Affiliate Marketing Glossary

Affiliate Marketing Glossary.

Dear Partners and Members of Affbank, we have prepared a full Affiliate Glossary for you, to make your understanding of the business easier and faster.

Please, do not hesitate to leave in the comments affiliate meanings you don’t understand! It is pleasure to help you.

A

A/B testing (split testing)

A/B testing is an experiment that compares two versions of a web page to see which one has a higher conversion rate.

Above the fold

Above the fold refers to the part of a web page that is visible without scrolling (the first screen). It is recommended to place the most important content here, including your value proposition.

Affiliate website

An affiliate website is a website that promotes the products or services of another company and earns commissions.

Alternative text

Alternative text is a text description that can be added to an image's HTML tag. Sometimes this function is ignored, but it shouldn't be. These descriptions are indexed by search engines and displayed in search results by relevant keywords. If the user disables images in their web browser, the alternative text will be visible in the empty image frame.

Anchor text

Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. Important: it is not the link itself but the text that the user sees. SEO experts recommend using the text that is highly relevant to the web page the hyperlink leads to.

Authority websites

Authority websites - websites that are highly rated by search engines in terms of content quality and their usefulness to visitors.

AOV (Average Order Value)

AOV means an average value of an order or average purchases amount. It is one of the key e-commerce metrics. AOV is calculated by dividing sales revenue by the number of orders.

В

Backlink

If website A contains a hyperlink that leads to website B, then this hyperlink is the backlink for website B. For a long time, growing the number of backlinks was one of the main methods of improving a website's position in search results. Links from authority websites were especially valued because search engines gave them more weight.

Banners

Banners are rectangular areas of different sizes where website ads are displayed. Over time, certain standards for banner sizes and positions on a website were established.

Banner blindness

Banner blindness means a phenomenon where visitors to a website consciously or subconsciously ignore banner ads or any other banners.

Baseline conversion rates

Baseline conversion rates are the initial conversion rates that A/B testing is meant to improve.

Behavioral targeting

Behavioral targeting is an advertising strategy under which website visitors are shown ads based on their interests and preferences. Marketers get the necessary information by tracking users' purchase and browsing history.

Below the fold

Below the fold refers to the portion of a webpage that a user must scroll to see (the content that is below the first screen).

Bounce

A bounce is a situation when a visitor enters a webpage and then leaves without viewing any other pages within the same site.

Bounce rate

Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who viewed only one page on the site. This metric is often used to evaluate website performance. A high bounce rate indicates that website content doesn't have enough value.

Breadcrumb navigation

Breadcrumb navigation is a series of navigation links enabling viewers to track their path on the website.

СТА (call-to-action)

A СТА is an instruction to the visitor designed to evoke an immediate response such as filling a form, requesting a call back, etc. СТА buttons are the main elements of a conversion-driven website.

C

Canonical URLs

Canonical URLs are the standard links that search engines prefer. For example:

Cart abandonment

Cart abandonment is a situation where the visitor of an online store adds items to the shopping cart but does not finish the purchase process. It is one of the major problems faced by online stores.

Churn rate

Churn rate is the percentage of clients who have stopped using the service in a certain period of time. A high churn rate indicates problems with a product or service.

Clickbait

Clickbait refers to content designed to cause provocation or interest. It is mostly used in headlines.

Click-to-call

A Click-to-call is a button on a mobile website or application that enables visitors to make a direct call to a specific phone number.

Clickmap

A clickmap is a graphic representation of the areas where website visitors click. It allows you to track the number of clicks for each link, button, navigation item, etc. A clickmap is included in Yandex.Metrics.

Clickstream

Clickstream is the list of links that the user clicked when browsing a website. It is used to determine the interests and preferences of the target audience.

CTR (clickthrough rate)

CTR is the ratio of views to clicks (e.g., clicks on a paid search ad, clicks on a link in a newsletter or clicks on a banner).

Clickthrough page

Clickthrough page is a web page containing introductory information. It is meant to prepare visitors to convert on the next page.

Cloaking

Cloaking is content swapping, i.e. showing search engines other content than the one shown to real website visitors.

Confidence level

The confidence level is a metric used for defining the likelihood of an A/B testing sample to include the true population parameter.

Confidential interval

The confidential interval is an estimated interval of A/B testing values which is likely to include an unknown population parameter.

CMS (content management system)

A content management system is a software tool enabling users to add and modify a website's digital content.

Content marketing

Content marketing is a strategy focused on attracting and retaining customers by creating and distributing valuable text and multimedia content.

Control page

A control page is the original web page in A/B testing.

Conversion

A conversion is an action that marketers want website users to take. Such user actions as new account registration, adding items to the shopping cart, filling in a questionnaire or using the search function are called microconversions. Conversions related to product payment are called macroconversions.

Conversion rate

The conversion rate is the percentage of visitors to the web page that take a conversion action.

CRO (conversion rate optimization)

Conversion rate optimization - actions that increase the attractiveness, convenience and credibility of the page in order to increase conversion actions (applications, calls, transitions, orders).

Cookies

Cookies are small files stored in browser directories. They contain information related to the user's visits to certain sites. They are used to track browsing history and identify user preferences.

Cost per acquisition

The cost per acquisition is a metric that measures the aggregate cost to acquire one paying customer.

CPC (cost per click)

Cost per click is payment model where advertisers pay for each person who clicks on their ads. The payment is made to the owner of the website where the advertisement is placed. Another example, and perhaps the most important one, is the use of this pricing model in paid search advertising such as Yandex. Direct or Google AdWords where CPC means the cost per click on paid search ads.

CPM (cost per mille)

CPM is another pricing model used in online advertising. It is the total amount an advertiser pays for 1,000 impressions

Customer Relationship Management (CRM tool)

A CRM tool is a corporate software for collecting, accumulating and analyzing information related to the company's interaction with its clients through all communication channels.

Cross sales

Cross sales is selling related or complementary products to an existing customer.

D

Directional cues

Directional cues are visual elements of a website designed to draw visitors' attention to a particular page area that usually contains a CTA or other important information.

Dynamic content

Dynamic content is adaptive web content that changes depending on the behavioral data or query. For example, a service called Yagla allows you to change headings, subheadings, form titles, CTA buttons and images depending on users' search terms.

Е

E-mail marketing

E-mail marketing is a marketing technique focused on attracting and retaining customers by sending promotional email messages.

Exit popup

An exit popup is a popup window usually containing a subscription form. It appears when a visitor intends to leave the site.

Exit survey

Exit survey is a widget containing one or more questions to the visitor when they are about to leave a website (usually questions like "Why are you leaving?" or similar).

Eye flow

Eye flow is a technique used for tracking the gaze of the eye when the user browses a website.

F

Friction

Website friction refers to website elements that confuse or distract the visitor, reducing conversion rate. This may include confusing website navigation, obscure call-to-action buttons with a call to action or lengthy registration forms.

Funnel (sales funnel)

A sales funnel represents the stages a customer goes through when buying a product, from viewing an ad to making a purchase.

G

Gamification

Gamification means applying game elements to the process of interaction between a brand and its prospective or existing customers.

Geolocation targeting

Geolocation targeting refers to user segmentation based on location.

Growth hacking

Growth hacking is an explosive business growth in a short time. It can be achieved by various techniques, such as combining innovative marketing methods with SEO, A/B testing and aggressive pricing policy.

Н

Heat map

A heat map is a graphic representation of the most clickable areas of the site.

Hero image

A hero image is the largest banner or another kind of image on the website. Typically, it is the first image that visitors see after entering the site. It is considered to be one of the key elements for attracting attention and keeping the user on the page in the first few seconds.

I

Impressions

An impression is a single display of an ad on a web page. The number of impressions is tracked to evaluate ad coverage, the performance of an ad campaign, or to determine the cost of ads if a CPM pricing model is used.

Interruption (pattern interrupt)

A pattern interrupt is a marketing technique that involves attracting attention to content by changing the usual user experience. A classic example is using popup windows.

L

Landing page

A landing page a website page where users are taken after clicking on an ad.

Latent conversion

Latent conversion is a situation where users convert later rather than on their first site visit.

Leads

Leads are potential customers who have left their contact information by filling an order form on the landing page, requesting a call back, or using an online chat feature.

Lifetime value, customer lifetime value (LTV, CLV)

Customer lifetime value indicates the average profit earned from the entire relationship with a customer.

Link building

Link building is a technique which consists of growing the number of backlinks to a page to improve a website's position in search results.

Live chat

A live chat is a real-time messaging tool allowing visitors to chat with the company's customer support team.

Long tail keywords

Long tail keywords are queries that contain more than three words.

M

Meta tag

A meta tag is an HTML tag that allows webmasters to add text descriptions to a page. These descriptions appear in search results immediately below the link to the site.

Microsite

A microsite is a small website with concise content related to a specific advertising campaign.

Multivariate testing (MVT)

Multivariate testing is a type of A/B testing where more than one page items are modified and tested simultaneously (for example, a title and a CTA button).

N

Null hypothesis

A null hypothesis is a hypothesis in A/B testing. It defines the statement that says that no statistically significant difference in conversion rates will be seen between the page variants after running a test, meaning that the changes will not affect conversion in any way.

О

Organic traffic

The term organic traffic refers to the visitors that land on a website after using a search engine like Google or Yandex.

Outbound links

Outbound links are hyperlinks that lead to other websites.

Р

Personalization

Personalization is content customization according to the users' individual interests or preferences.

Proximity

Proximity is a marketing technique where two or more similar websites are created.

R

Responsive website design (RWD)

Responsive website design is website design that adapts to the device of each visitor (desktop computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones) creating the optimal user experience.

Retargeting

Retargeting is an online marketing technique that shows users the same product or service offers across channels, based on their browsing history on a specific site. For example, after browsing Samsung laptops in an online store, the user sees a Google ad offering a 30% discount on Samsung laptops.

Another retargeting strategy involves displaying ads in order to upsell related products to existing customers.

Revenue per visitor (RPV)

Revenue per visitor is a metric that measures the total amount of money generated by a visitor of a website. It is calculated by dividing the revenue generated by a website during a specific time period, by the number of visitors during the same time period. It is one of the key e-commerce metrics for evaluating website performance.

S

Sample size

Sample size is a term used in A/B testing. It refers to the minimum number of visitors that can reliably determine conversion rates of different versions of a page.

Scarcity

In marketing, scarcity is a psychological trick used to persuade the customer to make a purchase. Such ads take advantage of the fear that the stock will run out. Scarcity offers often include such phrases as "Limited stock!", "The price is valid only until Dec 31", etc.

Search engine result page (SERPS)

A search engine results page is the page generated by a search engine in response to a user's search query. The ultimate goal of SEO is to make sure that the target site is at the top of this page.

Site map

A site map is a hierarchical list of all pages of a website. It is similar to a table of contents of a complex document or book.

Social proof

Social proof refers to client testimonials, reviews and other forms of user-generated content that helps other users make a purchase decision.

Split testing

Split testing is a term that combines A/B testing (testing of different page variations on the same URL) and split URL testing (on multiple URLs).

Split URL testing

Split URL testing is a split testing technique where different page variations are published on different URLs (have different web addresses). By contrast, A/B testing involves using the same URL for page variations.

Split URL tests are used to check multiple variations of a site that differ significantly, while A/B tests are aimed at identifying the impact of a particular website element.

Standard error

The standard error of a statistic is the standard deviation of its sampling distribution. If the standard error in A/B testing is large, then we cannot be confident in the results because they could have been affected by random factors.

Statistical significance

Statistical significance is a parameter that determines whether the A/B testing results are valid. It directly depends on the duration of the tests and the amount of traffic.

T

Test hypothesis

A test hypothesis is an assumption that changing a particular site element will increase conversion rate.

Title tag

Title tags are HTML tags that describe page headers. Headers appear on the search engine results pages, together with the webpage description.

Trust badges

Trust badges are symbols notifying users that the website is safe to visit because it had been verified by appropriate software.

Test duration

The test duration is the period of time when an A/B test is run.

U

Unique visitors

Unique visitors is a metric that counts the number of individuals visiting a website. However, this number may not be truly accurate because there is no reliable way to determine whether different devices are used by the same person (e.g., work or home computers, smartphones, tablets, etc.)

The main way to keep track of unique visitors is by using cookies, small text files stored in browsers.

Upselling

Upselling is a sales technique where the user is offered to buy a more expensive and advanced version of the product than the one they have already chosen.

Usability

Usability is the ease of use of a website, i.e. how easy it is for users to navigate it and find the information they need.

User-generated content (UGC)

User-generated content is any content (text, images, video clips) posted on the company's website by the visitors. For example, the popular travel recommendation website TripAdvisor consists of user-generated content.

Visitors can review and rate hotels, restaurants and other places and publish their photos. This information allows travelers to see what others think about a certain place.

User intent

User intent is the ultimate goal that the user is trying to reach when conducting a search query via a search engine. Understanding user intent is crucial for achieving a high search ranking.

User testing

User testing is a process of testing a website's usability by real users. Companies can directly invite users from their target audience to test the website's usability. Otherwise, special tools are used (clickmaps, scroll heatmaps, Webvisor).

V

Variation

In A/B testing, a variation is a web page that contains the new item whose impact needs to be tested.

W

Webmaster

A webmaster is the person who is responsible for maintaining, developing and editing a website.

Whitespace

In web design, a whitespace is a strategy that involves using blank spaces to draw users' attention to key elements such as a call-to-action button. Google is a good example of this technique.