicks your ad, calculated as your total ad spend divided by the number of clicks.
CPM: CPM (cost per mille) is the price an advertiser pays for every 1,000 ad impressions, calculated as ad spend divided by impressions, multiplied by 1,000.
Display Advertising: Display advertising uses visual ads, such as banners, images and video, shown on websites, apps and platforms to build awareness and bring people back.
Google Ads: Google Ads is Google's advertising platform for showing paid ads on Search, YouTube, Maps, Gmail and partner sites, usually on a pay-per-click basis.
Lookalike Audience: A lookalike audience is a group of new people an ad platform finds because they share traits with your existing customers or best website visitors.
Meta Ads: Meta Ads are paid ads that run on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Meta's partner apps, created, targeted and measured in Meta Ads Manager.
Negative Keywords: Negative keywords are words or phrases you add to a search ad campaign so your ads do not show for irrelevant searches, saving budget for real buyers.
PPC: PPC (pay-per-click) is an online advertising model where you pay only when someone clicks your ad, used on Google, Meta, LinkedIn and more.
Programmatic Advertising: Programmatic advertising is the automated buying and selling of digital ad space through software and real-time auctions, not manual publisher deals.
Quality Score: Quality Score is Google Ads' 1 to 10 rating of how relevant your ads, keywords and landing pages are compared with other advertisers on the same keyword.
Retargeting: Retargeting (or remarketing) shows ads to people who already visited your website, used your app or engaged with your brand, to bring them back to act.
ROAS: ROAS (return on ad spend) measures the revenue earned for every rupee or dollar spent on ads, calculated as revenue from ads divided by ad spend.
Smart Bidding: Smart Bidding is a set of Google Ads bid strategies that use machine learning to set a bid in every auction, aiming for conversions or conversion value.

Email & Automation

Double Opt-In: Double opt-in is a sign-up process where new subscribers confirm their email address by clicking a link before they are added to your mailing list.
Drip Campaign: A drip campaign is a series of pre-written emails sent automatically on a schedule or after an action, guiding people step by step toward a goal.
Email Deliverability: Email deliverability is your ability to land emails in subscribers' inboxes instead of spam, shaped by authentication, reputation and engagement.
Email Marketing: Email marketing is sending planned, permission-based emails to people who chose to hear from you, to build trust, earn repeat sales and grow leads.
Email Segmentation: Email segmentation is dividing your email list into smaller groups by interest, behavior or stage, so each group gets messages that fit its needs.
Lead Nurturing: Lead nurturing is building a relationship with potential customers over time through useful, timely contact, so they choose you when ready to buy.
Marketing Automation: Marketing automation is using software to run repeatable marketing tasks, like emails, lead scoring and follow-ups, based on rules and customer actions.
Open Rate: Open rate is the percentage of delivered emails that recipients opened. It is still a useful signal, but privacy features now make it less reliable.

Analytics & Data

Attribution Model: An attribution model is the rule that decides how credit for a conversion is shared among the ads, channels and touchpoints a customer interacted with.
Bounce Rate: Bounce rate is the percentage of website sessions that were not engaged. In Google Analytics 4, it is simply 100% minus the engagement rate.
Conversion Rate: Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors or clicks that complete a desired action, such as a purchase, sign-up or enquiry, on your site or ad.
Cookie Consent: Cookie consent is the process of asking website visitors for permission before storing non-essential cookies, such as analytics and advertising cookies.
Customer Acquisition Cost: Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total sales and marketing spend needed to win one new paying customer during a set period of time.
Customer Lifetime Value: Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is the total revenue or profit a business can expect from one customer over the full length of their relationship.
First-Party Data: First-party data is information a business collects directly from its own customers and audience, through its website, app, CRM, emails or stores.
Google Analytics 4: Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is Google's free, event-based analytics tool that shows how people find, use and convert on your website and app.
Heatmap: A heatmap is a visual report that uses colors to show where visitors click, move and scroll on a web page, so you can see what gets attention.
KPI: A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a measurable number tied to a business goal that shows whether your marketing is really moving you forward.
Marketing Qualified Lead: A Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) is a lead that fits your ideal customer and has shown enough interest for marketing to pass it on to sales.
Marketing ROI: Marketing ROI (Return on Investment) measures how much profit your marketing generates compared with what you spent on it, shown as a percentage.
Tracking Pixel: A tracking pixel is a small piece of code on a website or email that reports actions like page views, sign-ups and purchases back to a platform.
UTM Parameters: UTM parameters are short tags added to the end of a URL that tell your analytics tool exactly which source, medium and campaign sent each visitor.

Conversion & UX

A/B Testing: A/B testing compares two versions of a page, email or ad by showing each to a similar audience, to learn which one performs better on a chosen goal.
Above the Fold: Above the fold is the part of a web page visible before scrolling, where visitors form first impressions and decide whether to keep reading.
Average Order Value: Average order value (AOV) is the average amount a customer spends per order, found by dividing total revenue by the number of orders in a period.
Call to Action: A call to action (CTA) is a prompt, usually a button or link, that tells a visitor exactly what to do next, such as book, buy, call or sign up.
Cart Abandonment: Cart abandonment is when online shoppers add products to their cart but leave without completing the purchase, a common leak in e-commerce sales.
Conversion Rate Optimization: Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is improving a website or page so a larger share of visitors take a desired action, such as buying or booking.
Landing Page: A landing page is a focused web page built for one campaign and one main action, where visitors arrive after clicking an ad, email or link.
User Experience: User experience (UX) is how easy, clear and pleasant it feels to use a website, app or product, from the first click to the final step.