Glossary
Above the Fold: The portion of a web page that is visible once the page has loaded, without scrolling.
Analytics: Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data (ex. how many people visited a site, how they got there, what they searched for, etc.).
Bounce Rate: It represents the percentage of initial visitors to a site who “bounce” away to a different site, rather than continue on to other pages within the same site.
Call to Action: A statement that directs a visitor to act in some specific manner, such as requesting a brochure or purchasing a product.
Conversion Event: Any activity visitors can engage in that is valuable to your organization. Not limited to making a purchase or becoming a lead. Can be: opt in to a newsletter, provide certain personal information, spend more than a certain number of minutes on the site, etc.
Conversion Optimization: Maximizing the information on a website to encourage visitors to become customers.
Conversion Rate: A measurement of how many of the visitors to a website take the action desired by the owner of the site. E-commerce: 10 buyers divided by 1,000 visitors = 1% conversion rate. Lead Generation: 10 leads divided by 1,000 visitors = 1% conversion rate. Usually expressed as a monthly rate.
Eye-tracking: Recording the eye movements of an individual while viewing a website, to determine where they are looking on the page.
Home Page: The main page of a website, usually the first page visitors see.
Landing Page: The page that appears when a potential customer clicks on an advertisement or a search-engine result link. Rewriting a landing page is one of the easiest ways companies can increase their conversion rates.
Long Tail: Sales made for less usual goods within a very large choice, which can return a profit through reduced marketing and distribution costs. Here’s the link to the original Long Tail manifesto.
Organic (natural) listings: Results produced by a search engine that are not paid advertisements.
Navigation: The science applied to a web site that helps visitors move from one page to another and to locate the products and services they are looking for.
Persona: A representation of a website user with a definable set of characteristics. Websites can design targeted products and services to appeal to different personas.
Traffic: The measurement of the number of users that visit a website.
Unique Visitor: A statistic describing a unit of traffic to a Web site, counting each visitor only once.
Usability: Making your site easy for your visitors and customers to find the exact information they need when they need it.
Unique Value Proposition: The statement you make on your home page that tells your visitor why they should do business with you instead of your competitor.
Web 2.0: The second generation of website development and design. Sometimes characterized as the movement away from static to dynamic pages.
