Glossary

above the fold Content that appears in a person’s internet-browser window without having to scroll is considered to be above the fold. The term originally referred to content that can be seen in the top half of a newspaper page without turning the paper over.

B2B An acronym for business-to-business that refers to a business, company, individual, or organization that markets its products and services to other businesses. For example, an advertising agency is a B2B company.

B2C An acronym for business-to-consumer that refers to a business, company, individual, or organization that markets its products and services to consumers. For example, your local drugstore is a B2C company.

blog Originally called weblogs (from the fusion of the words web and log), blogs began as online diaries with entries listed in reverse chronological order. Today, blogs are written and published by individuals, groups, and businesses and more and allow two-way conversation between the author and visitors through comments.

blog posts Individual entries written by a blogger and published on a blog.

blogger A person who writes content for a blog.

blogging The act of writing and publishing blog posts or entries.

blogging application The program used by bloggers to create and maintain blogs. Popular blogging applications include WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, Movable Type, and LiveJournal. Also called blogging platform or blogging software.

blogosphere The online blogging community made up of bloggers from around the world creating user-generated content as part of the social web. See also social web.

brand The tangible and intangible representation of a business, service, product, or person, which includes a promise, message, and image.

browser A program used to surf the internet. Browsers include Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari, and more. Also called web browser.

comment An opinion or reaction by a website visitor to a specific piece of online content. On LinkedIn, members can comment on updates published by other members.

content marketing The practice of developing awareness, recall, purchases, and loyalty through the use of content published online or offline.

cost-per-action An online advertising model in which the advertiser pays each time an ad is clicked by a visitor and a corresponding, predefined action is performed (e.g., a sale is made or a lead form is submitted). Also called CPA.

cost-per-click An online advertising payment model in which the advertiser pays each time an ad is clicked by a visitor. Also called CPC.

cost-per-impression An online advertising payment model in which the advertiser pays each time an ad is displayed. Also called CPM.

cross-promotion Marketing across various channels or businesses to achieve a common objective.

CSV An acronym for Comma-Separated Values or Character-Separated Values, a .csv file is a simple text format for a database file that can easily be imported to common database and spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel.

domain The part of a URL that represents a specific website. Domain names are typically preceded by www. and end with an extension such as .com or .net.

feed Subscribers receive the content for their various website, LinkedIn updates, and blog subscriptions in an aggregated form called a feed. See also subscriber.

feed reader RSS feed content is read in a single location through a feed reader. Popular online feed readers include Google Reader and NewsGator. See also RSS and feed.

footer The area spanning the bottom of a web page, which typically includes copyright information and may include links and other information.

forum An online message board where participants post messages within predefined categories. Other participants respond, creating an online conversation between a potentially large group of people led by one or more moderators. Forums can be public or private, or a combination of the two.

hashtag A keyword preceded by the # symbol used in a Twitter update (called a tweet). Hashtags help Twitter users quickly find content related to a specific subject.

impression-based advertising An ad model wherein advertisers pay based on the number of times their ads are displayed to visitors.

indirect marketing Any activity that is not intended to result in an immediate action but rather a secondary response.

influencer People who have earned trust among their audiences and can affect the way their loyal audiences think and act.

InMail Similar to an email message but accessible only through LinkedIn members’ LinkedIn account inboxes, a LinkedIn InMail is a private message sent from one LinkedIn member to another.

integrated marketing The process of creating multiple marketing tactics that work seamlessly together to reach a common objective.

keyword A word or phrase used to help index a web page, allowing it to be found by search engines.

link A connection between two websites. When selected, a link takes the user to another web page. Also called hyperlink.

LinkedIn app An application created by a third party to enhance the functionality of LinkedIn.

LinkedIn modules The various parts of a LinkedIn profile or Company Page, which often appear as boxed, separate sections.

LinkedIn plugin A tool created to enhance the functionality of LinkedIn.

LinkedIn profile A LinkedIn member’s personal page which includes work-related history, recommendations, links, education, and more.

LinkedIn widget A tool used in LinkedIn to add additional features and functionality.

microblogging The process of publishing short updates (typically 140 characters or less) through sites such as Twitter.

navigation bar A set of links arranged across all or a portion of a web page to make it easier for visitors to find content.

new media Any form of nontraditional media born of Web 2.0, including blogs, microblogging, social networks, and so on. See also Web 2.0.

online reputation management The process of monitoring the perceived reputation of a person, brand, company, and so on, based on the content and conversations published online about that person, brand, company, and so on.

OpenLink A network that is open to premium LinkedIn account holders only. If you’re in the OpenLink network, anyone on LinkedIn can send you free messages (even if they are not in your extended network) and you can send free messages to all OpenLink members.

page view A statistic that tracks each time a web page is viewed by anyone at any time.

RSS An acronym for Really Simple Syndication. RSS is a technology that creates web content syndication and allows web users to subscribe to websites and blogs and receive content in an aggregated form via email or a feed reader. See also feed and feed reader.

search engine A website used to find online content related to specific keywords or keyword phrases. Search engines use proprietary algorithms to spider the internet, index content, and return relevant results, which are typically presented in a ranked order. Google, Yahoo!, and Bing are popular search engines.

search engine optimization The process of creating content to boost its search results for specific keyword phrases on popular search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo!. Also called SEO.

segment An audience segment is a smaller subset of a larger group of people who have similar demographic or behavioral traits and are likely to respond similarly to content and messages.

SEO See search engine optimization.

sidebar A column on a web page to the right, left, or on both sides of the largest, main column.

social bookmarking A method of saving, storing, and sharing web pages for future reference. Popular social bookmarking sites include StumbleUpon and Reddit.

social media Any form of publishing and communications media found on the social web, including blogs, social networks, microblogging, and so on.

social media marketing Any form of direct or indirect promotion that is executed using the tools of the social web and is rooted in two-way dialogue and interaction.

social networking The process of communicating with, connecting with, and building relationships with people online by using specific tools and websites. Popular social networking sites include Facebook and LinkedIn.

social web The second generation of the World Wide Web, which focuses on interaction, user-generated content, communities, and building relationships. Also called Web 2.0.

spam Comments and content published online for no reason other than to drive traffic to another website. Spam can also come in other forms such as email spam.

strategy A statement that defines an individual’s or business’s intended direction and outlines how the individual or business will achieve its goals.

subscribe When a person signs up to receive online content via a feed to his or her feed reader, email, or other tool, he or she is subscribing to it.

tactic A specific effort executed in support of a strategy to help an individual or business reach its objectives.

target audience The specific segment of a larger audience that a business or person focuses on communicating with directly using specific tactics and strategies. Target audiences usually share demographic or behavioral traits.

trademark An official registration provided by the United States Patent & Trademark Office that protects a name, logo, slogan, design, or other element, so only the trademark owner can use it within its registered industry.

unique visitor A visitor to a website or blog who is counted one time regardless of how many times he or she visits. See also visitor.

URL An acronym that stands for Uniform Resource Locator. It represents the unique address of a web page.

visit Each time a page on a website is accessed by anyone and at any time, a visit is counted.

visitor A person who views a page (or multiple pages) on a website.

Web 2.0 See social web.

web analytics The data used to track the performance of a website.

web browser See browser.