
Algorithm- According to Wikipedia, “an algorithm is a definite list of well-defined instructions for completing a task; that given an initial state, will proceed through a well-defined series of successive states, eventually terminating in an end-state.”
Benchmarking-The process of establishing a set of results that can be used to compare future results to, to establish whether changes made to the website have been beneficial or not.
Cross-Channel Cannibalism-Cross-channel cannibalism is when a marketing campaign intended for attracting new business ends up costing the company existing sales.
Dayparting-the analytic act of determining during what time of day or night, and during which days, your ads perform best and return the best quality leads.
Directories-a categorical listing of website content. See here for a further explanation.
Landing Pages-A landing page is usually a single web page created exclusively to provide a visitor with more detailed information, usually about a pay-per-click (ppc) ad he just clicked on. It could be a banner or any other advert but it’s usually a ppc ad. That landing page usually asks a couple questions, provides a little more info and helps lead the visitor in the right direction.
Log Files-log files are text files (usually end with .txt). They are a record of the activites on your website. While they serve the same function as “tagging” does, each method has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Currently the ideal analytics situation is one in which both data sources are usesd
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs-Hierarchy of five human motivational needs arranged by ascending order of importance, developed by Abraham Maslow. The five ascending needs are (1) physiological, (2) safety, (3) social, (4) esteem, and (5) self-actualization. Only unsatisfied needs are motivators. Once a need is satisfied, the next level emerges as a motivator.
Micro-Sites-Think of a micro-site as a landing page on steroids. Not quite a full-blown website but more than a simple landing page.
Nodes-In network analysis, destinations or intersection points which are part of a network. These are also known as vertices.
Persona-A profile of a targeted group of people developed for the specific purpose of utilizing their behavior patterns in the site content to develop scent trails.
Purl-It stands for “personalized url”. A url is a uniform resource locator which is a geeky way to say “domain name”. So a purl is a personalized domain name.
Scent Trails-the application of profile data to site content and structure enabling the site designer to create “trails” that the targetted personality would find attractive to follow. The objective is to get the visitor to follow a pre-determined route from the point of entry (site) to the conversion event in the fewest number of steps.
SERP’s-search engineresults pages
Tagging-the process, whereby your webmaster adds a small bit of javascript code to each page of your website to allow a software program to track visitor activities and movement.
Taxonomy-Division into ordered groups or categories.
Universal Search-Universal Search is a term coined by Google in which results from different vertical search engines (images, video, news etc…) are integrated into Google’s regular search results. The idea is that textual listings may not necessarily be the most relevant result for a user’s query.
Web Analytics-The science (the “math” part) with a little touch of “art” to get it to make sense (the “experience” part) of determining who’s doing what on your site, where they’re doing it, how much time they spent doing it, and other factors that give us actionable insights.
Web-to-Print-Usually defined as the ability to store and manage documents online with the capability to order them, have the orders fulfilled and shipped via your print/document partner. Essentially it puts a website between you and your printer. We’ve been doing that since 2001 and we’ve gotten pretty good at it!
White Paper-A white paper is a 6-12 page discussion of a narrowly defined topic. Usually begins with an executive overview, proceeds to a review of industry problems, conditions, and solutions and ends up with a final review. Typically used to establish a company’s position in the marketplace as an expert, white papers are used early on in the buying process and can produce a steady flow of leads.