Paid Search Glossary
Keep up with your digital advertising agency and know your Paid Search terms.
- Ad Group
- A collection of relevant keywords under one name. A maximum of 20,000 keywords can be added to one Ad Group.
- Ad Network
- An online business that specializes in matching up advertisers to websites looking to host the ad. Ad networks work as brokers for both suppliers (sites with content that can host ads, and buyers - the advertisers). An ad network relieves the websites from having to setup and invest in their own ad-servers and tracking software.
- Ad Position
- The order in which an ad is displayed on a search engine results page (SERP). For example, ad position "1" means the ad is displayed first on the webpage.
- Ad Rank
- A value used to determine the Ad Proposition.
- Call-To-Action (CTA)
- A marketing term used for the action you want the website visitor to take.
- Campaign
- A series of ad groups used by a company to advertise their products and inform the customers about some promotion. Search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing, and display marketing are all channels.
- Channel
- A metric showing how often a visitor clicks your ad after seeing it. It can be defined as the number of clicks per thousand impressions. CTR contributes to Ad Rank.
- Click-Through-Rate (CTR)
- A metric showing how often a visitor clicks your ad after seeing it. It can be defined as the number of clicks per thousand impressions. CTR contributes to Ad Rank.
- Conversion
- When the user takes the action the advertister wants after clicking on an ad. For example, the user makes purchases, signups, submits inquiry forms, views a page, or downloads a document, depending on the program’s goals.
- Conversion Rate
- The measurement of the successes for a paid ad campaign. It is measured by the number of potential visitors performing any of the desired actions such as buying a product, filling a form, etc. For example, if there are 100 visitors to a particular webpage via a PPC ad, and three of those 100 visitors buy the product the website sells, then the conversion rate for that particular ad is three percent. The larger the conversion rate, the more successful the website is.
- Cost Per Acquisition
- The amount you pay for every lead or customer.
- Cost Per Action
- The amount you pay for every lead, signup, or purchase.
- Cost Per Click (CPC)
- The amount you pay for every single click on your ads.
- Cost Per Mille (CPM)
- The amount paid for every thousand views of the ad.
- Destination URL
- Where you want the user to land when they clicks on the ad.
- Display URL
- A URL shown with the ad that gives visitors an idea where they will arrive upon clicking the ad. This is usually a shorter URL than the actual desintation URL.
- Geo-Targeting
- Targeting ads to users located within a particular geographical location of the world.
- Impression
- A measure of the number of times an ad is seen irrespective of being clicked upon. Each time the ad displays, it is counted as one impression.
- Keyword
- A word or a phrase of words entered in the search box by the user. The search engine matches your keywords and gives you relevant results on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
- Landing Page
- A web on which the visitor lands after clicking an ad or a paid-search. It may be a regular part of the site or a standalone page indended purely for landing of such actions.
- Negative Keywords
- Keywords for which you do not want your ad to appear alongside.
- PPC Bid
- The maximum fee an advertiser is prepared to pay for a click.
- Prospect
- A potential customer for a product or service being advertised.
- Quality Score
- A dynamic metric assigned to each of your keywords and ads. It determines the quality of your keyword, ad, and landing page. A high-quality score boosts the ad rank.
- Search Engine Result Page (SERP)
- The page that lists the results returned by the search engine in response to a user query.
- Split Testing (or A/B Testing)
- A way of optimizing a PPC ad by serving up multiple versions and comparing the performance to see which performs better.
The user experience also plays an important role in this number. The easier the process to purchase is, the easier it will be to gain more conversions. You will need to decide what the conversion actually is; is it a purchase, a completed lead form, or a newsletter sign-up?
A good rule of thumb is also providing a confirmation email after purchase, or offering relevant content/products matching said purchase on the Thank You page (don’t forget to track all of these website actions)

MKG Marketing works with you.
Our digital marketing team consists of three expert-led service lines overseen by an Account Director who ensures we work in partnership toward your goals.
Services
Digital Advertising Services
Reach your target customer through a expertly-tailored Digital Advertising Plan with predictable outcomes.
SEO Services
Get top-ranked search results via a search engine optimization strategy based on your intended customer and business goals.
Analytics Services
See how digital marketing strategies impact your revenue, process and measure your goals allowing our teams to respond quickly.
Latest from MKG Marketing

leadership
The Importance of Retrospective Meetings and How to Run Them | MKG Marketing
Discover the absolute importance of retrospective meetings and how to effectively run them when working with a remote team. Let’s go!

Jenna Hasenkampf Managing Director

leadership
Managing Meetings Thoughtfully & Improving Workflow for Your Team
Improve workflow for your team by managing your meeting schedule. Meetings should serve a purpose and non-meeting time should be protected.

Jenna Hasenkampf Managing Director

leadership
Two-Way Street: Kerry Guard's Story Part 3
In the first chapter of the Two-Way Street series, Kerry Guard tells her story of how she found her way into advertising, the leadership that shapped her experience, and how her and Mike Krass started MKG Marketing as a Remote-First organization back in 2011..

Kerry Guard Owner/CEO
Join our weekly newsletter
Get industry news, articles, and tips-and-tricks straight from our experts.
We care about the protection of your data. Read our Privacy Policy.