Glossary

Artificial Intelligence (AI) The technology at the core of making machines emulate human thought, currently confined to generative tasks, autonomous driving, personal assistants and chatbots. AI is capable of processing vast amounts of data in ways humans cannot, recognizing patterns, drawing conclusions and deciding outcomes.

B2B B2B is shorthand for business-to-business, which refers to those organizations that market their products and services to other businesses rather than selling retail (B2C, or business-to-consumer). Because many B2B products and services are complex and can involve substantial costs, they are ideally suited to market with long-form content.

B2G B2G is shorthand for business-to-government, which refers to those organizations that market their products and services to government agencies. Because many B2G products and services are complex and can involve substantial costs, they are also ideally suited to market with long-form content.

Backlink A link to your website from another website, a form of social endorsement for your content. Backlinks are a vital component of SEO; if Google sees that other websites are linking to yours, it assumes there is a good reason for that and credits your website accordingly in the rankings. Read more about backlinks.

Back Matter Back matter is everything that follows the main content of an article or paper and can include a summary or conclusions, appendices, sources, an about section, further reading or a glossary. Effective back matter organization is important because it ties the entire reader experience together. See also Front Matter.

Call to Action (CTA) A request for a reader to take some action on a website. It can be as simple as signing up for a newsletter or more complex, such as taking a survey. Regardless, without an effective call to action, a reader may leave a website without knowing more information is available to them.  

Case Study A type of long-form content, case studies examine something occurring in a real-world context. In business, they act as social proof and are designed to highlight a successful client or customer partnership and how your organization’s product or service solved a challenge for them. Case studies may also be presented in shorter formats.

Creative Brief One of several templates used to help shape complex writing projects. It summarizes objectives, desired results, themes, audience demographics and other important details. Its primary purpose is to align the client and writer on the key elements before the project begins.

Data Visualization Expressing or explaining a data set with graphs, pictures or other visual (artistic) renderings. Data visualizations are invaluable tools in writing because they can quickly and clearly convey complex thoughts, comparisons or relative values. They may also serve to break up a wall of text making the content easier to consume.

E-Book A type of long-form content, e-books are in-depth examinations of relevant topics specifically designed to be consumed on electronic devices, such as tablets, with education and instruction being ideal applications. E-books are typically highly structured to allow easy page-to-page navigation.

E-E-A-T Part of Google’s search quality guidelines and stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness. The higher your E-E-A-T score, the higher Google is likely to rank your page in the search results. For sites that feature discussions around health or finances, a high E-E-A-T score is essential to ranking high.  

Evergreen Content that addresses timeless topics that can improve your page ranking, drive more traffic to your site and increase backlinks, all key SEO objectives. For example, a piece on the history of Southwest Airlines would be considered evergreen; a piece on their summer schedule would not. Well-written evergreen content in the long form is more likely to be cited by bloggers, journalists and other writers.

Executive Summary The leading section of a complex or lengthy document, typically tailored for business leadership, that is roughly 10% or less of the main document’s word count. It summarizes its content so that the reader can quickly grasp the key points and concepts without reading through the entire document.

Form In a marketing context, form refers to the broad presentation of information in different ways; form is the style of the content. For example, the long form, the short form, web copy, email content or social post are all different forms of content.

Format Format also refers to the presentation of information, but in a way related to a specific arrangement or pattern. For example, white papers, reports, articles, guides, e-books and case studies are all different formats for presenting information, depending on purpose and audience.   

Front Matter Front matter is everything that comes before the main content of a paper and can include a title page, table of contents, executive summary or abstract, introduction, acknowledgments or copyright notice. Effective front matter organization should set the stage for the reader before they engage the main content. See also Back Matter.       

Heilmeier Catechism One of several templates used to help shape complex writing projects. The Catechism is a series of questions created by former DARPA director Dr. George Heilmeier to evaluate proposed funding for research programs. Its genius is that it is also quite useful in a commercial setting to help refine thoughts.

Inbound Marketing With ever-increasing popularity, inbound marketing is a proven technique that attracts attention to your organization by sharing engaging, high-quality content that resonates with your intended audiences, as opposed to brief, rapid-fire ads or email campaigns. See also Outbound Marketing.  

In-Depth Post or Article Not as formal as a white paper, in-depth content is nonetheless a type of long-form content that conducts a deep dive on any topic imaginable and requires a commensurate level of planning, research and substantiation. In-depth content is frequently used to keep organizations at the fore of thought leadership.

Keyword A word or group of words that indicate the core focus of a body of text or webpage. It’s also the word or group of words a user enters in the search bar. Search engines attempt to return the very best match for the user's query. Good keyword selection is vital to successful search engine optimization.    

Keyword Density The number of times a keyword appears in a body of text, usually expressed as a percentage. While there is no set number, SEO best practices suggest 1-2 keywords for every 100 words of text, or 1-2%. Higher densities risk keyword “stuffing,” which can result in search engine penalties.

Long-Form Content While there is no set number, long-form content is generally regarded as anything more than 1500 words, roughly two pages of single-spaced Times New Roman font at 10pt. Long-form content supports more in-depth discussions and is thus seen by Google as higher quality. See also Short-Form Content.   

Long-Tail Keyword Lengthier keywords for more specific searches. One might enter a single-word keyword such as “boat” to learn about boats generally but might enter “best fishing boat for freshwater lakes” to learn something specific. Because they are more specific, long-tail keywords can also be easier to rank on the SERPs because there is less competition.

Mindshare A marketing term that loosely refers to the level of brand awareness achieved by a company or other organization surrounding a particular notion, product or service. For example, if someone says, “watch,” and the first thing you think of is Rolex, that’s pretty good mindshare.

Outbound Marketing More aptly called interruption marketing, outbound marketing is the old-school marketing technique of mass advertising, promotions, email campaigns and cold calls, aka spray and pray. The opposite is inbound marketing, which relies on engaging, high-quality content to draw attention. See also Inbound Marketing.    

Oxford Comma Also called a serial comma, the Oxford comma is the last comma on a list. Consider this sentence: Long-form content generates more leads, ideal customers, and revenue. The Oxford comma is the one after ‘customers.’ Its use is a matter of style, application and personal preference (it is not used in this last sentence).    

Rank To rank means to appear near the top of Google’s search response, but that concept may be fading with the advent of AI and Google’s search generative experience (SGE). With SGE, much more information now appears at the top of the SERP before individual website pages are listed.

Report A type of long-form content that presents the results of a project, initiative, investigation or activity over time, something that has already occurred. Its objective is to inform and, most likely, present options to solve a problem or make a decision.

Return On Investment (ROI) ROI is a ratio that calculates the benefit received relative to a given investment. It is calculated by dividing the net income by the original investment. This is helpful when considering where to spend marketing resources; the higher the ratio, the greater the return. For example, content marketing is known to have a high ROI.

Rhetorical Situation One of several templates used to help shape complex writing projects. It refers to the six circumstances surrounding any form of communication: topic, speaker, purpose, audience, genre and context. It is an essential client/writer discussion for defining any writing project.

Search Engine Software able to return hyperlinks to webpages, images and, in some cases, direct answers that best match a user’s query. Search engines use complex algorithms to discern what best constitutes a good match for any given query.      

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) A recognized marketing discipline focused on designing and organizing webpage content so that search engines such as Google recognize the page as the best match for a user’s query. SEO best practices include optimizing headings, keywords, content and source (author) credibility.     

Search Engine Results Page (SERP) The webpage returned after submitting a query to Google. The SERP can contain links to other relevant webpages, images or summary information. Google’s new search generative experience has meant radically rethinking any given SERP.      

Search Experience Optimization (SXO) A merger of traditional SEO and user experience. For example, a guitar shop might optimize its website for keywords such as “quality acoustic guitars.” SXO would go beyond that to offer a written guide on how to restring a guitar, a list of chords and perhaps a virtual tuning tool. Google sees this and gives credit.

Search Generative Experience (SGE) Google’s SGE is an entirely new way to present search results that focuses on useful summary information that obviates the need to click through to individual webpages to find relevant information, aka a “zero-click” search.    

Short-Form Content Content that is generally considered to be less than 1000 words, usually much less. It is ideal for emails, news, social media posts and other ephemeral topics. However, the format is considered too short for conveying detailed information or building relationships. See also Long-Form Content.  

White Paper Considered the most formal style of pre-sale, long-form content, white papers are the consummate deep dive into a topic. They are characterized by an academic-like writing style and appearance, rigorous research, quotes, footnotes, citations and effective data visualizations. Read more about white papers.

Written Guide A style of long-form content, written guides help readers achieve a result or understand a method, such as buying a new product, using a piece of equipment or building something, be it a boat or a business. They provide tangible, helpful information to inspire action on some aspect of the subject.