Digital Marketing
Digital marketing terms explained: a simple glossary
Digital marketing comes with a lot of short forms, but most of them answer three simple questions: who saw your ad, who acted on it, and what it cost you. This glossary explains the terms you'll hear most, in plain words.
ShoaibUpdated 5 min read
The core terms
| Term | What it means in plain words | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| SEO | Search engine optimization. Google Search Central says it's about helping search engines understand your content and people find your site. | What is SEO? |
| PPC | Pay-per-click: you pay when someone clicks your ad. | What is PPC? |
| CPC | Cost per click. Google Ads Help says CPC bidding "means that you pay for each click on your ads." | CPM, CPC and CTR |
| CPM | Cost per thousand impressions: what you pay for every 1,000 times an ad is shown. | CPM, CPC and CTR |
| CTR | Click-through rate: clicks ÷ impressions. Google's example: 5 clicks from 100 impressions is a 5% CTR. | CPM, CPC and CTR |
| Conversion | An action you care about, like a purchase, a lead form or a WhatsApp message. | What is a conversion? |
| ROAS | Return on ad spend: the sales value your ads bring in divided by what they cost. | ROAS explained |
| Pixel | Code on your website that, Meta says, measures your ads by tracking actions people take on your site. | Install the Meta Pixel |
| Retargeting | Showing ads to people who already visited your site, engaged with you or bought before. | Retargeting basics |
| Lookalike audience | Meta finds new people who share characteristics with an audience you already have, like your customers. | Custom and lookalike audiences |
| Landing page | The page someone lands on after clicking an ad, built around one action. | What is a landing page? |
| UTM link | A normal link with extra tags so Google Analytics can show which campaign sent a visitor. | What are UTM links? |
How do these terms fit together?
Read them in order: an ad gets impressions (CPM), some people click (CTR, CPC), some land on your landing page and convert, and you compare sales to spend (ROAS). The pixel and UTM links track that path.
If a report full of these terms leaves you unsure what to do next, our Growth Consulting service can help you make sense of your digital marketing numbers.