Marketing comes with its own language, and it's easy to feel like you need a degree just to understand your own reporting. Here's a plain-language glossary of the terms that come up most, without the jargon.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

The practice of making your website easier for search engines, and real people, to find and trust. Covers everything from page speed to the words used on your site to how many other sites link to you.

CTR (Click-Through Rate)

The percentage of people who see something, an ad, a search result, an email, and actually click it. A useful signal for whether your message is grabbing attention.

CPL (Cost Per Lead)

How much you're spending, on average, to generate one new lead. A more useful number than total ad spend alone, since it tells you what you're actually getting for the money.

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

Revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising. A ROAS of 4 means four dollars back for every dollar spent, the single clearest measure of whether an ad campaign is worth continuing.

Organic vs. Paid

Organic means traffic or engagement you earned without paying, a good search ranking, a shared social post. Paid means traffic you bought directly through ads. A healthy strategy usually uses both.

Conversion

The specific action you want someone to take, filling out a form, calling, booking. Every part of a marketing strategy should ultimately be pointed at improving this one number.

Still feels like a lot? That's what we're here for. Our project planning quiz turns your goals into a plain-language plan, no acronyms required, or see our full list of services.