Reference this handy page of SEM definitions for succinct definitions of PPC strategies and concepts.

Above the Fold – The part of a Web page that is visible without any scrolling and serves as the key "real estate" of the page.

AdSense – The Google program that enables third-party Web sites to incorporate Google AdWords contextual advertising into their sites and to generate revenue for themselves through the use of the program.

AdWords - The Google program that enables paid search and contextual advertising on its search engine. When users search on a word or key phrase, relevant paid advertisements appear in key locations of the page.

Algorithm – A detailed series of actions or steps to perform to accomplish a task. Search engines rely on algorithms to determine the ranking of Web sites and Web pages and which ones will be displayed first when a search query is performed.

Click Fraud – An attempt to inflate click-through rates through the use of various tactics often involving automated software.

Click-through – In the context of Paid Search, when a Web visitor takes the action of selecting a Paid Search link to visit an advertised Web site or Web page.

Click-through Rate – The percentage of visitors to a Web site that click a link to visit a site compared to the overall number of visitors who visited the page and had an opportunity to click the same link.

Conversion Rate – The percentage of visitors to a Web site that are persuaded to perform a certain action (such as order, respond, submit a form, contact a company, etc.)

Cookie – A piece of code placed on a Web site visitor’s computer to track the actions of that user on subsequent visits to the site.

Cost per Action – Otherwise known as CPA, the amount paid to acquire a prospect and convert the prospect into performing an activity on a Web site (such as ordering, responding, submitting a form, contacting the company, etc.)

Cost per Click – Otherwise known as CPC and in the context of Paid Search, the amount paid to convince a prospect to click on an advertised Web link. In Paid Search, click purchasers determine keyword and the amount of money they are willing to pay for each click generated by the keyword.

Cost per Lead – A traditional direct marketing measure that illustrates the amount paid to generate one qualified prospect. In Paid Search, "Cost per Click" and "Cost per Lead" would be synonymous while in traditional advertising, marketers would typically pay for a number of "impressions" out of which a certain number of viewers would convert into prospects or leads.

Cost per Thousand – Otherwise known as CPM, this is a traditional direct marketing measure that is also used in online marketing. It measures the amount paid to generate 1,000 impressions. In online marketing, it is typically used to compare the relative prices to receive 1,000 banner ad impressions. With the rise of Pay-Per-Click Paid Search, selling online advertising on a CPM basis has become a more minor part of the advertising solutions that most marketers use.

Deep Linking – Links that direct a user to a page other than the home page or which is "deeper" in the site.

Demographics - The characteristics of human population segments. These characteristics are often used to identify consumer markets and drive relevant offers to them.

Gateway Page – A Web site page that is designed to give search engine spiders everything they need to properly categorize and catalog a site. Most search engines ban such pages and pro-actively seek to eliminate the results from such pages in their inclusions.

Hidden Text – A practice of publishing "invisible" text on a Web page in an effort to manipulate search engine rankings and results. Many search engines can detect hidden text and resulting rankings suffer as a result.

Keyword – These are the targeted words and phrases that are selected for a PPC campaign which marketers then purchase to drive traffic to a Web site. Selection of these words and knowing which ones will be attractive to a target audience are key to the success of a PPC campaign.

Keyword Density – The percentage of a page’s words that are comprised of a keyword.

Local Search – When users attempt to glean information about their own geographic location while excluding results from other geographic locations.

Negative Matching – Enables marketers to input words and phrases that will block a paid advertisement from being displayed when those words or phrases are used.

Organic Listings – These are known as "natural listings" on a search engine garnered through traditional search engine submission processes. Organic listings can be improved through special Search Engine Optimization techniques. See SEO for more information.

Pay-Per-Click – see Paid Search Advertising.

Pay-Per-Call - An advertising service that connects online-search consumers with businesses by phone. It’s not necessary to have a website to participate because Pay Per Call ads which appear in prominent online search engine results and directories, drive business directly to business phone numbers. Pay-Per-Call is included under the broader term "SEM" or Search Engine Marketing.

Paid Search Advertising – Otherwise known as Pay-Per-Click advertising; this is an online direct marketing vehicle that involves purchasing targeted keywords on major search engines in an effort to drive responsive, targeted traffic to a Web site. Businesses only pay for the traffic they receive instead of the old advertising model that tried to justify the cost of the ad based on the number of exposures it received. In addition, marketers can control how much they are willing to pay for keywords and how much traffic they want to receive.

PPC – Pay-Per-Click marketing, otherwise known as Paid Search; see Paid Search Advertising.

Ranking – The position that a Web site or Web page enjoys in a search engine’s catalog and displayed results.

ROAS – Otherwise known as "Return on Advertising Spend". Marketers use this metric to determine the results derived specifically from the amount spent on media. All overhead and peripheral services and costs are excluded.

ROI – Otherwise known as "Return on Investment". This is a marketer’s return on the money invested on a marketing campaign. In short, did the campaign lead to profits? If so, how much? Which keywords were most profitable? Which generated the most traffic? Which generated the most conversions? Which search engines performed best and generated the most profit?

Search Engines – Online portals that catalog Web sites enable Web surfers to find the sites and pages of interest to them. Search engines are where the vast majority of PPC advertising takes place as ads are displayed when relevant keywords are search upon.

SEM – Search Engine Marketing; The act of marketing a website through search engines, whether this is by Paid Search or SEO, or a combination of search engine related marketing activities. Target Audience – The core demographic group(s) that comprise a marketers customer base and will be most likely to respond to offers and ads presented to them.

SEO – This is an unrelated form of online marketing known as Search Engine Optimization or organic search marketing. It involves optimizing a web site to give it the best chance of being picked up by a crawler-based search engine. This is a passive form of marketing compared to the dynamic and pro-active nature of Paid Search Advertising.

Spider – A special program that search engines use to "crawl" a Web site to determine its content and how it should be properly categorized in search engine results.

Unique Visitor – Indicates one individual that visits a Web site. In online marketing, it is a contrasting measure to "visitors" which does not differentiate between unique visitors and visitors who visit multiple times.



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