Digital Marketing Study Guide Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key technical terms, traffic sources, conversion concepts, web design principles, analytics metrics, attribution models, and SEO terminology.

Domain Name and Registrar

The domain is the website's name. A registrar manages domain registration; choosing and registering the name begins the website setup process.

IP Address and DNS

An IP address identifies a network location. DNS translates a domain name into the IP address needed to reach the appropriate server.

Server and Web Hosting

A server stores and delivers requested website content. Hosting provides the server space and supporting services.

Browser and HTML

A browser displays webpage content. HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) structures it, while JavaScript supports behavior and interaction.

URL

Uniform Resource Locator: the address of a particular resource. A domain is only part of a page's full URL.

Security Certificate and HTTPS

A certificate supports an authenticated, encrypted connection using TLS. HTTPS protects data in transit; it is not a promise of anonymity.

CMS and Analytics Package

A content management system (CMS) supports content creation and editing. An analytics package collects and summarizes information about visitors and performance.

AIDA Model

Awareness $\rightarrow$ Interest $\rightarrow$ Desire $\rightarrow$ Action. A customer readiness model where a customer learns about an offering, becomes interested, wants it, and acts.

Direct Traffic

Traffic from visitors who type the URL directly or use a bookmark; often reflects prior awareness or habit.

Unpaid Referral Traffic

Traffic from visitors who follow an unpaid link on another website.

Paid Referral Traffic

Traffic from visitors who click a paid display, banner, text, or video ad on another website.

Unpaid Search Traffic

Traffic from visitors who click an organic result on a search engine results page (SERP).

Paid Search Traffic

Traffic from visitors who click a search advertisement on the SERP.

Conversion

The desired action completed by a website visitor.

Lead

A potential customer's inquiry.

Primary Conversion

A conversion that directly serves the website's main goal, such as a purchase on a retail site.

Secondary Conversion

A conversion that supports the main goal or a later relationship, such as creating an account or joining an email list.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

The practice of using ongoing testing to improve the percentage of visitors who convert.

Three Questions Framework

A web design framework ensuring visitors quickly understand three things: What are you offering? Why should I pick you? What do you want me to do next?

Above the Fold

The visible area of a webpage before scrolling, which varies depending on screen size.

Attention (Design Principle)

A conversion-centered design principle where the desired action attracts attention and distractions do not compete with it.

Context (Design Principle)

A conversion-centered design principle where the page matches the visitor's source, expectations, and prior knowledge.

Clarity (Design Principle)

A conversion-centered design principle where the offer and the result of clicking are easy to understand.

Congruence (Design Principle)

A conversion-centered design principle where the page's words and elements support the same conversion goal.

Credibility (Design Principle)

A conversion-centered design principle where evidence gives visitors reason to believe the company's promises.

Closing (Design Principle)

A conversion-centered design principle where reassuring, positive messaging near the action helps the visitor commit.

Continuance (Design Principle)

A conversion-centered design principle where confirmation shows the action succeeded and makes the next step clear.

Persona

A fictional representation of a customer segment used to consider that segment's specific needs.

Responsive Web Design

A design approach that resizes and rearranges webpage content to fit the visitor's screen.

A/B Test

A controlled experiment that randomly shows visitors an existing version or a changed version of a page, then compares conversion performance using collected evidence.

Landing Page

The first page a visitor sees upon arriving at a site. In campaign work, it often refers to a page created specifically for that campaign.

NSAMCWADLP

Never start a marketing campaign without a dedicated landing page.

Hero Image

The large image near the top of a webpage that draws visitor attention.

Call to Action (CTA)

An element on a webpage that tells visitors what action to take next.

Trust Signals

Elements such as testimonials, client logos, awards, credentials, guarantees, return policies, and secure payment methods that build credibility.

Pageviews

The total number of page views, including repeated views. Also referred to as a hit.

Sessions

Visits to a website during a selected period; a single session may contain several pageviews.

Users

Distinct users recognized by analytics during a selected period.

Pages per Session

Calculated as pageviews divided by sessions ($\text{Pageviews}$).

Average Engagement Time

The time spent actively engaging with the website.

Conversion Rate

The percentage of a specified visitor or session base that completes the target action ($\text{Conversions}$).

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

A metric chosen as a major measure of success for a business goal.

Average Order Value

Calculated as sales revenue divided by purchases ($\text{Sales Revenue}$).

Gross Margin

Calculated as ($\text{Revenue} -$).

Close Rate

Calculated as closed customers divided by leads ($\text{Closed Customers}$).

Conversion Funnel

A tool that breaks the path to purchase into sequential steps to locate points of friction and visitor drop-off.

Attribution

The practice of assigning financial or conversion credit to marketing interactions preceding a conversion.

First-Click Attribution

An attribution model that assigns all conversion credit to the first recorded interaction in the customer journey.

Last-Click Attribution

An attribution model that assigns all conversion credit to the last recorded interaction before conversion.

Linear Attribution

An attribution model that divides conversion credit equally among all recorded interactions.

Time Decay Attribution

An attribution model that distributes credit to all recorded interactions but gives greater weight to recent interactions.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The process of earning visibility in organic (unpaid) search results.

On-Site SEO

SEO activities aimed at improving the content and structure of one's own website.

Off-Site SEO

SEO activities involving external signals, such as backlinks from other websites.

Fat Head Terms

Broad search terms that carry high search volume.

Long Tail Keywords

Specific search phrases that generally have lower individual search volume and face less competition.

Keyword Map

A plan that assigns target phrases to specific pages to guide content optimization and prevent keyword cannibalization.

Keyword Cannibalization

The issue caused by optimizing multiple pages on the same website for the same primary keyword.

Title Tag

An HTML element that identifies the page in the browser tab and can appear as the headline in search results.

H1 Heading

The highest-level visible heading on a page, used to identify the main topic. It is distinct from the title tag.

Meta Description

A short summary of a page (about 160 characters) that may appear beneath its search result.

Anchor Text

The clickable wording of a hyperlink.

Keyword Stuffing

Excessive, unnatural keyword repetition intended to manipulate search engine rankings.

Black-Hat SEO

Manipulative tactics designed to gain search rankings without delivering corresponding value to users.

AI Optimization (AIO)

Activities intended to influence AI responses and overviews in a company's favor.

E-E-A-T

An acronym representing Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.