What are the best search engine marketing tools?

What search engine marketing jargon should "nonmarketers" know, and why?

• I have "nonmarketers" in quotes, because at some point in our lives we all have to market something (please excuse the cynical little riff on Bob Dylan, there). At any rate, it might be useful to identify the language used in the search engine marketing/optimizing industry that is or should soon be entering mainstream English vocabulary. I still run across people who have no idea what SEO is or why it matters. Please provide their definitions in as simple terms as possible, so nontechnical people can understand them. Visual aids would be greatly appreciated. For example, I stumbled on a video description of API that made me slap my forehead, it was so simple, yet brilliant. Lots of people out there probably know how to translate an API into a marketing strategy, but I suspect many of them don't know what API stands for. It's hard to contribute if you don't know the language. For another example, to someone who doesn't know anything about SEM, when a search engine marketer says they are "scraping" a domain, it might sound destructive, instead of as a part of a larger link-building campaign. People who hire search engine marketers and optimizers might want to refer to the answers here. If you understand an industry's language, you can get better results from it.

• Answer:

  Here is a handy glossary of acronyms having to do with search engine marketing, search engine optimization, and paid promotion in general: PPC: Pay Per Click This term describes a cost structure used by many common advertising networks in which the advertiser only pays when their ad is actually acted on. This helps advertisers manage their budgets successfully. SEM: Search Engine Marketing Although this term technically does refer to both paid search engine advertising as well as organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO), most in the industry use SEM interchangeably with “paid search”. These are the ads the show up above and beside organic search results on sites like Google. CPC: Cost Per Click This is the rate at which you are charged for the clicks on your ads. This will vary by search engine, network, or platform, and is usually based on the top price or bid you enter that you’re willing to pay for each click, and is affected by the other top competitors. CTR: Click Through Rate This can be found be dividing the number of impressions by the number of clicks. Or, the rate at which the people who saw your ad actually clicked on it. If you have a high click through rate, you know you’ve got an effective ad. If the rate is low, you might want to reassess the copy, imagery, and subject of your ad, as well as the audience to which you are serving it. CPM: Cost Per (1000) Impression(s) As opposed to Cost Per Click, this pay structure measure refers to the cost you pay per every 1000 impressions (views) your ad gets. CPL/CPA: Cost Per Lead/Cost Per Acquisition Depending on the goal of your campaign, you may measure either of these things. If your goal is to obtain leads (customer contact information that you can use in the future) that would count as an ‘acquisition’ for you. However if your goal is to get people to purchase something, you’d only be counting the actual acquisition. If you want to see a full list with some more common terms (other than acronyms) you can read the full article here: http://www.pagemodo.com/blog/paid-promotions-online-advertising-glossary-common-terms