Marketing has a vocabulary problem. Acronyms like CPA, CPC, ROAS, CTR get used differently in different rooms. Below are working definitions of the 15 terms we use most often with clients, written so a non-marketer can understand them and detailed enough that a CMO won't roll their eyes.
Browse the glossary
- SEO — Search Engine Optimization
- Local SEO — for businesses serving a specific geography
- Technical SEO — the engineering side of SEO
- PPC — Pay-Per-Click advertising
- CPC — Cost Per Click
- CPA — Cost Per Acquisition / Action
- ROAS — Return on Ad Spend
- CTR — Click-Through Rate
- CRO — Conversion Rate Optimization
- Landing Page — a standalone page built for a single campaign
- Retargeting — ads shown to people who already visited
- Lookalike Audience — Meta and Google audience expansion
- Marketing Funnel — awareness → consideration → conversion → retention
- Lead Magnet — a free resource that captures contact info
- UTM Tracking — parameters for attributing traffic sources
About this glossary
We add new entries as questions come up from clients. If a term should be here and isn't, email info@apexmarketings.com. Every definition is reviewed by a senior strategist on our team before publishing.
For an engineering glossary (DevOps, CI/CD, Kubernetes, headless CMS), see our sister company Apex IT Solutions' glossary.
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