Social Media & SEO Dictionary

If you’re not a Social Media professional you don’t need to know the whole lingo, but familiarizing yourself with these important words will enable can help you sift through the mumbo-jumbo and make the most of the free Eden of advantages that is Social Media Marketing. We’ve put together a glossary of the most common terms – if you think there are more words that need to be included please comment below with your suggestions!

App – Application. A computer software that is designed to perform a specific function on your computer or handheld device – it’s usually the shorthand equivalent of a larger website.

Avatars - Image icons representing people. These can be created fictionally or be based on your actual appearance.

Blogs - Websites where content is dated in reverse chronological order, and content is published on a regular basis.

Bookmarking - Saving the address of a website or page.

Browser - The programme you use to view a website.

Categories - Pre-specified ways to organise your content.

Comments - When a post or blog allows other people to contribute by writing their thoughts, people can comment with reactions, information next to the main content.

Community Building - Creating a community or network of participants, fans or potential clients of your product / industry.

Content - Used to describe text, pictures, podcasts, video and any other material that is on the Internet.

CPC - Cost Per Click. The cost of each click by a web user from your online advert to your website.

Download - To save a file / content form the internet onto your computer.

Engagement - When you are taking part in a conversation with other people, or commenting on an existing post as opposed to being the person who started the conversation.

Fake Followers - Computer-generated accounts created to follow brands on Social Networks to boost the perceived popularity.

Feed - (News feed, content feed): the main page on a social network featuring the posts or updates of all the people and brands you follow.

Forums - Discussion areas on websites, where people can post messages or comment on existing messages.

Fans / Followers - People that connect with your brand but that you generally do not know personally. These are people you can make new connections with and potentially turn into customers.

Friends - Contacts linking one profile to another: they are connecting people that have either met each other or reached out on a personal level to make an acquaintance.

Groups - A collection of people that come together on a social network, generally brought together by a common interest.

Hashtag - When the # symbol is added before a word creating a tag that can be searched on some social networks like Twitter.

Influencer - A person on a social network with a large following and being able to share content to a wide audience.

Infographic - Information (usually presented as at a written piece) that has been presented entirely visually.

Instant Messaging (IM) - Chatting with one other profile in real time, using a messaging service.

Links - Highlighted image or text that when clicked brings you to another page, website or file.

Listening - The art of looking for existing online conversations related to a specific topic that you can contribute to.

Logging In - Process of gaining access to a restricted content website by entering a username, password or through another social network (ie sign in using Twitter).

Meme - A concept that starts becoming trendy on the internet and spreads like wildfire through different social networks. Often users start creating their own versions as part of the movement.

Mention - Tagging another user in a post or tweet so that their name becomes a link to their profile. Also they will be notified that you are talking about / to them.

Notification - A message popup on your device that shows you that there is activity on your profile. These can become irritating and you can choose to turn them on or off in your settings.

Peer-to-Peer - Direct interaction between two people in a network.

Podcast - Audio or video content that can be downloaded automatically through a subscription to a website that so you can view or listen offline on any device.

Post - An item on a network or forum written by someone with a profile: this can be text, image, video, links, etc..

Presence - Whether you show up when someone does a search on your name. This is a must!

Profiles - The information you provide about yourself or your brand when signing up for a social networking site.

Retweet - A tweet that is re-shared by another user.

Registration - Setting up a profile by giving a username, password and other details to access a website with restricted sections.

RSS Feed - Really Simple Syndication. Blogs and content you can subscribe to meaning you no longer have to visit the page to receive it. Instead you can get these straight to your device.

SEO - Search Engine Optimization. Preparing a website and online marketing plan in such a way to improve search engine rankings and overall visibility.

Scheduling - The process of preparing, writing and organizing posts on multiple social networks so that they can be sent out at optimum times, even if you’re asleep!

Sharing - Offering other people the use of your text, images, video, bookmarks or other content by adding tags, and applying copyright licenses that encourage use of content.

Status - Update A short public note written on a Social Network that will appear on the news feed.

Subscribing - Process of adding an RSS feed to your aggregator or newsreader . It’s the online equivalent of signing up for a magazine, but usually free.

Short link – A link that you can shortened using websites like Bit.ly so that they appear tidier and small when you post them.

Tags - Keywords attached to a post, photo or other item that allow people to search for specific content on a website.

Tagging (profiles) – The process of adding friends or fans onto the content’s details so that they are linked to their profiles.

Tweet - A short, 140 character public message sent via twitter. This can be used as a status update, a response to another tweet, or automated.

Troll - A digital heckler who finds pleasure in being rude and being hurtful to people and brands.

Upload - To transfer a file or other content from your computer to an Internet site.

URL - Unique Resource Locator. Website or page address.

Viral - Any content that is shared across social networks that get passed along rapidly thorugh users and different networks.

Virality - The percentage rate that show how many people engaged with your post versus how many people saw it.

Vlog - A filmed video version of a blog, usually shared on Youtube or that’s uploaded directly onto the website.

Widgets - An independent, small version of an application (like an app) but that you can add to your website by adding its coding.

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