Quirk's eMarketing Glossary

A high level language used to control what the user sees on a site or to manipulate the data stored on a server.

Searching is the process of finding information on the net. Go to your preferred search engine type in your search query and bingo – all the info you need is displayed.

Search engines rank webpages based on different sets of criteria: while they may attribute different values of importance to the criteria they tend to consider the same factors in general. The program which search engines use to judge these factors and rank webpages in their SERPs is called their ranking algorithm. Algorithms are regularly updated to combat spam and black hat tactics. As the algorithms change and put more or less importance on certain factors SEO’s do the same. Google’s change in algorithm is termed the Google Dance

The practice of writing content specifically designed for chosen key phrases. This enhances spiderability and results in higher rankings on search engines.

The listing of pages in the results pages (SERP’s) of a search engine in response to a search query.

See SEO.

Supplying a URL to the search engines to make them aware that the site/webpage actually exists, in hopes of the site/page being indexed faster.

Those marvellous little gems that have made our lives so much easier, search engines are programs that allow users to search for information stored on the Internet. When you enter a search term you will find both organic and paid for listings.

Same as Search Term.

Search terms are the words entered by the searcher. search engines will then look for these words in their index and return matching results. Also known as Search Query

An awesome toolbar extension for Firefox and Mozilla that allows you to see how any and every website in the world is performing. Designed by Quirkstar Craig Raw, SearchStatus provides extensive search-related information about any site.

An abstract or concrete protocol that performs a security-related function and applies cryptographic methods.

Search Engine Marketing - This is the process of getting a website to achieve top rankings for its chosen key phrases on the search engines. See SEO, Organic Search, Natural Search.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the creation or tweaking of a website to increase the amount of traffic to the website by ranking high in the search results of a search engine. 

Search Engine Results Pages - the page of results you get from entering a search term into a search engine.
In terms of SEO you aim to be the number 1 result on this page.

A computer that delivers information and software to other computers linked by a network.

Nifty little bit of online shopping software that allows you to add the product offerings on a site to your cart. You can add, delete and purchase the merchandise in your cart. Also known as shopping basket.

This is a signature file, which is displayed at the end of an email. It often contains the senders name and full contact details. This short message will appear at the bottom of every email sent. It’s also sometimes called a business card.

A signature quote that appears at the end of an email; it could be a quote or a call to action such as, “Sign up for Quirk’s eMarketing Newsletter.”

Site analytics are essential to the success of any website – they provide you with information detailing how visitors are interacting with your site as well as how successful your supporting eMarketing techniques are affecting your sites performance. Data for the analysis is mined using specialised software – we use ClickTracks! Site analytics provide you with a comprehensive and insightful analysis of your website as well as an insight into what needs to be done to ensure even greater success.

The design and planning of websites involving the technical, aesthetic and functional elements that combines to create a website.

Improving a websites design and functionality. Also see Web Standards.

A Web based service to share Internet bookmarks. Del.icio.us and Digg are examples of social bookmarking services.

User generated networks that involve online collaboration. The classic examples are MySpace and YouTube. Check out our How To... Social Media Series for more.

Aka SMO. It's a way to optimise websites so they would be more easily connected with online communities and community websites. It can perhaps be thought of as the bastard child of SEO and social networking.

In the online sense, this refers to a type of website model where individual members become part of a broader virtual community. You'll find that users provide personal information about themselves in a profile and reveal themselves through participation in the online community.

The failed delivery of an email due to a deviating reason like an overloaded mail box or a server failure.

The programs on your PC, software is what makes the hardware work in the way you want it to. (word processors spreadsheets, databases etc).

The operating system used on Sun Systems known for its robustness and scalability.

Email sent to someone who has not requested to receive it - EVIL!

A program that browses the net in order to create a copy of all visited pages for processing by a search engine. This data is what the search engines turn to when you enter a search term. The more often your site is crawled and the happier the spiders are the happier you will be. Also knows as bots, crawlers and ants.

This is a page, usually animated and containing some kind of variation of the phrase ‘click here to enter this site’. These types are an absolute no go in terms of search engine optimisation – repeat after me – Splash pages are BAD!

Creating hypothesis and testing by randomly sending visitors to either option in a statistically equal manner, and measuring which has the best conversion rate.

Also known as Pay Per Click (PPC).

The title of the email communication. As it is the first element of the communication that will be seen, it needs to be attention grabbing and must not sound spammy. The subject line dramatically affects the open rate.