Congratulations! You’ve decided to take advantage of what technology has to offer and you’re taking the first steps toward building your web presence. After all, in today’s society, everything is trending toward the web and mobile devices. It’s time to exit the Stone Age and adopt 21st century practices.

As you sit down to research Internet Marketing, Social Media, and Email Marketing to drive business, retain clients, and grow revenue, you come across several phrases. Some you know, others you’ve heard of but couldn’t use in a sentence, and then there are words that might as well be written in another language (hey, no shame here—we had to research it too once upon a time).

But they’re popping up everywhere, so they must be important.

Indeed they are. They’re important because once you know them, you’ll be able to define and take advantage of your website, social media, and email marketing efforts. They’re so important, we’ve dedicated an entire blog post to defining each for you.

The terms:

    • Blog – No, it’s not a sound you make when you disapprove of something. Yes, it is a silly sounding word. “Blog” is the shortened version of “web log,” an online journal or collection of opinions, news, experiences, observations, images, links, and information. Yours should be interactive—allowing consumers to comment on the material—and updated as frequently as possible.
 
    • Click – It sounds obvious what a click is, but when it comes to Internet Marketing it goes a bit deeper than hovering your mouse over a link and clicking. Each “click” represents a visit to your web address. This page, for example, has one more “click” now, thanks to you!
 
    • Keyword – This one is exactly what you’d expect it to be. In this case, the keyword is that exact word or words that a consumer would type into a search engine. For example, they might search “Life Insurance Quotes” so this is an optimal keyword. Optimize your site by adding niche-targeted keywords into blog posts and landing pages. If it doesn’t say “Life Insurance Quotes” anywhere on your site, why would a search engine bring your site up in results for the same phrase?
 
    • Link – A link is a shortcut that takes you to a designated place on the Web. For example, you could have typed in the web address for this blog post, but it’s more likely that you clicked on a link. The more clicks a link gets, the more search engines give weight to this link in determining its position in search results listings.
 
    • Organic Search – Just like fruit and veggies, these results come naturally, without being forced and doctored. This is the free results listing you see after searching for a particular keyword. The page one listings for any keyword are deemed the most valuable (based on weight from clicks) and can generate considerable targeted traffic to your site.
 
    • Search Engine – Google, Bing, Yahoo!—these are all websites you’ve heard of before, and each of them are search engines. Consumers visit these pages, type in keywords, and are provided with an aggregation of websites from all over the Web, “ranked” by popularity (from weight due to clicks).
 
    • SEM (Search Engine Marketing) – Any type of internet marketing used to promote a website in order for it to become more prominent in search engine results, whether paid or organic, is considered SEM.
 
    • SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – Optimizing your website (through the use of keywords) in order for it to rank higher in an organic search engine results listing.
 
    • Social Media –Blogs allow you to put your thoughts out on the Internet. Social media is an extension of this, most of the time in shorter form, that allows for users even more social interaction with you and each other. Social media includes:
      • Facebook: Allows you to create a profile or page to share information, images, video with “friends” or individuals who “like” your page.
      • Google+: Similar to other social media sites, G+ allows you to add and be added into “circles”, search for content, and host video chats called “hangouts.”
      • Instagram: A website designed to share pictures and videos.
      • LinkedIn: Similar to Facebook, but aimed at professional use and networking more than social interaction.
      • Pinterest: Users pin things they would like to share (DIY creations, style, blog posts, images, etc.) and/or re-pin items of interest. They can also organize pins onto “boards.”
      • Twitter: Send and read “tweets,” informational blasts in 140 characters or less.
 
    • Traffic – Traffic on the freeway is bad. Traffic to your website is good! To generate traffic means consumers are visiting your website. The more traffic you can generate, the better it is for marketing purposes.
 
  • Web Domain – You see these every time you visit a website. For example, ours is PinneyInsurance.com. Though there are multiple pages you can visit here, they are all contained under this one web domain.

It may be basic for some of you, but it’s pertinent information for any and all who wish to begin building their online presence.

Now that you’ve made the decision to take the first step and have taken the time to learn several key terms, it’s time for the next step. Start brainstorming a name for your web domain and/or blog. Figure out which social media tools you want to exploit to drive traffic back to your site, and craft a plan of action for how you’ll do it. And be sure to optimize your site with keywords to get more clicks and rank higher in organic search engine results.