Content Marketing Glossary From A to Z

The world of content and SEO can be tricky to navigate. With new vocabulary and acronyms cropping up all the time, it’s hard to keep track of it all.

We're here to make things simple again with this A-Z content marketing glossary. 

A

Audience 

What is an audience? 

Your audience is the specific group of people you should be speaking to with your content. An audience demographic can be defined by job title, age group, interests, location, hobbies and/or life situation. 

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A clearly defined audience is crucial to successful content marketing. 

Algorithm 

What is an algorithm? 

An algorithm is a set of calculations used to display specific results depending on user behaviour. For instance, your social media feed is personalised based on photos you like, content you comment on, and accounts you interact with. 

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Google’s algorithm is what analyses and ranks web content based on user need.

Above the Fold 

What is above the fold?

In web design, the “above the fold” section is whatever is displayed before the user scrolls down. Much like a traditional newspaper, marketers use this section to display the most important information first. For example, an eye-catching header and value proposition. 

Analytics 

What are analytics?

Analytics are used to measure user data and understand how an audience interacts with your content. For instance, you might look at demographic and location data from your website users, your social media following engagement rate, or the click-through rate in a newsletter. 

B

Backlinks 

What are backlinks? 

A backlink is a link pointing to your website from an external source. If a website links to one of your articles within one of their articles, that's a backlink. 

Obtaining backlinks from respected, trustworthy sites can help your domain authority.

Bottom of the funnel 

What is bottom of the funnel? 

The bottom of the funnel is the last stage of a marketing funnel. It’s where a customer is almost ready to buy and needs to experience what a product or service is like before making a purchase decision. This could be a product demo or free trial. 

Bounce rate 

What is a bounce rate?

Bounce rate measures how quickly a user clicks off your website. A low bounce rate is good because users have stayed on your page for longer, whereas a high bounce means users haven't found what they’re looking for and click away from your content quickly. 

C

Clickbait 

What is clickbait?

Clickbait is content focused on getting clicks, typically through a provocative, exaggerated headline, eye-catching image, or misleading caption. Clickbait is generally associated with low-quality content designed to get clicks rather than deliver value. 

Content marketing 

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is defined as giving valuable information in an engaging, educational, and easy-to-consume way through various digital channels. Some common types of content include blog posts, social media posts, infographics, webinars, and video content. 

CMS 

What is a CMS?

A content management system, or CMS, is used to manage, post, and publish your content on your website. As the control panel for your website, it’s the skeleton behind your content. Some common CMS examples include WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix. 

CTA

What is a CTA?

A call to action (CTA) is a direct prompt for your reader to take action. This is usually via anchor-linked text or a clickable button on a web page. Your CTA may prompt a user to contact you, sign up for a newsletter or start a free trial. 

D

Digital marketing 

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is promotion through digital channels. It involves web design, social media, content marketing, email marketing, and paid ads. 

Distribution 

What is distribution?

Distribution is the process of bringing content or media to your audience. Distribution refers to the exact channels you distribute content to, and many marketers will use a distribution schedule to work from. 

Direct response 

What is direct repsonse?

Direct response is a form of copywriting designed to elicit an instant response from a customer. A direct response email or SMS may offer a discount or free trial that a customer can instantly respond to by purchasing or ignoring.

E

Engagement 

What is engagement?

Engagement refers to how well a user, or user group, interacts with your content. It is determined through comments, likes, shares and messages after a certain post. 

Engagement can be a useful metric to measure your content’s success, but make sure you’re not being blinded by ‘vanity metrics’. It’s great that people share your content, but how many of them convert to being a customer too?

Email marketing 

What is email marketing?

Email marketing is the practice of sending emails, usually in a sequence, to give further value to your audience directly to their inbox. This personalised communication builds customer relationships and can eventually lead to a sale. 

Evergreen

What is evergreen content? 

Evergreen content is material that stays relevant forever — or at least for a long time. You'll always need to update content, but evergreen information avoids time-sensitive references, to prevent the content from becoming dated.  

F

Funnel 

What is a funnel?

A marketing funnel is a series of stages taking your customer through the buyer journey. It nurtures them from the moment someone discovers your content and brand, to building a relationship and eventually making a sale.

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The marketing funnel usually comprises:

• Awareness
• Consideration
• Conversion
• Loyalty
• Advocacy

G

Gated content 

What is gated content?

Gated content is locked material often kept behind a sign-up form or paywall. Gated content requires users to provide information or payment before they receive access, and this information can then be used to re-target them later.

H

H tags 

What are “H” tags?

H tags are the HTML tags for your headings. HTML is the code structure behind blog posts and helps users and search engines understand your content. Your content should have a H1 header, while subheadings have H2s, sub-sub headings H3s, and so on. Normal text has a “p” (for ‘paragraph’) tag. 

I

Impressions 

What are impressions?

Impressions are how many users see your content. Not to be confused with clicks, impressions represent a set of eyes that have seen the title and description of your content before clicking on a search engine results page. Impressions can also refer to how many people see a paid ad or social post.

Infographic 

What is an infographic?

An infographic is a visual representation of information. This type of visual content works well when shared on social media or embedded into content to break up the text. 

K

Keywords 

What are keywords? 

Keywords are specific words or short phrases a user may search for on Google. Keywords and groups of keywords should first be used to inspire your content — so that you know you’re meeting the user intent. They should then be used judiciously throughout your content so that the algorithm picks it up.

L

Lead generation 

What is lead generation?

Lead generation is the practice of engaging and attracting potential customers with valuable, eye-catching content: a pop-up form where users exchange their email for a free download, such as an ebook or webinar, for example. The ‘leads’ generated from this content will then enter the marketing funnel.

M

Marketing automation 

What is marketing automation? 

Marketing automation software handles laborious, repetitive marketing tasks. Scheduling social media posts and sending email sequences on autopilot are two everyday tasks marketing automation tools can help with. 

Middle of the funnel 

What is middle of the funnel? 

The middle of the funnel is the second step of the marketing funnel, typically referred to as ‘consideration’. This stage builds trust and engagement by providing extra value and aiding a buying decision. Brands may deploy long-form content or “how to” guides here to keep the lead engaged.

N

Newsjacking 

What is newsjacking? 

Newsjacking is a marketing technique that uses the news and recent events to create fresh content. Newsjacking allows you to take advantage of higher SEO rankings and promote your products to more people. It works by positioning your brand as part of a popular conversation.

O

On-page optimisation 

What is on-page optimisation? 

On-page optimisation is about creating a great user experience with clear, easy-to-follow information. There are many on-page optimisation techniques a business can deploy, including internal linking, a well-designed page, and, of course, matching search intent.   

Organic SEO 

What is organic SEO?

Organic SEO uses un-paid methods to rank on Google. It involves creating super valuable all-encompassing content, including keywords and SEO optimisation techniques, to rank at the top of Google. 

Owned media 

What is owned media?

Owned media is a digital asset that’s owned and controlled by your business and that you haven’t had to pay to share — this might be a blog on your website or your latest whitepaper.

Owned media is different from paid and earned media. Paid media requires payment, such as a Facebook ad campaign. Earned media must be earned, such as customer reviews and testimonials.

P

Pillar post 

What is a pillar post? 

A pillar post is a deep dive into a broad topic with smaller sub-topics used as sections within the post. Usually, these posts are 2000+ words and serve as a jumping-off point for other posts (often referred to as ‘clusters’). 

PLP

What is a PLP?

A product listing page is a dedicated page for displaying products. For example, an eCommerce business may use a PLP as its shopfront showcasing its products, making it easy for customers to select products, add them to a cart, and check out.

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Keywords are important for PLP content, helping potential buyers to find your site.

PDP 

What is a PDP?

A product detail page is used to display in-depth information about a product. It should include a product description, features, specifications, FAQs, and reviews. The PDP page should also make it easy for the customer to purchase the product. 

R

Ranking 

What is ranking?

Ranking refers to the position of a page on Google’s search results. Google ranks pages based on the value of the content relative to the search intent. 

S

Search intent 

What is search intent? 

Search intent is the purpose behind a customer’s search journey. Also known as user intent, search intent is the reason why a user searches. There are four types of search intent including informational, commercial, transactional, and navigational searches. 

SEO 

What is SEO?

Search engine optimisation (SEO) refers to creating content to rank on search engines. SEO best practices improve your chances of ranking high on Google and getting seen by potential customers at the right time.

SERP

What is a SERP?

The search engine results page (SERP) is the Google page where the results list appears. Results are displayed in relevance to keywords, value, search intent, and domain authority. 

Stuffing 

What is stuffing? 

Keyword stuffing is cramming too many keywords into a web page to rank on Google. While this may have improved your rankings during the early days of SEO, in recent years, Google recognises keyword-stuffing and can penalise your rankings.  

T

Top of the funnel 

What is top of funnel? 

Top-of-the-funnel content is produced for the first stage of the buyer's journey — where users first discover your business. Here, the user is seeking information to learn more about their problem or take the first step toward achieving their goal. “What is…?” content is often used at the top of the funnel.

Tone of voice 

What is tone of voice? 

Tone of voice is one element of your brand voice. It can be used to define the quality with which your content speaks to an audience: informal vs formal, peer vs expert, playful vs serious. 

U

Useful content update 

What is the useful content update? 

Google’s 2022 helpful content update suggests that the search engine will shift its focus to promoting human-centric content over SEO. While SEO best practices will be important, the useful content update requires content creators to meet the user’s search intent or need while providing an excellent user experience.

User-centric content 

What is user-centric content?

User-centric content is content produced with a particular user in mind. It answers the searcher's intent and aligns perfectly with their needs.

URL 

What is a URL? 

A URL or uniform resource locator is your website address. Usually, it starts with “HTTPS” and is unique to each web page. While the URL describes the whole address, the SLUG describes the page-specific element of the URL, which should be the keyword you're targeting. 

Got a question about a topic we haven't covered here? Then get in touch. We'd be happy to help!