Plain-English glossary
Marketing terms, defined the way we'd say them on the phone.
Every SEO, web design, and digital marketing term you'll hear from us — written in language a busy owner can actually use.
A
- AI Overviews
- Google's AI-generated answer block at the top of search results that summarizes information from multiple sources. Optimizing for AI Overviews is part of GEO (Generative Engine Optimization).
- Anchor Text
- The clickable, visible text of a hyperlink. Descriptive anchor text helps Google understand what the linked page is about.
B
- Backlink
- A link from another website pointing to yours. High-quality, topically relevant backlinks remain one of Google's strongest ranking signals.
C
- Canonical URL
- The preferred URL for a page when multiple URLs serve the same or similar content. Set with a rel=canonical link tag to prevent duplicate-content issues.
- Citation (Local SEO)
- Any online mention of your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) — directories, social profiles, review sites. Consistency across citations strengthens local rankings.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR)
- The percentage of people who click a search result, ad, or link out of the total who saw it. A higher organic CTR can signal relevance to Google.
- Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
- The practice of improving a website so a higher percentage of visitors take a desired action — call, form fill, purchase.
- Core Web Vitals
- Google's set of performance metrics measuring loading (LCP), interactivity (INP), and visual stability (CLS). Affects rankings, especially on mobile.
- Crawl Budget
- The number of pages Google's bot will crawl on your site within a given timeframe. Important for large sites; rarely a concern for small-business sites under 500 pages.
E
- E-E-A-T
- Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness — Google's framework for evaluating content quality, especially for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics.
F
- Featured Snippet
- A boxed answer at the top of Google's search results, pulled from a webpage. Earning featured snippets often requires structured, direct answers near the top of your content.
G
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
- Optimizing content to be cited and quoted by AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews. The modern complement to traditional SEO.
- Google Business Profile (GBP)
- The free Google listing that powers your appearance in Google Maps and the local 3-pack. Formerly called Google My Business.
L
- Local 3-Pack / Map Pack
- The block of three local business results that appears with a map on Google for local-intent searches. Highly clicked and tied to your Google Business Profile.
- Long-Tail Keyword
- A longer, more specific search phrase (e.g., 'emergency plumber Briargate Colorado Springs' vs. 'plumber'). Lower volume but higher intent and easier to rank for.
M
- Meta Description
- The HTML attribute that summarizes a page's content. Often shown beneath the page title in search results. Doesn't directly affect rankings but heavily influences CTR.
N
- NAP Consistency
- Keeping your business Name, Address, and Phone number identical across every online listing. Inconsistent NAP confuses Google and weakens local rankings.
O
- Off-Page SEO
- Ranking factors that happen outside your website — backlinks, citations, social signals, brand mentions, reviews.
- On-Page SEO
- Ranking factors you control directly on each page — title tags, headings, content, internal links, schema, page speed.
- Organic Traffic
- Visitors who reach your site through unpaid search results. Distinct from paid (PPC), direct, social, and referral traffic.
P
- PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
- Paid search advertising where you bid for placement and pay only when someone clicks. Google Ads is the largest PPC platform.
S
- Schema Markup / Structured Data
- Code added to your page (typically JSON-LD) that helps search engines understand the content — business info, reviews, FAQs, articles, products. Powers rich results.
- SERP
- Search Engine Results Page — the page Google (or any engine) returns for a query. Modern SERPs include organic results, ads, AI Overviews, Map Packs, featured snippets, and more.
- Service-Area Page
- A dedicated landing page targeting a specific city or neighborhood you serve. Critical for local-service businesses competing across multiple markets.
- Sitemap (XML)
- A file listing the URLs on your site that you want search engines to crawl and index. Submitted via Google Search Console.
T
- Title Tag
- The HTML element specifying a page's title. Shown in browser tabs, search results, and social shares. One of the strongest on-page ranking signals.
U
- URL Slug
- The portion of a URL that identifies a specific page (e.g., /case-studies/hvac-colorado-springs). Should be short, descriptive, and keyword-relevant.
Y
- YMYL
- Your Money or Your Life — Google's term for topics that can affect a person's health, finances, or safety. These pages are held to a higher E-E-A-T standard.
Term we missed? Tell us and we'll add it.
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