Glossary
Marketing terms, in plain English.
The words you will hear from any marketing company, explained without the jargon.
- AI Overview
- A summary Google shows at the top of some search results, written by AI from several web sources, with links to the pages it drew on.
- AI search
- Asking an AI assistant such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot a question instead of, or alongside, a traditional search engine.
- Backlink
- A link to your website from another website. Links from relevant, trusted sites help search engines judge that your site is worth showing.
- Call tracking
- Using tracked phone numbers or call events to see which ad, listing or page produced each phone call.
- Citation
- A mention of your business name, address and phone number on another site, such as a directory or map app.
- Click-through rate
- The share of people who saw an ad or search result and clicked it. A low rate usually means the ad or title does not match the search.
- Conversion
- An action you care about, such as a call, a form fill or a booking.
- Conversion tracking
- The setup that records conversions and ties them to the ad, keyword or page that produced them, so ad platforms can learn what works.
- Cost per click
- What you pay each time someone clicks your ad. In an auction it varies by industry, area, competition and the quality of your ad.
- Cost per lead
- Total ad spend divided by the number of leads it produced. One of the most useful numbers for judging ads.
- Google Ads
- Google's advertising platform. Search ads show when people search for terms you choose, and you pay when someone clicks.
- Google Business Profile
- The free business listing that appears on Google Maps and in local search results, with your hours, reviews, photos and services.
- Impression
- One showing of your ad or listing on a screen, whether or not anyone clicks.
- Keyword
- A word or phrase you choose to target in ads or content, based on what people type into search engines.
- Landing page
- The page someone arrives on after clicking an ad. The best ones match the ad exactly and make the next step obvious.
- llms.txt
- A proposed plain-text file that summarizes a website for AI tools. Not every AI company reads it, but it is cheap to add.
- Local Services Ads
- A Google ad program for certain industries where you pay per lead and can earn a Google Screened or Google Guaranteed badge, where available.
- Map pack
- The group of usually three local businesses Google shows with a map for searches with local intent.
- Match type
- A Google Ads setting that controls how closely a search must match your keyword before your ad can show.
- Meta Ads
- Advertising on Facebook, Instagram and Meta's other apps, managed in Meta Ads Manager.
- NAP
- Name, address and phone number. Keeping NAP identical everywhere online helps search engines trust your business details.
- Negative keyword
- A word you tell Google Ads to avoid, so your ads do not show for searches like jobs, free or DIY.
- Organic search
- The unpaid results on a search page, earned through SEO rather than bought with ads.
- Pixel
- A small piece of code from an ad platform that records visits and actions on your website for tracking and retargeting.
- Quality Score
- Google's rating of how relevant your ads, keywords and landing pages are to each other. Better scores can lower what you pay.
- Retargeting
- Showing ads to people who already visited your website or engaged with your business.
- Schema markup
- Code that labels the facts on a page, such as business name, services, hours and FAQs, so search engines and AI tools can read them reliably.
- Search terms report
- The Google Ads report of the actual searches that triggered your ads. Reading it weekly is how wasted spend gets found.
- SEO
- Search engine optimization: improving your site and online presence so search engines show it for more relevant searches.
- Service area business
- A business that serves customers at their location, such as a plumber, and can hide its address on Google Business Profile.
- Service area page
- A website page about one service in one city, written to match how people search locally.
- Special Ad Categories
- Meta's rules for ads about housing, employment, credit and some financial products, and social issues, which limit targeting options.
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