Ever wonder what some of those confusing Web terms? We’re here to help with our handy Web glossary. Is there a term we don’t have? Just let us know by filling out a comment below.
Algorithm: The technology that a search engine uses to deliver results to a search query. Search engines use several algorithms together to deliver a page of search results or keyword-targeted search ads
Behavioral targeting (BT): Where advertisers buy, and publishers serve ads to Web users based on their online browsing behaviors, such as the type of sites they visit and the content they view. Behavioral targeting is meant to increase the effectiveness of the ad campaign.
Blended search (a.k.a. universal search): Bringing together different forms of content such as video, images, text, maps from different sources within one search result
Blog (a.k.a. Web log): Where entries or “posts” are written and displayed in chronological order. Many blogs provide commentary, news on a subject, or serve as personal diaries of Web users.
Contextual advertising: The term applied to advertisements appearing on Web sites or other media, such as content displayed in mobile phones, where the advertisements are selected and served by automated systems based on the content displayed by the user.
CPA (cost per action/acquisition): A performance-based advertising model the advertiser pays a publisher for each action taken by a Web user. Typical consumer actions include a purchase, providing an email address, displaying interest in a product or contest sign up.
CPC (cost per click, a.k.a. paid-per-click, PPC): A performance-based advertising model where the advertiser pays a publisher for each click made on the advertisers’ ad by a Web user. This pricing model is most commonly associated with Google’s AdWords advertising.
CPM (cost per thousand): An ad model that publishers charge advertisers every time an ad is displayed to a user, whether the user clicks on the ad or not. The fee is based on every 1,000 ad impressions (M is the Roman numeral for 1,000). Most display ads, such as banner ads, are sold by CPM.
CTR (click through rate): The rate (expressed in a percentage) at which users click on an ad. This is calculated by dividing the total number of clicks by the total number of ad impressions. CTR is an important metric for Internet marketers to measure the performance of an ad campaign
Geo-targeting: Delivery of ads specific to the geographic location of the Web user. With geo-targeting, advertisers can specify which regions their ads should or should not appear in, allowing for more localized and personalized of ads.
Hit: This is a request to a Web server for a file such as an image, HTML, javascript or cascading style sheet etc). When a Web page is uploaded from a server the number of “Hits” or “Page hits” is equal to the number of files requested. One page load does not always equal one hit because often pages are made up of multiple images and files which stack up the number of hits counted. Because one page load does not equal one hit it is an inaccurate measure of a websites popularity or web traffic. A more accurate measure of web traffic is how many page views a web site has.
Impression: Most commonly used in the context of advertising, this is the number of times an ad is viewed by a Web user. For example, a Web user may look at one Web page with three ads on it, meaning there were three impressions on the page.
Keyword: A word or phrase entered into a search engine in an effort to get the search engine to return matching and relevant results. Many Web sites offer advertising targeted by keywords, so an ad will only show when a specific keyword is entered.
Landing page (a.k.a. microsite): A 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 optimized to feature specific keywords or phrases for indexing by search engines.
Local search: This is a search engine that allows for geographically-specific searching, typically to allow Web users to find local businesses, phone numbers, and addresses
Meta tags: Information placed in the HTML header of a Web page, providing information that is not visible to browsers, but can be used in varying degrees by search engines to index a page. Common meta tags used in search engine marketing are title, description, and keyword tags.
Microsite (a.k.a. landing page): See landing page
Natural search (a.k.a. organic search): Results displayed by a search engine based on the engine’s algorithm, based on relevancy, as opposed to paid search advertisements.
Organic Search (a.k.a. natural search): See natural search
Page view (PV): Each time a particular Web site or Web page is viewed by a Web user. This is different than a Web hit, which counts each time a request is made to a Web server. One pageview may contain several “hits.” Pageviews, therefore, are a more accurate means of determining a site or page’s popularity.
PageRank: The name given to Google’s method of ranking pages according to a number of factors such as link popularity. The Pagerank will display as a number out of 10 in a green bar of the Google Toolbar whenever you visit a website.
Paid search: Where an advertiser bids for the chance to have their ad displayed when a user searches for a given keyword. These are usually text ads, which are displayed above or to the right of the algorithmic (organic) search results.
PPC (pay-per-click): See CPC (cost-per-click)
RSS (really simple syndication): A Web feed format that publishes frequently updated content such as blog headlines, news headlines, or podcasts.
SEM (search engine marketing): The process of building and marketing a site with the goal of improving its position in search engine results. SEM includes both search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search.
Semantic Web (a.k.a. Web 3.0): See Web 3.0
SEO: (search engine optimization): The practice of making a Web site more visible to a search engine through optimal page design, HTML tagging, focusing on specific keywords, and link building.
Social bookmarking: Where Web users can save and categorize their list of favorite Web pages and sites and share them with other Web users. Del.icio.us. is an example of a popular social bookmarking site.
Social media: A category of sites that is based on user participation and user-generated content. They include social networking sites like LinkedIn or Facebook, social bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us, social news sites like Digg or Reddit, and other sites that are centered on user interaction
Social networking: A way for Web users to connect to others of similar interests while encouraging participation and user-generated content. Sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Linkedin are popular examples of social networking sites.
Spider: A search engine spider is a program that “crawls” the Web, visiting Web pages to collect information to add to or update a search engine’s index. The major search engines on the Web all have such a program, which is also known as a “crawler” or a “bot.”
Splash page: A splash page (also known as an interstitial) is a preliminary page that precedes the regular home page of a Web site and usually promotes a particular site feature or provides advertising. A splash page is timed to move on to the home page after a short period of time.
Unique visitor (a.k.a. visitor): The number of times a Web user comes once to a Web site within a particular set of time. For example, if one person came to a Web site five times in a day, they’re counted as one unique visitor. This metric is typically used by site publishers and advertisers as a measure of a site’s true audience size, equivalent to the term “Reach” used in other media
Universal search (a.k.a. blended search): Best showcased on Ask.com, brings together different forms of content such as video, images, text, and maps from different sources within one search result.
Visit: This is the total number of times a Web user has come to a Web site or Web page. For example, if one person came to a Web site five times in a given period of time, that would equal five “visits.”
Web 2.0: A term that refers to a supposed second generation of Internet-based services. These usually include tools that let people collaborate and share information online, such as social networking sites and wikis.
Web 3.0 (a.k.a. semantic Web): Where machines can read Web pages much as humans do, with artificial intelligence, to better find what Web users are looking for.
Wiki: A Web page that allows users to easily create, edit, and link to other Web pages. These are collaborative sites where users or “the community” add and edit content. The best known wiki is Wikipedia.
Sources: IB staff, Search Engine Watch, Wikipedia, e-gain.
