Algorithms
The rules by which search engines rank sites.

Blog
A blog (or weblog) is a website, or part of a site, in which a frequent series of messages is posted and displayed, with the newest at the top.

Content Management Systems (CMS)
A system used for managing website content. LeadGenerators' LG Highway allows companies to upload and edit their products and services without any coding knowledge.

Contextual Ads
Advertisements placed by automated sponsored link systems on related web pages. Google AdSense is the best known system.

Cost Per Click (CPC)
The actual average cost incurred by the advertiser by the action of a potential customer following a link found on, for instance, a paid ad.

Dynamic Packaging
A system allowing online customers to create their own package holiday by choosing a flight, hotel, hire car and so on, rather than a traditional, pre-determined package holiday. LeadGenerators offer the alternative LG HolidayBuilder system, which provides the functionality without the higher expense and the lower reliability of a dynamic packaging system.

Email Marketing
A form of direct marketing using email to communicate commercial messages to an audience. This usually refers to sending emails designed to either build a relationship with current or old customers, or to acquire new customers or sales.

Hosting
A hosting service is a service that runs Internet servers, allowing organizations and individuals to serve content on the Internet.

HTML
A computing language designed so that web pages with hypertext can be written. HTML is a markup language, meaning that it can contain both text, and information about the text, such as metatags.

Hyperlink
A reference, often as an embedded link, in a hypertext (such as HTML) document to another document or resource. HTML in the previous sentence is a good example.

KEC (Keyword Enhanced Copy)
Content written by LeadGenerators that contains important keywords (as determined by Keyword Research) in the right proportions for search engines, while remaining readable and informative text for human visitors.

Keywords
The words used by potential customers to find a page in search engines and to describe a particular site in meta tags and site copy.

Keyword Research
Research carried out by LeadGenerators to determine the most important keywords to use in your campaign, either as copy on your site or as part of a PPC campaign.

Mailer
LG Mailer is a powerful bulk email marketing system that enables users to send out personalised email marketing campaigns, including newsletters and HTML messages.

Meta tags
HTML coding embedded in the site that provides spiders with keyword information.

Natural links
See organic listings

Organic listings
Also known as natural links. These are results returned by a search engine on a SERP which have been returned by the algorithm and which have not been paid for (qv sponsored links)

Paid links
See sponsored links.

Paid placement
See PPC.

PPC (Pay Per Click)
A charging model for search engine listings based on a set charge payable by the advertiser each time a user clicks on that search engine listing. Yahoo! Search Marketing (formerly Overture) and Google AdWords are the most extensive and best known systems. Also known as sponsored links campaign, paid placement.

ROI (Return on Investment)
A measure of the success of a particular marketing campaign by comparing the sales or other returns with the money spent on that campaign.

Robot
See spider

RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
A form of web syndication used by news websites and weblogs. It notifies a user of news or new content and provides a link to the new article.

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Also known as web site optimisation, this is a broad term, originally used by all third parties that assist web site owners to increase their performance on search engines.

Search Engine
A website that provides a list of useful links (SERPs) in response to a text query. Search engines can be divided into pure search engines, such as Google, and portals, such as Yahoo! and MSN.

Search terms
See Keyphrases.

SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
The page on which search results are displayed in response to a query submitted by the user.

Shopping Cart
Software that enables users to purchase from a site.

Shopping Cart Abandonment
The rate of users starting the purchasing process without completing the process.

Site Conversion
The different techniques that aim to convert your traffic into actions; often in the form of sales, brochure requests, email or other contact.

Site Map
Traditionally, a page on a website offering HTML links to every page on the site.
Now it also means an XML document attached to the root file that allows a search engine spider to index a site more efficiently.

Spider
A programme that search engines send out to read the meta and body html of a site. Also known as a robot.

Sponsored links
Text-based advertisements returned by a search engine, most commonly on a SERP. The placement of this ad has been paid for by the company (qv organic listings). A hyperlink is included, so that interested consumers may click on the advertisement and go to the advertised site.

Sponsored links usually appear in designated areas on a SERP, usually the top and right side before natural search results. They may also appear on Web sites that allow advertising (contextual ads).

Traffic
Visitors to your site.

Web PR
News items about your site written to incorporate key phrases (often using KEC) and released to important online news feeds, such as Google News, Yahoo! News, Topix etc. The major aim of these pieces is to improve a site's positions in the SERPs for certain specified keyphrases and to increase traffic to your site.