Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms behind websites, search, AI and automation.
AI assistant
Software that uses a large language model to answer questions, draft replies or complete tasks in plain language.
TermAI Overviews
Google's AI-generated summaries that appear above or among search results for some queries.
TermAPI
Application Programming Interface: the agreed way two pieces of software exchange data.
TermAttribution
Working out which marketing channel or touchpoint deserves credit for an enquiry or sale.
TermBacklink
A link from another website to yours.
TermBounce rate
The share of visits that leave without meaningful interaction. In GA4 it is the opposite of engagement rate.
TermCall tracking
Using dedicated phone numbers to see which channel or page produced a phone call.
TermCanonical URL
The preferred address of a page when the same content can be reached at several URLs.
TermCMS
Content Management System: software for editing website content without writing code.
TermConversion rate
The percentage of visitors who complete a goal, such as sending an enquiry or booking.
TermCore Web Vitals
Google's three measures of real-user page experience: loading (LCP), responsiveness (INP) and visual stability (CLS).
TermCost per lead
What you spend in marketing to generate one enquiry.
TermCrawl budget
Roughly how many pages a search engine is willing and able to crawl on your site in a given time.
TermCRM
Customer Relationship Management: one place to track enquiries, customers, jobs and follow-ups.
TermCustomer acquisition cost (CAC)
The total sales and marketing cost of winning one new customer.
TermCustomer lifetime value (LTV)
The total profit or revenue a typical customer brings over the whole relationship.
TermDNS
Domain Name System: the internet's address book that points your domain to your website and email.
TermE-E-A-T
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness: concepts from Google's quality rater guidelines.
TermGDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation, the EU law on personal data, with a UK version (UK GDPR).
TermGoogle Analytics 4 (GA4)
Google's free analytics platform, built around events rather than page views.
TermGoogle Business Profile
Your free business listing on Google Search and Maps.
TermGoogle Search Console
Google's free tool showing how your site performs in Google Search and whether it can be indexed.
TermHreflang
An annotation that tells search engines which language or regional version of a page to show.
TermIndexing
When a search engine stores a page so that it can appear in search results.
TermIndexNow
An open protocol that lets websites notify participating search engines when pages are added or changed.
TermKey event
A GA4 event you mark as important to your business, such as an enquiry.
TermLanding page
A page designed for visitors arriving from a specific campaign, usually with one clear action.
TermLarge language model (LLM)
An AI model trained on large amounts of text to understand and generate language.
TermLead response time
How long it takes your business to reply to a new enquiry.
TermLead scoring
Ranking enquiries by how likely they are to become valuable customers.
TermLocal SEO
Improving visibility in search results for customers in a specific area.
TermMeta description
A short summary of a page that search engines may show under the title in results.
TermNoindex
An instruction telling search engines not to include a page in their results.
TermROAS
Return on ad spend: revenue generated for every pound spent on advertising.
TermSales pipeline
The stages an enquiry moves through, from first contact to won or lost.
TermSchema markup
Structured data that describes a page's content to search engines in a standard format.
TermSearch intent
What the person searching actually wants to find or do.
TermSEO
Search engine optimisation: improving a website so it appears for relevant searches and wins clicks.
TermTitle tag
The HTML title of a page, usually shown as the clickable headline in search results.
TermUTM parameters
Tags added to a link so analytics tools can tell where a visit came from.
TermWCAG
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: the international standard for accessible websites.
TermWebhook
An automatic message one system sends to another when something happens.
TermXML sitemap
A file listing the pages you want search engines to discover.