| A |
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| Affiliate marketing |
Co-ordinated programs to enable partners to market on behalf of a website and receive some form of compensation based on referrals. |
| Algorithm |
Formula used by search engines to rank listings in response to a particular query. |
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| C |
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| Click Through Rate (CTR) |
Percentage of users clicking onto a link based on the total number who can access the link. To demonstrate, 10 people may search the Internet which generates a number of results. If 3 of those people click on one particular link, the click through rate equals 30%. |
| Contextually targeted text ads |
Text ads targeted to the subject of content within web pages such as news articles and weblogs. |
| Conversion rate |
Usually concerns a sale or request for additional information. If a site attracts 100 visitors and 10 of them conduct the activity of interest, the conversion rate equals 10%. |
| Cost Per Click (CPC) |
Method whereby an advertiser agrees to pay a certain amount for each click someone makes on a site that leads to the advertiser's website. |
| Cost Per Impression (CPM) |
Method whereby an advertiser agrees to pay a certain amount for each time an ad is seen by a visitor regardless of their subsequent action. CPM refers to'cost per thousand. |
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| D |
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| Directories |
Location where listings are compiled by humans rather than automated means. Directories usually classify information within particular categories. |
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| F |
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| Frequency |
Represents the number of times a visitor returns to a site during a reporting period. It is calculated by dividing the total number of user sessions by the number of unique visitors. |
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| H |
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| Hitwise |
Hitwise is an online measurement company that monitors over 25 million Internet users worldwide. Based on these findings, they have developed a database of websites ranked by popularity across more than 160 industries. |
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| K |
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| Keywords / Search terms |
Word or phrase entered into a search box to retrieve the desired information. It is also known as a query. |
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| L |
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| Listings |
Information that appears within the results page of a search engine in response to a search query. |
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| M |
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| Meta search engine |
A search engine that obtains listings from more than one search engine rather than through its own efforts. |
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| O |
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| Organic listings |
Sites appear within search engines regardless of payment because they are deemed worthy of inclusion. |
| Organic search engine optimisation |
Practice of using a range of techniques in order to improve the lists for a site within a search engine. |
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| P |
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| Paid inclusion |
Fee to guarantee a website or page inclusion in a search engine's (or similar sites) directory. Despite the payment exchange, there is no assurance of priority ranking. |
| Paid placement |
Text ads based on keyword search results generated through search engines. Search networks often 'auction' keywords and phrases based on a cost-per-click fee. |
| Page impressions |
Page impressions measure how many times a particular web page was viewed. In contrast, the number of hits refers to all documents that are loaded on a page. This figure may include links to various images. Page impressions are a much more reliable measure given that they are an exact indicator of how many times a page has been viewed. |
| Pay for performance |
Based on the 'pay per click' offering, this is an option for advertisers to pay for ads that deliver traffic rather than CPM-based ad which require payment even if no clicks are generated. |
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| R |
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| Rank |
Positioning of a particular site within search engine results. |
| Results page |
Page produced in relation to a search query. It is sometimes referred to as SERP (search engine results page). |
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| S |
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| Search engine |
Feature designed to allow users to search the web or specific database. Search engines generally incorporate both paid and organic listings. |
| Search engine marketing (SEM) |
Set of techniques and strategies used to attract more visitors from search engines to websites. |
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| U |
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| Unique visitors |
Refers to a person who visits a website at least once within a specified period of time. Visitors are measured according to their unique IP address. Unique visitors are counted only once regardless of the number of times they visit the site. |
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| W |
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| Web analytics |
Data generated to measure and analyse the performance and activities within a site. |
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C