111 terms, plain-English — with DNA’s take on each one
Every term below links back to how DNA actually runs campaigns. Pick one to start, or follow the related terms at the bottom of each page.
SEO & Web
SEO
The practice of earning visibility in search results without paying for every click.
Read the definition →(Owning a Subject in Search)Topical Authority
The degree to which search engines — and readers — trust your site as a credible source on a given subject.
Read the definition →(Search Engine Results Page)SERP
The page of results a search engine shows after someone types in a query — and the real estate every SEO strategy is fighting for.
Read the definition →(Earned Search Visitors)Organic Traffic
The visitors who find you through unpaid search results — the clearest sign your SEO work is actually paying off.
Read the definition →(Inbound Link Signal)Backlink
A link from another website pointing to yours — still one of the strongest votes of confidence a search engine can count.
Read the definition →(Clickable Link Label)Anchor Text
The visible, clickable words in a hyperlink — small detail, but a real signal of what the linked page is about.
Read the definition →(Preferred Page Version)Canonical URL
A tag that tells search engines which version of a page is the "real" one, so duplicate pages don’t compete against each other.
Read the definition →(Image Alternative Text)Alt Text
Descriptive text behind an image that helps both screen readers and search engines understand what a picture actually shows.
Read the definition →(The "Why" Behind a Query)Search Intent
The real reason someone typed a search — whether they want an answer, a website, a comparison, or to buy right now.
Read the definition →(Keyword Frequency Ratio)Keyword Density
How often a target keyword appears on a page relative to total word count — once a big deal, now a much smaller piece of SEO.
Read the definition →(How Search Engines Discover Pages)Crawling
The process search engines use to discover and read every page on your site — the very first step before anything can rank.
Read the definition →(Search Engine Database Storage)Indexing
The step after crawling, where a search engine stores and organizes a page so it can actually be served in results.
Read the definition →(Behind-the-Scenes Optimization)Technical SEO
The server, code, and site-structure work that makes it possible for search engines to crawl, index, and rank a site efficiently.
Read the definition →(Google’s UX Speed Metrics)Core Web Vitals
Google's standardized scorecard for how fast, responsive, and visually stable a page feels to an actual visitor.
Read the definition →(Third-Party Ranking Strength Score)Domain Authority (DA) / Domain Rating (DR)
A third-party score predicting how likely a website is to rank well, based largely on the strength of its backlink profile.
Read the definition →(Authority Built Outside Your Site)Off-Page SEO
Everything you do away from your own website — links, PR, and mentions — to build the trust that boosts your rankings.
Read the definition →(Optimization You Control Directly)On-Page SEO
Everything you optimize directly on a page — headings, tags, and content — to help it rank and satisfy the visitor who lands there.
Read the definition →Paid Media & PPC
CTV
TV-quality ad placement delivered through streaming apps, with the targeting and reporting of digital.
Read the definition →(TV, Radio, Print, Digital & CTV)Media Buying
Purchasing advertising space or airtime on a client's behalf, negotiated for the best rate and placement.
Read the definition →(Pay-Per-Click)PPC
An advertising model where you pay only when someone actually clicks your ad — not just sees it.
Read the definition →(Cost Per Click)CPC
The actual price you pay each time someone clicks your ad — the core unit of PPC spend.
Read the definition →(Cost Per Mille)CPM
What you pay for every 1,000 times your ad is shown, regardless of clicks — the standard pricing unit for visibility.
Read the definition →(Cost Per Acquisition)CPA
What it actually costs you, in ad spend, to win one lead or customer.
Read the definition →(Return on Ad Spend)ROAS
The dollars-and-cents answer to whether your ad spend is actually paying for itself.
Read the definition →(Click-Through Rate)CTR
The percentage of people who saw your ad and actually clicked it — a direct read on how compelling your ad is.
Read the definition →(Google’s Ad Relevance Rating)Quality Score
Google's 1-to-10 grade on how relevant your ad, keyword, and landing page are to a searcher — and it directly affects what you pay.
Read the definition →(Remarketing)Retargeting
Showing ads specifically to people who already visited your site or engaged with your brand, to bring them back to convert.
Read the definition →(Single Ad View)Ad Impression
One single instance of your ad appearing on a screen — the basic unit that all reach and visibility metrics are built from.
Read the definition →(Average Views Per User)Frequency
How many times, on average, the same person saw your ad during a campaign — a key dial for avoiding ad fatigue.
Read the definition →(Unique Audience Size)Reach
The total number of distinct people who actually saw your ad or content — not the number of times it was shown.
Read the definition →(Eligible Impressions Won)Ad Impression Share
The percentage of the impressions you were eligible for that your ads actually won — a direct read on how much visibility budget or rank is costing you.
Read the definition →(Performance Max)PMax
Google's AI-driven campaign type that automatically shifts your budget across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Maps to chase your stated goal.
Read the definition →(Automated Ad Buying)Programmatic Advertising
The automated, algorithm-driven buying and selling of digital ad space in real time, replacing manual insertion orders.
Read the definition →(Modeled on Your Best Customers)Lookalike Audience
A new audience an ad platform builds by finding users who resemble your existing best customers.
Read the definition →Analytics & Data
ROI
How marketers measure whether a dollar spent actually turned into a dollar — or four — earned.
Read the definition →(CR)Conversion Rate
The percentage of visitors who actually do the thing you wanted them to do — buy, sign up, or call.
Read the definition →(Conversion Rate Optimization)CRO
The disciplined practice of turning more of your existing traffic into customers, without spending more to get it.
Read the definition →(Single-Page Exit Signal)Bounce Rate
How often people land on your page and leave without exploring further — a quick read on first-impression fit.
Read the definition →(Customer Acquisition Cost)CAC
What it actually costs, in dollars, to turn a stranger into a paying customer.
Read the definition →(Customer Lifetime Value)LTV / CLV
The total value a customer brings over the life of the relationship, not just their first purchase.
Read the definition →(Customer Loss Rate)Churn Rate
How fast you’re losing customers out the back door, even as marketing brings new ones in the front.
Read the definition →(Split Testing)A/B Testing
Letting real visitor behavior, not opinion, decide which version of a page or ad wins.
Read the definition →(Key Performance Indicator)KPI
The handful of numbers that actually tell you whether the marketing is working.
Read the definition →(Credit Assignment Rules)Attribution Model
The rulebook that decides which marketing touchpoint gets the credit when a customer finally converts.
Read the definition →(Your Own Customer Data)First-Party Data
The information you collect directly from your own customers — the most valuable and durable data a business owns.
Read the definition →(Purchased Audience Data)Third-Party Data
Data collected by outside companies about people your business has no direct relationship with.
Read the definition →(Customer-Volunteered Data)Zero-Party Data
Information customers hand you directly and willingly — the clearest signal of what they actually want.
Read the definition →(Beyond-the-Pageview Measurement)Event Tracking
Measuring the specific actions people take on your site, not just which pages they load.
Read the definition →(Invisible Measurement Tag)Tracking Pixel
A tiny, invisible snippet of code that lets platforms confirm a visit or conversion actually happened.
Read the definition →(Campaign Tracking Tags)UTM Parameters
Small tags added to a link that tell your analytics exactly where a visitor came from and why.
Read the definition →Content & Branding
Content Marketing
Creating useful material that earns trust with your audience, instead of pitching them directly.
Read the definition →(A Plan, Not a Publishing Calendar)Content Roadmap
A planned schedule of what gets published, when, and why — tied to business goals, not guesswork.
Read the definition →(Pull, Not Push)Inbound Marketing
A method of attracting prospects with helpful content and experiences instead of interrupting them with ads.
Read the definition →(Content That Doesn’t Expire)Evergreen Content
Search-optimized content built to stay accurate and valuable for years, not just for a news cycle.
Read the definition →(Top of Funnel)ToFU
Educational content designed to build awareness with prospects who don’t yet know they need you.
Read the definition →(Middle of Funnel)MoFU
Consideration-stage content that helps prospects who are actively comparing their options.
Read the definition →(Bottom of Funnel)BoFU
Conversion-focused content aimed at buyers who are ready to make a decision.
Read the definition →(UGC)User-Generated Content
Content your customers create voluntarily, like reviews and unboxing videos, that carries more trust than brand-made content.
Read the definition →(Earned Authority)Thought Leadership
Educational content that positions a brand or individual as a trusted authority rather than just another vendor.
Read the definition →(Borrowed Trust)Social Proof
The psychological pull that makes prospects trust a business more when they see others already trust it.
Read the definition →(Your Ideal Customer, Defined)Buyer Persona
A detailed, research-based profile of your ideal customer that keeps content and targeting focused.
Read the definition →(Value For Contact Info)Lead Magnet
A free, valuable resource offered in exchange for a prospect’s contact information.
Read the definition →(Extending Your Reach)Content Syndication
Republishing your original content on third-party sites to reach audiences beyond your own.
Read the definition →(Content Behind a Form)Gated Content
Valuable content that requires a visitor to submit their details before they can view it.
Read the definition →(Outbuild the Top Result)Skyscraper Technique
An SEO strategy of finding the top-ranking content for a query and creating a noticeably better, more current version.
Read the definition →(Recognition & Recall)Brand Awareness
The degree to which consumers correctly recognize or recall a brand when they think of a category.
Read the definition →(Why Choose You)Value Proposition
A clear, specific statement of the unique benefit a customer gets by choosing you over any alternative.
Read the definition →Social Media
Engagement Rate
The percentage of your audience that actually likes, comments, or shares — not just scrolls past.
Read the definition →(Brand Sentiment Monitoring)Social Listening
Tracking what people are saying about your brand across the internet, even when they never tag you.
Read the definition →(Borrowed Trust, Paid For)Influencer Marketing
Paying people your audience already trusts to introduce them to your product or service.
Read the definition →(Engineered for Sharing)Viral Marketing
Content built deliberately to be passed from person to person until reach compounds far beyond paid distribution.
Read the definition →(Your Team as a Channel)Employee Advocacy
Turning your own staff into a trusted distribution channel for company news and culture.
Read the definition →(Untrackable Sharing)Dark Social
The huge volume of sharing that happens in DMs, group chats, and texts — invisible to standard analytics.
Read the definition →(The Ranking System)Feed Algorithm
The automated system deciding which posts a platform actually shows to which users, and in what order.
Read the definition →(User-Generated Content Creator)UGC Creator
A creator hired to make content that looks like an organic customer post, built specifically for brand ads.
Read the definition →(SOV)Share of Voice
How much of the total conversation in your category belongs to your brand versus your competitors.
Read the definition →(Everyday Audience Engagement)Community Management
The ongoing work of showing up in comments, groups, and DMs to turn followers into loyal customers.
Read the definition →Email & Automation
Marketing Automation
Software that handles the repetitive parts of marketing — triggers, scoring, updates — so your team can focus on strategy.
Read the definition →(Email Engagement Signal)Open Rate
The percentage of delivered emails that recipients actually open — the first sign anyone noticed you at all.
Read the definition →(Click-to-Open Rate)CTOR
The percentage of people who opened your email and then actually clicked something — a truer read on content quality than open rate alone.
Read the definition →(Automated Email Sequence)Drip Campaign
A pre-built series of emails that goes out automatically over time or in response to what a subscriber does.
Read the definition →(Permanent Delivery Failure)Hard Bounce
An email that bounces back for good — usually because the address doesn’t exist anymore.
Read the definition →(Temporary Delivery Failure)Soft Bounce
A delivery hiccup, not a dead end — the inbox exists, it just couldn’t accept the email this time.
Read the definition →(Targeted Subscriber Grouping)Segmentation
Splitting your email list into smaller groups so each one gets a message that actually fits them.
Read the definition →(Automated Trust-Building)Lead Nurturing
Staying in front of prospects with useful, relevant communication until they’re actually ready to buy.
Read the definition →(Email Opt-Out Signal)Unsubscribe Rate
The percentage of recipients who decide a given email was the last one they want from you.
Read the definition →(Inbox Placement Rate)Deliverability
Whether your emails actually land in the inbox — not the spam folder — regardless of how good the content is.
Read the definition →UX & Web Design
CTA
The button or line of text that tells a visitor exactly what to do next — and whether your site converts at all.
Read the definition →(Fluid, Multi-Device Layouts)Responsive Design
Web layouts that reshape themselves automatically so your site looks right whether it’s opened on a phone or a monitor.
Read the definition →(Conversion Drag)Friction
Anything on your site that makes a visitor pause, hesitate, or give up before converting.
Read the definition →(First-Screen Content)Above the Fold
Whatever a visitor sees the instant your page loads — before they lift a finger to scroll.
Read the definition →(IA)Information Architecture
The invisible blueprint that decides whether visitors can find what they need — or give up trying.
Read the definition →(Single-Goal Page)Landing Page
A focused, standalone page built to do exactly one job: turn traffic from a specific campaign into leads or sales.
Read the definition →(Visual Behavior Map)Heatmap
A color-coded picture of exactly where visitors click, move, and scroll on your page.
Read the definition →(Structural Blueprint)Wireframe
The skeleton of a web page — laid out before any color, imagery, or copy gets added.
Read the definition →(Small UI Feedback Moment)Micro-Interaction
The tiny animations and responses — a button glow, a checkmark, a subtle shake — that make a site feel alive and trustworthy.
Read the definition →(Real-User Evaluation)Usability Testing
Watching actual people try to use your site so you find the problems before your customers do.
Read the definition →Strategy & Tech
Virtual Marketing Team
A full marketing department's worth of expertise, without the overhead of full-time staff.
Read the definition →(Where Every DNA Engagement Starts)Technical Marketing Audit
A structured review of your site and marketing setup to find what's broken before recommending what's next.
Read the definition →(Where to Focus Next)Growth Verticals
The specific market segments a business targets for expansion, chosen for demand and opportunity.
Read the definition →(DNA's Marketing Paradox Framework)Visibility Layers
The different levels at which a brand can be discovered, and why relying on just one is risky.
Read the definition →(Customer Relationship Management)CRM
The system of record that tracks every interaction a prospect or client has with your business, so nothing falls through the cracks.
Read the definition →(Ranking Prospects by Fit and Intent)Lead Scoring
A points system that tells your sales team which leads are worth calling first.
Read the definition →(Marketing Qualified Lead)MQL
A prospect who has shown enough interest through marketing touchpoints to be worth a closer look.
Read the definition →(Sales Qualified Lead)SQL
The point where marketing hands a lead to sales, with confirmation that it’s worth a real pitch.
Read the definition →(Awareness to Conversion, Mapped)Sales Funnel
A step-by-step map of how a stranger becomes a customer — and where marketing needs to intervene at each stage.
Read the definition →(Marketing Technology)MarTech
The full toolkit of software a marketing team relies on to run, measure, and optimize campaigns.
Read the definition →(Pay-for-Performance Partnerships)Affiliate Marketing
A partnership model where you only pay publishers when they actually drive a sale.
Read the definition →(One Consistent Experience, Every Channel)Omnichannel Marketing
Making sure a customer gets the same seamless experience whether they find you in-store, on mobile, or on desktop.
Read the definition →(Product-Led Growth)PLG
Letting the product itself — not a sales team — do the work of winning and expanding customers.
Read the definition →(Revenue Operations)RevOps
Getting sales, marketing, and customer success to run off the same data and the same playbook.
Read the definition →Ready to make your marketing add up?
Every term in this glossary connects back to how DNA actually runs campaigns — get a free consultation to see it applied to your business.
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