Glossary
Marketing Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the SEO, Google Ads, and local marketing terms you actually need to know.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
CTR tells you what share of the people who saw your link actually clicked it. A simple ratio that quietly signals how relevant and compelling your result really is.
Read guideCost Per Click (CPC)
CPC is what you actually pay for a single click in a pay-per-click ad. Understanding what moves it is the difference between a budget that stretches and one that vanishes.
Read guideCost Per Lead (CPL)
CPL answers the question that actually matters: what does it cost to get one real person to raise their hand? It is the metric that ties ad spend to business results.
Read guideReturn on Ad Spend (ROAS)
ROAS is the bottom-line question for any ad campaign: for every dollar in, how many dollars came back out? It cuts through the noise of clicks and impressions.
Read guideImpressions
An impression is the simplest metric there is: your content appeared on a screen. It measures visibility, not action — and knowing the difference keeps you honest.
Read guideSERP: Search Engine Results Page
The SERP is the battleground where every search query is answered. Understanding its moving parts shows you exactly which spots you can realistically win.
Read guideBacklink
A backlink is another site vouching for yours by linking to it. It is one of the oldest and strongest trust signals in search — but only when it is earned honestly.
Read guideAnchor Text
Anchor text is the visible, clickable wording of a link. Those few words quietly tell both people and Google what to expect on the other side.
Read guideCanonical URL
When several URLs show near-identical content, the canonical is your way of telling Google which one is the real one. It quietly prevents a lot of duplicate-content headaches.
Read guideMeta Description
The meta description is your ad copy in the organic results — the short pitch under the blue link that convinces someone to choose your result over the others.
Read guideTitle Tag
The title tag is the blue, clickable headline of your search listing — and one of the highest-leverage things you can optimize on any page.
Read guideAlt Text
Alt text is the written description of an image that people using screen readers hear and that Google reads. It serves accessibility first, and SEO as a bonus.
Read guideOrganic Traffic
Organic traffic is everyone who finds you through the unpaid search results — the visitors you earned rather than bought. It is slower to build and far cheaper to keep.
Read guideBounce Rate
Bounce rate sounds like a report card, but it is easy to misread. Sometimes a high bounce means a problem — and sometimes it means the visitor got exactly what they came for.
Read guideConversion Rate
Conversion rate is the metric that turns traffic into meaning. It answers the only question that pays the bills: of everyone who showed up, how many actually did something?
Read guideKeyword Difficulty
Keyword difficulty is a shortcut for judging how tough a term is to rank for. Useful for prioritizing — as long as you remember it is an estimate, not a verdict from Google.
Read guideDomain Authority
Domain Authority is a handy shorthand for a site’s overall strength — but it comes from Moz, not Google. Knowing that difference keeps you from chasing the wrong number.
Read guideIndexing
Indexing is the step where Google decides your page is worth keeping. If a page is not indexed, it cannot rank — which makes this the quiet gatekeeper of all SEO.
Read guideCrawl Budget
Crawl budget is how much attention Googlebot spends on your site. It sounds scary, but for most small businesses it is a non-issue — here is who actually needs to care.
Read guideNofollow Link
A nofollow link is a way of linking to something without vouching for it. It is how you point to a page while telling Google "do not count this as my endorsement."
Read guidePPC: Pay-Per-Click
PPC is the model behind most search advertising: your ad shows for free, and you only pay when someone clicks. It buys speed — visibility today instead of months from now.
Read guideLocal Pack (Map Pack)
The local pack is that map with three businesses that shows up for local searches — prime real estate for any business that serves a specific area.
Read guideGooglebot
Googlebot is the tireless robot that reads the web so Google can index it. Understanding how it finds and reads your pages is the first step to getting found.
Read guideXML Sitemap
An XML sitemap is a tidy list of the pages you want Google to know about. It does not guarantee rankings, but it helps Google find everything that matters.
Read guideRobots.txt
Robots.txt is a small file with outsized power — it guides crawlers around your site. A single wrong line can accidentally hide your whole business from Google.
Read guideLanding Page
A landing page is where a visitor arrives after clicking your ad or link — and a good one is built to do exactly one thing: turn that click into a customer.
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