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Inbound marketing is fantastic and if it’s something that you’re interested in learning about, there is some inbound terminology that you would benefit from familiarizing yourself with.

You might recognize some of these terms and some of them, you might not. Check out this list of 28 inbound terms and when you’re done, check out even more inbound marketing terms.

301 Redirect

A 301 redirect is a way to enable a web page to redirect the visitor to another page. If you change the web address of a page, apply a 301 redirect to make the old address point to the new one. This way, people who have the old link saved will automatically be sent to the new one or search engines can update their index.

Blogosphere

The blogosphere is the entirety of all blogs and bloggers that exist on the internet.

CMS or Platform

CMS is short for content management system, which is a software program which allows you to add content to websites more easily. HubSpot has a CMS and you can manage your website pages, landing pages, and blog. 

CPM (Cost Per Thousand)

CPM is the cost per 1000 names that are on a given rental list in terms of (email marketing). A rental list that is priced at $250 CPM means that the owner of the list charges $0.25 for each email address.

CSS or Stylesheet

CSS is short for Cascading Style Sheets. It is written in HTML and is commonly used to style web pages. Styling options are typically preset, including page layouts, colors, and fonts. This helps to control cohesiveness and create an overall look that is professional.

Domain

The domain is the main web address of your site. Renewing ownership of your domain for several years is good and search engine rankings will favor a registration that has been around longer because of the commitment it shows.

Email Blacklist

A blacklist contains a list of domains or IP address that are known and suspected spammers. Sometimes these lists contain legitimate email service providers. Even a couple spam complaints can land an email service provider on a blacklist even if the ratio of complaints to volume of email sent is very low.

Email Blocking

Email blocking occurs when the email server that is receiving the mail prevents the email from reaching the inbox of the recipient it was intended for. Usually, the sender will receive a “bounce” message to notify them that the email has been blocked.

Email Filters

“Filtering” emails is a technique that is used to block emails based on the content in the “from” line, the subject line or the body copy. It searches for keywords and indicators that will mark the email as potential spam.

Email Whitelist

A whitelist is the opposite of a blacklist and instead of blocking address, a whitelist includes IP addresses that are approved to deliver despite blocking measures.

False Positive

A false positive is when a legitimate permission-based email is incorrectly filtered or is blocked as spam.

House List (or Retention List)

A house list is a permission-based list that someone builds themselves. It’s normally used to market, cross-sell, upsell, and establish a relationship with customers. It’s a very valuable marketing asset due to the fact that it’s less expensive to market to an existing customer than to acquire a new one.

Index(ed)

Indexing is the process that a search engine uses to find your content and make it available to other users through storing it and displaying it in the search results. If you want to know if your content has been indexed, search for a page and if your page comes up, it’s been indexed. 

Lead Nurturing Campaign

A lead nurturing campaign is an email series that is triggered after a person fills out a form on your landing page. Another term for lead nurturing is drip marketing.

Metadata

Metadata is the data that tells a search engine what your website is about.

Meta Keywords

Meta keywords are the most popular and well-known elements that describe the content of a web page. Because search engines quickly came to realize that meta keywords were often inaccurate or misleading, this tag is no longer followed by search engines.

Meta Tags

Meta tags are comprised of meta titles, descriptions, and keywords. These elements provide information about a web page which helps search engines categorize them correctly. However, they are inserted into the HTML and are not directly visible to a user on the site.

Meta Title or Page Title 

The page title shows up in the blue bar at the top as a page loads and is the bold text that shows up in a search result.

Mockups

A mockup is an outline that defines what your landing page should be and are generally used when preparing an A/B test which helps evaluate the better layout.

Motivation of User

The motivation of the user is the desire of the visitor to receive your offer.

Permission-Based Email

Permission-based emails are sent to recipients that have opted-in (or subscribed) and agreed to received emails from a particular company, website, or individual. It’s required to have permission for legitimate email marketing.

Privacy Policy

The privacy policy is a description that is clear of a website or company’s policy on the use of collected information about website visitors. This will build trust among people who opt-in to receive emails from you or who register on your site. When they know that their information is safe to share with you, they are more likely to share more information in the future, creating more value for your relationship.

Rental List (Acquisition List)

A rental list is a list of prospects or targeted group that have opted-in to receive information from you about certain topics. When you use a permission-based rental list, you can send email messages that are specifically targeted to the audience by category, profession, demographic information, and more. The cost usually ranges from $.10 to $.40 per name.

Signature File (SigFile)

A signature file is a tagline or short block of text at the end of an email which identifies the sender. It can also provide additional information, like company name or contact information. It’s a marketing opportunity and can be used to convey a benefit so make sure to include a call-to-action with a link.

Spam (Unsolicited Commercial Email)

Spam is email that is sent to someone who hasn’t opted-in or given permission to the sender. It’s usually unwanted and unexpected.

Statistically Significant Number

A statistically significant number is the amount of data that you need to collect. This will give you insight into accurate results from your A/B test. 

Time on Page

Time on page is how long a visitor spends on your page.

Value Exchange

A value exchange is giving out an offer of value in exchange for information about our visitors.

I hope that now you can see the beauty in inbound marketing. Ready to get started? Let us help! We'll get your inbound marketing strategy started off on the right foot and help you every step of the way.