Glossary of Terms for Internet Marketers

If you're new to Internet marketing, you're getting exposed to a whole new language. Some of it borrows from other financial jargon, but most of it is unique to making money online. If you're brand new to the Internet, please read Glossary of Internet Terms. If you're interested in web site development, please read Glossary of Terms for Web Developers. Here are some of the basic online marketing terms you'll encounter, in alphabetical order.

AD IMPRESSIONS: The number of times a banner ad is downloaded to your site, which happens when visitors view your web pages.
AFFILIATE PROGRAM (Referral Program): Many companies that sell online will pay for referrals. Sign up, free, put a special link on your website, and get paid when your visitors buy the product. These programs come in many shapes and sizes. Please read Introduction To Affiliate Programs for detailed information.
AUTOSURF: This is a type of GPT (Get Paid To) program where you visit a site and they pay you a penny or less to view their advertiser's web sites. Most of these are automatic, with each site staying on your screen for 10-20 seconds. If you see something interesting, you can pause the program while you browse the site, then return to autosurfing.
BANNER: A graphical ad with a link inside. When your visitors click on the banner, they are taken to the advertiser's website.
CPM: Cost Per Thousand (M is the Roman Numeral for thousand). This is a standard term for measuring impressions, used by advertisers.
GPT: Get Paid To. This term covers the online money-making programs that don't require a website. Examples are: Get Paid To Surf, Get Paid To Search, Get Paid To Read emails.
GUERRILLA MARKETING (Gorilla Marketing): Cheap, unconventional marketing tactics
HYIP: High-yield investment program.
PONZI: Not a new term. This is a scam where money paid in by the original investors, is paid out to other investors, making it appear to be a sound investment. The people who get paid promote the program with glowing testimonials, generating more investors. Eventually, the scam artists take off with the money, and the last investors to join are left holding the bag. Pyramid schemes fall into this category.
PPC: Pay Per Click--one type of advertising, where the advertisers pay every time a visitor clicks through from an ad on your page. Google Adsense is a PPC program.
PTR: Paid To Read. These programs send you emails to read. You get paid a fraction of a penny to read these offers. If you're brand new to Internet marketing, you could sign up for one of these programs to get an education. Stop when you've had enough. HINT: Never use your main email address for these. You will get bombarded with mail.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization. This is a technical process of inserting hidden "tags", proper use of keywords, formatting headings, and supplying large amounts of original content, to make your website "search engine friendly" to improve your site's position in the search engines. The object is to increase traffic to your site by getting it listed in the top 20, when people do a search on your topic. Please read Search Engine Optimization for more information.
VIRAL MARKETING: Referral marketing. "Tell a friend." Downline building. Self-propigating ads. Email "pass it on" messages. Word-of-mouth advertising. Your offer "spreads like a virus."