Online Marketing Glossary of Terms

Advertising Return on Investment (ROI): Also known as Advertising Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), a percentage based on the amount of money spent on paid search engine marketing (SEM) advertising compared against the amount or value of potential revenue generated in monetary terms. Advertising ROI can be represented through this formula:

Revenue from sales or potential revenue from leads – paid SEM advertising costs / paid SEM advertising costs = advertising ROI

Conversion: When a key page of a website is viewed by a visitor it is known as a conversion or a goal. Often key pages are related to a sale, sales lead or newsletter sign up, such as a confirmation page. Once the visitor reaches the key page, such as the confirmation page confirming that the purchase or email sign up was successful, this would constitute the successful completion of one goal or conversion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_(marketing)

Conversion Funnel: The steps a visitor to a website takes to complete a goal or conversion. This may include completing an email sign up form or the process of making an online purchase.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_funnel

Conversion Optimization: Improving the conversion rate of a landing page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_optimization

Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors who reached a key page on a website, known as a goal. Often this key page of a website is a transaction, email sign up, or sales lead confirmation page. The conversion rate formula can be represented as follows:
Number of Goal Achievements / Website Visits = Conversion Rate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_rate

Cost Per Click (CPC): The amount of money an advertiser pays the publisher for each click on its advertisement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_per_click

Cost Per Conversion: The paid search engine marketing (SEM) cost for a goal or conversion to be completed. The cost per conversion can be represented through this formula:
Paid SEM advertising costs / goals or conversions completed = cost per conversion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_per_conversion

Goal(s): See the term Conversion.

Landing Page: A website page, sometimes referred to as a lead capture page, visitors are directed to after clicking on an online advertisement.

Often the landing page and conversion rate are referenced together in paid search engine marketing (SEM). The success of a landing page is often measured by the conversion rate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_page

Pay Per Click (PPC): An online advertisement method where the advertiser pays the publisher each time the ad is clicked on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_per_click

Search Engine Marketing (SEM): A form of paid placement Internet marketing with the objective of promoting websites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_marketing

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Improving the visibility and page ranking of a website on search engines through organic or unpaid techniques.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization

Social Network Marketing (SNM) or Social Media Marketing (SMM): Refers to the use of online communities, wikis, blogs, social networks or any other online collaborative media for sales, public relations, marketing and customer service. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_marketing