The Top 20 Digital Marketing Terms You Should Know

The digital marketing industry is vast, so there are many different terms to know. This article attempts to explain the top 20 digital marketing terms in an easy-to-understand manner. I’ll explain what each term means, offer examples of how it’s used, and show a real life example where applicable.

If there are any terms you’d like me to include please let me know in the comments section at the bottom of this post!

The Top 23 Digital Marketing Terms You Should Know:

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) –  Search engine optimization is using various methods to improve your website’s rankings when people search for keywords relevant to your company/products/services in search engines such as Google or Bing.

2. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) –  Search engine marketing is the process of using paid advertisements to raise awareness and increase traffic to your website from search engines.

3. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC) –  Pay-per-click advertising involves advertisers paying a fee each time a user clicks on their ad for their website/blog/product/service page.

4. Social Media Optimization (SMO) –   Social media optimization is the process of increasing the visibility of a website by “optimizing” it for social media websites and sharing content on those sites.

5. Call Tracking  –   Call tracking allows you to know which keywords bring people to your site through knowing what number they dialed after a search.

6. Direct Traffic –  Direct traffic occurs when people type in your company/website name into their web browser or click on a link that has nothing to do with search engines, for example if someone’s friend sends them a link to your website.

7. Referral Traffic –  The idea behind referral traffic is indirect communication where clicks are coming from sources other than search engines which are not ads, videos, etc., but instead are links you’ve asked others to share because they found the content informative or entertaining.

8. Keyword Research  – Keyword research involves examining search terms for keywords relevant to your business/product/service so you can use them in advertisements, blog posts, website content, etc., to target specific demographics.

9. Click-Through Rate (CTR) –  A click-through rate is the number of clicks an ad receives divided by the number of times it’s shown multiplied by 100, for example if your ad was shown 1,000 times and received 100 clicks your CTR would be 10%.

10. Digital Media Marketing –  Digital marketing in general is defined as use of digital channels and mediums to deliver promotional messages and content to audiences for the purpose of acquiring awareness, building relationships, generating leads and sales, and providing value back to the business/brand/company.

11. Web Analytics –  Web analytics provides you with information about your website such as number of visits, where they came from (directly or through another source), how long they stayed on your site, etc., allowing marketers to improve their sites based on what demographics are mostly likely to respond to certain content/marketing strategies.

12. Online Reputation –   An online reputation is how internet users perceive/define an individual or company based on what they find through search engines and social media sites, usually when searching for information about that person’s/company’s brand/product/service. People can exploit their online reputation in both positive and negative ways by doing things such as promoting their brand/products/services, or sharing bad reviews about a competitor’s product.

13. Digital PR (Public Relations) –  Digital public relations is the act of gaining attention and awareness for your company through online channels like social media platforms, blogs, forums, etc., with the intent of influencing the general population toward a positive perception of that company’s brand, products or services.

14. Influencer Marketing –  Influencer marketing is utilizing influencers to promote messages about brands/products/services in an attempt to convince their audiences to purchase said brands/products/services. Common types of influencers include bloggers, celebrities, industry experts and others who have established themselves as authorities within their niche online communities.

15. Email Marketing: Email marketing refers to sending an email to a list of subscribers with the goal of informing them about products/services your business offers while encouraging them to buy or use them in some way.

16. Digital Display Starategy: Digital display ads are banner ads that show up on websites, including pop ups and overlays.

17. Content Marketing: The process of creating content (blog posts, videos, webinars etc.) with the goal of engaging audiences by providing value while highlighting your business goals.

18. Content Management System (CMS): A type of software that makes web publishing easy by allowing users with little technical knowledge to update content on websites.

19. Website Optimization: Refers to a wide range of techniques aimed at making sure your website is optimized for search engines like Google so they can easily crawl and index your site’s content – thus increasing its visibility in search results.

20. Video Marketing: Using video as a strategy to engage audiences by showing them how products/services work, testimonials from customers or sharing industry news relevant to your industry.

21. Local Search Optimization (Local SEO): A set of strategies aimed at improving how visible a business is locally – usually through paid advertising, search engine optimization techniques and social media updates aimed at local audiences.

22. A/B Testing: Determining which of two designs for webpages are more effective at converting visitors to customers. The test is generally between a current design and one that has been modified, keeping everything else equal (copy, imagery, etc.).

23. Link building: The process of creating new backlinks (i.e. other people’s websites linking to you) and having the search engines notice these links as improving your website’s rank in their results pages.

I hope this article help you to understand the 20 crucial terms in Digital Marketing. If you want to know more about it, do let me know in the comment section.