Marketing Metrics Glossary
A plain-language glossary of the digital marketing terms shakalakaa uses in proposals, dashboards and reports — PPC, CTR, CPC, CPM, CAC, CPL, LTV, SERP, backlink, conversion rate, organic traffic, keyword difficulty, landing page and A/B testing. Each entry links to the service that delivers the metric.
This glossary is the plain-language reference for the digital marketing terms shakalakaa uses in proposals, dashboards and monthly reports. Each definition links to the service that delivers the metric, so terms and commercial programmes stay connected.
Live cost figures for Malaysia are in the ad benchmarks data.
A–C
A/B testing
Running two variants of an ad, page or email in parallel with the audience split randomly, to measure which produces the better outcome on a defined metric. Requires enough traffic per variant to reach statistical significance — most Malaysian SME accounts under-power tests and read noise as signal.
Backlink
An inbound hyperlink from another website to yours. Google treats a backlink from a topically relevant, authoritative site as a trust signal that influences organic rankings. Not all backlinks help — low-quality or paid link networks can trigger penalties. See our SEO service for the disciplined side of link building.
Click-through rate (CTR)
Clicks divided by impressions, expressed as a percentage. Good search-ad CTR sits between 3% and 6% in most Malaysian verticals; display and social CTRs are structurally lower (0.5–2%).
Conversion rate
The percentage of visitors who complete a defined goal (lead form, purchase, call). Landing-page relevance, offer strength and page speed drive it more than ad copy does. Landing-page optimisation is where most Malaysian accounts leak conversion rate before touching ad settings — see Google Ads for the paid-side integration.
Cost per lead (CPL)
Total spend divided by qualified leads generated. Lower than CAC by design (not every lead converts) but the metric agencies are most often held to. Watch for CPL that improves while CAC worsens — usually a lead-quality problem.
Cost-per-click (CPC)
The actual amount charged per click, determined by the platform auction — a function of the bid and quality score of the winning advertiser relative to the runner-up. Malaysian search CPCs range from around RM0.50 on long-tail terms to RM10–40 on competitive head terms in finance, legal and insurance.
C–K
CPM (cost-per-mille / cost-per-thousand-impressions)
Used in CPM advertising — display, video, awareness — where the advertiser pays per thousand ad impressions rather than per click. Cheaper per exposure than PPC but a weaker intent signal; suited to reach and brand-lift objectives, not direct-response.
Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
Total marketing and sales spend divided by new customers won in the same period. The single most useful unit-economics metric — LTV without CAC is a vanity number. Every serious Malaysian retainer targets a CAC ceiling before it targets a CPL.
Keyword difficulty
A 0–100 estimate of how hard it is to rank organically for a given keyword, based on the strength of the pages currently ranking. Low-difficulty (under KD 20) opens quickly; high-difficulty (KD 60+) needs strong domain authority and sustained content investment.
L–S
Landing page
The specific page an ad or search result sends traffic to. A dedicated, conversion-focused landing page usually outperforms a generic homepage for paid campaigns — see the shakalakaa pricing guide for how landing-page work is scoped inside a Google Ads or Meta Ads retainer.
Lifetime value (LTV)
Total gross profit a customer generates across their relationship with the business. Compared to CAC to give the LTV:CAC ratio — 3:1 is the widely-quoted floor for a healthy account, though the number varies by category.
Organic traffic
Visitors who arrive from unpaid search results. Reported in GA4 and Google Search Console. Unlike paid traffic it does not stop when a retainer ends, but takes months to build.
PPC (pay-per-click)
An advertising model where the advertiser pays each time the ad is clicked. Google Ads is the largest PPC platform; Meta Ads and TikTok Ads run on the same auction mechanic. See the full PPC guide and Google Ads service.
SERP (search engine results page)
The page Google (or another engine) returns for a query. Modern SERPs include organic results, ads, featured snippets, Knowledge Panel, People Also Ask, local pack, AI Overviews and increasingly LLM-sourced answers.
SEO now optimises against a SERP surface, not just ten blue links — see the GEO service for the AI-search layer.
What is search engine marketing (SEM) in Malaysia?
Search engine marketing (SEM) in Malaysia is paid advertising on Google search results, bought per click and shown to people searching for a product or service.
Proof: SuperDNA: 4.1× Google Ads return on ad spend · Q1–Q3 2026 · one account, two markets.
Shakalakaa marketing metrics glossary, in depth
The supporting detail behind each section of this page, by topic. 1 topics
SEM in Malaysia
It covers keyword selection, ad copy, bids, landing pages and conversion tracking, and it is judged on cost per lead or return on ad spend, not on 1 click alone.
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FAQ
What is the difference between CAC and CPL?
Cost per lead (CPL) is total spend divided by qualified leads; customer acquisition cost (CAC) is total spend divided by new customers actually won.
CPL is always lower than CAC because not every lead converts. Judge accounts on CAC — CPL alone can improve while CAC worsens if lead quality drops.
Is CPM better than PPC?
Neither is 'better' — they answer different questions. CPM (pay-per-thousand-impressions) suits awareness and reach objectives where you want to be seen. PPC (pay-per-click) suits direct response where you want measurable action. Most Malaysian accounts use both, on different campaigns.
What is a good LTV:CAC ratio?
Three-to-one is the widely quoted floor for a healthy account — lifetime value should exceed acquisition cost by at least 3×. Below that, growth is running the treadmill; above 5:1, you may be under-investing in acquisition.
What counts as organic traffic in GA4?
Sessions attributed to unpaid search — Google, Bing and increasingly AI-search referrals — as opposed to Direct, Paid Search, Paid Social and Referral. In GA4 it appears under the 'Organic Search' default channel group.