Digital Marketing Terminology
Note: These terms are from the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce course module 2
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404 page: A URL that tells the visitor that the webpage does not exist
A
A/B testing: A method of testing where two versions of a webpage with a single differing
variable are compared to determine which yields better results
Abandoned cart: When a potential customer adds an item to their cart, but doesn’t complete
the purchase
Ad auction: A process that determines which ads will appear for a specific search and in
which order those ads will show on the page
Ad extension: A Google Ads feature that shows additional information about the business,
such as website links, a phone number, or address
Ad formats: Elements such as text, videos, images, digital content ads, and more that make-up
a Google Ad
Ad group: A group of ads that is organized by a group of keywords
Algorithm: An automated software that helps locate information to answer a user’s query
Alt text: A brief, written description of an image with the primary purpose of assisting
individuals who are visually impaired
Anchor text: The visible text in a hyperlink
Automated bidding strategy: A Google Ads feature that automatically sets a bid for an ad
based on an ad’s likelihood to result in a click or conversion that helps achieve a specific goal
Average daily budget: The average amount set for each ad campaign on a per-day basis
Awareness stage: The first stage of the marketing funnel, when a potential customer first
becomes aware of the product or service
B
Backlink: A link that points to a website from another site
Bid: The amount a marketer is willing to spend each time a potential customer clicks their ad or
calls their business
Bidding strategy: Tells an advertiser how much to pay for each user action related to an ad
Bounce rate: The percentage of website visitors who view one page and then leave the site
Breadcrumbs: A row of internal links at the top or bottom of the page that allows visitors to
quickly navigate back to a previous section or the homepage
Broad match: A keyword match type in Google Ads that shows ads when someone searches
for a term related to a keyword
Broken link: A link that leads to a webpage that no longer exists
C
Campaign: A plan of action for how a set of one or more ad groups that share a budget,
location targeting, and other settings will be distributed online
Click: An interaction with an ad and online user
Consideration stage: The second stage of the marketing funnel, when a potential customer’s
interest builds for a product or service
Content marketing: A marketing technique that focuses on creating and distributing valuable
content
Conversion rate: The percentage of users or website visitors who take a desired action
Conversion stage: The third stage of the marketing funnel, when marketers capitalize on the
interest people have already shown
Copy: Any written material that encourages a customer to buy a product or service
Crawlers: Automated software that crawls (fetches) pages from the web and indexes them
Crawling: The process of finding new or updated webpages
Customer persona barrier: What is preventing the customer from achieve their goal
Customer persona goal: What the customer wants to achieve
Customer persona: Represents a group of similar people in a desirable audience
D
Demographics: Information specific to the customer, such as age, gender identity, income,
family size, occupation, education, and location
Digital advertising: Communication made by a company to promote its brand, product, or
service using various platforms and online channels
Display ad: A visual ad format placed on websites or applications
Domain: The core part of a website’s URL, or internet address
E
Email marketing: Sending messages to a list of existing subscribers to share information,
drive sales, or create community
Exact match: A keyword match type in Google Ads that shows ads when someone searches
for a term that has the same meaning or same intent as a keyword
External link: A link on a website that leads to content on other sites
F
Featured snippet: A special box that displays information about a search in the results page
G
Google Ads: An online advertising platform where advertisers bid to display brief
advertisements, service offerings, product listings, or videos to web users
Google Business Profile: A tool that allows local businesses to tailor how their information
appears on Google Search and Google Maps
Google Display Network: A group of websites, videos, and apps where display ads can
appear
Google knowledge panels: Information boxes that appear on Google when someone
searches for people, places, organizations, or things that are available in Google’s knowledge
database
Google Search Console: A tool that helps users better understand how a website is
performing on Google Search
Googlebot: The generic name of Google’s crawler
H
HTTPS: An internet communication protocol that protects the integrity and confidentiality of
data between the user’s computer and the site
I
Impression: When a piece of content is displayed to a target audience
Indexing: The process of Google saving and organizing website information to display in the
search engine
Influencer marketing: Involves a brand collaborating with an online influencer to market one
of its products or services
Internal link: A link on a website that points to other pages on the site
K
Keyword: A search term that people use to find information, products, or services online
Keyword research: The process of finding terms and phrases that people use in search
engines
Keyword stuffing: The practice of loading a webpage with keywords or numbers in an
attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in the search results
L
Landing page: The first page a visitor encounters when they go to a website
Loyalty stage: The fourth stage of the marketing funnel, when customers become repeat
customers and brand advocates
M
Manual action: Google’s way to demote or remove webpages that are not compliant with its
webmaster quality guidelines
Meta description: Text that provides the search engines a summary of what the page is about
Mobile-friendly webpage: A webpage that is designed to load quickly and render well on a
phone screen
N
Negative keywords: Search terms excluded from an ad campaign
O
Optimization score: An estimate of how well a Google Ads account is set to perform
Organic results: Search results not paid for by advertisers
Organic search: Unpaid results a search engine produces when a search is performed
P
Paid results: Search results that advertisers pay to show whenever a user runs a search
containing certain keywords
Pay-per-click (PPC): A type of advertising that allows the advertiser to pay only when
someone clicks on an ad link
Phrase match: A keyword match type in Google Ads that shows ads when someone searches
for a term that includes the meaning of a keyword
Q
Query: The words typed into a Google Search bar
R
Rank: A webpage’s position in the search engine results pages (SERPs), which is determined by
an algorithm
Remarketing ad: An advertisement delivered to previous purchasers, subscribers, or visitors
to a brand’s website or social media
Responsive display ad: A Display ad that automatically adjusts its size, appearance, and
format to fit available ad spaces
Rich results: Enhanced results in Google Search with extra visual or interactive features
S
Schema: The type of code used for structured data markups
Search algorithm: An automated process that helps locate information to answer a user’s
query
Search engine: Software that provides information on a search query
Search engine marketing (SEM): Increasing a website’s visibility on a search engine results
page through paid advertising
Search engine optimization (SEO): The process of improving a website to increase its
visibility in a search engine
Search engine results pages (SERPs): The results pages that appear when someone
performs a search query
Sitemap: A file that provides information about the pages, videos, and other files on a site, and
the relationships between them
Smart bidding: Automated bidding strategies that use machine learning to optimize for
conversions or conversion value with each auction
Social media marketing: The process of creating content for different social media platforms
in order to drive engagement and promote a business or product
Social share: When a customer shares a product or service with their social media followers
Strategy: A plan to achieve a marketing goal
Structured data: Code used to describe a webpage’s content better to search engines
Subdomain: The subset of a larger domain used to organize an existing website into a different
page URL
Subpage: A lower-level page that appears below the homepage of a website
T
Tactic: An action a marketer takes to make a marketing goal happen
Targeted location: The towns, cities, or countries in which an ad will appear
Traditional advertising: Non-digital ad placements, like newspapers, radio, TV, or billboards
U
Unique selling proposition (USP): An explanation of why a product or service is better than
the competition
URL: The address of a webpage or file on the internet
V
Visitors: The total number of times people have been to a website or app as a result of clicking
an ad
W
Webinar: A presentation, typically educational, that is provided online
Webpage title element: Text that provides both the users and search engines with a page’s
topic
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