Web design, SEO and advertising terms
This web design and SEO terms glossary explains plainly what turns up in a quote, a monthly report or a sales call, written for business owners, not developers. Similarly, you do not need a technical background to follow any entry here. Browse by letter below, or read straight through if you are new to this.
Why we built this web design and SEO terms glossary
Typically, agencies drop jargon into proposals without explaining it, which is exactly the kind of thing you can look up in Google’s own Search Central documentation if you want the technical version. Instead, we wrote these definitions in plain language, the way we would explain them on a call.
As a result, if a term here comes up while we are discussing your web design or SEO project, you can check it here first rather than nodding along. Notably, most of these terms took us longer to explain simply than to understand in the first place.
Backlink
A link from another website to yours. Google treats it as a vote, weighted by who is voting.
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Conversion
A visitor doing the thing you wanted: sending the form, calling, or booking. Not a page view.
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Core Web Vitals
Google's three measurements of how fast and stable a page feels to a real visitor.
Read the entry
Cost per acquisition
What one new customer costs you in marketing spend. The number that decides whether any of it is working.
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Cost per click
What you pay each time somebody clicks your ad. Set by auction, not by a fixed price list.
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Google Business Profile
The free listing that puts your business in Google Maps and the local results.
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Impression share
The percentage of available ad appearances you actually got, and why you missed the rest.
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Map pack
The three local business results Google shows above the normal listings, with a map beside them.
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Schema markup
Code that spells out what a page means, so search engines and AI assistants do not have to guess.
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Service area business
A business that travels to customers rather than receiving them, and lists areas instead of an address.
Read the entryUsing these web design and SEO terms in practice
Specifically, several of these terms also appear directly in our pricing pages, since we explain exactly what you are paying for rather than hiding it behind acronyms.
However, this list keeps growing as new terms come up in client conversations, so check back if you cannot find what you are looking for yet.
For example, terms like cost per acquisition, impression share and Core Web Vitals started here as quick answers to client questions, then became full entries once we noticed we were repeating ourselves. Notably, if a term is missing, ask us and we will likely add it.
Who this web design and SEO terms glossary is for
Specifically, it is written for owners and marketers, not for other agencies, so every definition avoids assuming prior knowledge.
Where these web design and SEO terms come from
Likewise, every entry started as a real answer to a real client question, not a copied definition from somewhere else.
More web design and SEO terms coming soon
Notably, we add to this list every month, based on the questions clients actually ask us.