Technology and web marketing are growing at an almost inconceivable rate. Even if you want to avoid it or it carries no interest to you, veterinary practice does not escape its influence. You will surely encounter some terms during your interaction with a web service provider or your information technology (IT) technician. Here is a small glossary of terms that will become more and more frequent, with concrete examples in our field.

Technologies

API (Application Programming Interface)

An API is a programming interface that allows you to “plug” into an application to exchange data between two software or systems. Let’s say you want to use your customer emails to send messages by MailChimp. There is probably an API that allows you to connect the cloud management software of patient records to MailChimp and to transfer data. Programmers are fond of APIs; it saves from transferring data manually which carries lots of risks. An API is not necessarily compatible with all software. But when it works, it saves a lot of time.

Chatbot

With artificial intelligence being more accessible, there are now many software programs that allow to automate an exchange between a system and a human. It’s a conversational agent that can sustain an intelligent conversation according to words it recognizes. Amazon’s Alexa or Siri are examples. They have the advantage of being always available and they can automate some services. In veterinary medicine, it is mainly in Messenger that these bots are appearing. They will have the beneficial effect of reducing the waiting time of people who call to the clinic. In times of skilled labour shortages, it would be wise to exploit this avenue.

Cloud Computing

This refers to a way of storing information or transforming it by an entire infrastructure that is not on the premises of practice, but rather remote, example: transport by internet, servers which are hosted in highly secure buildings and in controlled conditions, and different access points (computer, cell phones, tablets). Why? Oh, how simpler life is in a cloud! This technology is so popular that Amazon Web Services (AWS) is aiming an income of $42 billion US annually for 2020.

Benefits:

• Updates are done automatically with minimum downtime.
• You can adjust the capacity of storage of the server with a few clicks, for a much more affordable cost than installing a server.
• Servers such as AWS or Google Cloud are much more secure than what you have in the clinic.
• In case of fire, theft or water damage, your data is safe. Your data is accessible remotely, and not necessarily with a VPN.

SaaS (Software as a Service)

Rather than buying a software and installing it on your computer or server (e.g., Antidote or Vetware), you use the services remotely and usually pay as a monthly or annual package (e.g., VetUp).

Open Source

These are software that have been developed by a community and whose code is public and accessible to all (e.g., WordPress, the most popular website platform, or Moodle, the online training platform), as opposed to software that are proprietary or closed source. For programmers, this concept of open source is very interesting, because they, like Lego®, can take a code and improve it, change it, adjust it to their needs. They don’t start from scratch; this process saves them time.

WeTransfer (wetransfer.com)

It is a web platform that allows sending easily and for free files that are too large for an electronic messaging system. Do you have pictures of your team or business to share with the agency that is building your website? This is an essential tool!

Marketing

Ad Copy

This is the ad text, quite simply. It refers to the words and not the graphics or the URL. If you do Google Ads advertisements, it is the visible text when your ad appears in a search. Always review the text you are offered for quality of language and also accuracy. We regularly see ads with mention of grooming or obedience class services, despite the business not offering them.

Audience

You might be asked in a paid advertising context on Facebook/Instagram: to which audience do you wish to broadcast your ad or sponsored posts? Facebook Ads Manager allows you to establish audiences (characteristics for a group of individuals) and save them for later use. You can choose according to location, gender, age, interests and job title. You will have the burden of explaining to the person who will schedule your campaigns what your audience should be; at the very least, define your territory, gender, age. If your criteria are too broad, you are wasting your resources.

B2B (Business-to-Business) or B2C (Business-to-Consumer)

This defines who your customers are to you: are they consumers or other businesses? Here are some examples:

• B2B: Zoetis towards veterinary schools
• B2C: A veterinary clinic towards pet owners

Brand Book or Branding

These are the graphic sets of rules (logo, colours, font) that defines your company. You should have all these elements in an easily accessible file. If you have employees that make graphics on a free and friendly site like canva.com, they should be aware of your branding. Your image is your signature.

Cost-per-Click (CPC) and Pay-per-Click (PPC)

CPC is the amount paid by an advertiser to a search engine or a site editor for a click that brings a visitor from the link of an advertisement (text, image, video...) to the site of the advertiser. PPC is a general term that includes methods for paying for ads according to the number of clicks compared to advertisements paid when an amount of viewed time for a video is reached (example: YouTube) or by the number of impressions from a graphic.

Click-thru-Rate (CTR)

This is one of the most important indicators to determine if an online advertising campaign is working. Representatives of Yellow Pages can tell you about the number of impressions (number of times your ad appeared), but if users don’t click on it, that ad isn’t useful. The average varies according to the type of ad. For Google Ads in the Search Network ads, it comes to a 2.02% average for all industries combined.

Display Network

Google Ads program offers different ways of advertising. The most used by veterinarians is the Search Network, where ads in the form of search results appear at the top of a list. The display network is another category of ads available where graphics appear throughout browsing websites. They are in the form of banners at the top or on the sides.

Landing Page

This is the specific page on which the user arrives when he clicks on an advertisement. It must be connected to your ad. If you’re talking about ticks, your landing page must talk about that too.

Long-Tail Keyword

This trendy concept may sound intimidating, but it is actually a very simple one: these are key expressions rather than single words. Faced with immensity of the web and also the emergence of voice search, it is more natural to search with an expression (e.g., “veterinarian Toronto inexpensive” rather than simply “veterinarian”). It is often a combination of the words: “veterinarian + locality + desired service.”

Retargeting (Remarketing)

Retargeting (remarketing) is an advertising process by which you target users who have already visited your site through the use of cookies (small codes that identify the device to the user). It is very common on Google and Facebook. For example, you want to buy a new KitchenAid food processor on Amazon and realize that it “follows you” everywhere on the Web and on Facebook. Amazon hopes to “wear you down” in a moment of decision-making fatigue and that you will succumb to the temptation.

Website

Meta Title

This is the title of the web page. Meta title tags are a major factor in helping search engines understand what your page is about, and they are the first impression many people have of your page. They are used on the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Google Analytics (GA)

This is a software developed by Google that allows you to see traffic and behaviour statistics of users on your website. This is different from Google My Business. To plot this data, the GA account number must be added to your website. To find it, hover your mouse on your website page and right click on “view source code.” Press Ctl + F: find UA. Your account number will look like UA-12345678-1.

Content Management System (CMS)

This is the interface that allows you to change the content of your website. Ideally, it should be simple to use. It allows you to make changes yourself (opening hours, employee picture, new services) without asking a programmer.

Facebook Pixel

Here’s how Facebook explains it: when a person visits your website and performs an action (e.g., by buying something), the Facebook pixel fires and reports this action. This way, you will be able to track the actions a customer takes after seeing your Facebook ad. You can also reach this client again by using a custom audience. In concrete terms, it is a small piece of code that you will find in your Facebook Ads Manager and you will install on your website.