Digital marketing glossary
80+ terms explained in plain English. No jargon, no fluff, just clear definitions so you can have informed conversations with your agency, team and clients.
A/B Testing
Showing two versions of a page or ad to different users to see which performs better. Used to improve conversion rates and ad click-through rates.
Algorithm
The set of rules search engines use to decide which pages rank where. Google's algorithm considers hundreds of factors and is updated thousands of times per year.
Alt Text
Descriptive text added to image HTML that tells search engines what an image shows. Important for accessibility and image SEO.
Anchor Text
The clickable text in a hyperlink. Relevant anchor text helps search engines understand what the linked page is about.
ASO (App Store Optimisation)
The process of improving an app's visibility in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, like SEO, but for apps.
Attribution
The process of identifying which marketing channel or touchpoint contributed to a conversion. Important for understanding where to invest your marketing budget.
Backlink
A link from another website to yours. High-quality backlinks from authoritative sites are one of the most important ranking factors in SEO.
Bounce Rate
The percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate may indicate poor relevance, slow load times or weak design.
B2B / B2C
Business-to-Business (selling to companies) vs Business-to-Consumer (selling to individuals). Different channels and strategies are typically more effective for each.
Brand Awareness
How familiar your target audience is with your brand. Upper-funnel marketing activities (display ads, social, PR) typically focus on building brand awareness.
Call to Action (CTA)
A prompt that encourages the user to take a specific action, "Book Now", "Get a Free Quote", "Download". Good CTAs are clear, specific and create urgency.
Canonical Tag
An HTML tag that tells search engines which version of a page is the "master" copy, used to avoid duplicate content issues.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The percentage of people who click on your ad or search result after seeing it. Higher CTR usually means more relevant copy and better audience targeting.
Conversion
A desired action taken by a website visitor, filling in a form, making a purchase, booking a call. Your conversion rate is conversions ÷ total visitors × 100.
Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)
The process of improving your website to convert more visitors into leads or customers without increasing traffic.
Core Web Vitals
Google's set of metrics measuring real-world user experience, Largest Contentful Paint (load speed), Interaction to Next Paint (responsiveness) and Cumulative Layout Shift (visual stability).
Cost Per Click (CPC)
How much you pay each time someone clicks your paid ad. CPC varies hugely by industry, legal and financial keywords can cost £5–£50+ per click.
Cost Per Lead (CPL)
Total ad spend ÷ number of leads generated. A key metric for evaluating paid advertising effectiveness.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
Software that stores and manages your customer and prospect data. Examples: HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive. Vital for tracking leads through your sales funnel.
DA (Domain Authority)
A score (1–100) created by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank in search results. Higher DA = more authoritative. Not an official Google metric but a useful benchmark.
Display Advertising
Visual ads (banners, images, video) shown across websites in the Google Display Network. Good for brand awareness and retargeting.
Dwell Time
How long a user spends on your page before returning to search results. Longer dwell time suggests more relevant, engaging content, and may influence rankings.
E-E-A-T
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness, Google's quality framework for evaluating web pages. Particularly important for health, finance and legal content (YMYL).
Email Marketing
Using email to communicate with customers and prospects. One of the highest ROI marketing channels, typically £36 return for every £1 spent.
Engagement Rate
On social media, the percentage of people who interact (like, comment, share) with your content relative to your follower count or reach.
Featured Snippet
The box that appears at the top of Google search results answering a query directly, also called "position zero". Winning a featured snippet significantly increases visibility.
Funnel
The stages a prospect goes through before buying, typically Awareness → Consideration → Decision → Purchase. Good marketing addresses each stage with appropriate content and ads.
GA4 (Google Analytics 4)
Google's current analytics platform that replaced Universal Analytics. Uses an event-based data model and provides cross-platform tracking.
Google Business Profile
Your free business listing that appears in Google Maps and local search results. Optimising it is one of the quickest wins in local SEO.
Google Search Console
A free Google tool that shows how your site performs in search, which keywords you rank for, how many clicks you get, technical errors and more.
Heatmap
A visual representation of where users click, scroll and hover on your web pages. Used in CRO to identify what users focus on and what they ignore.
HTTP vs HTTPS
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) means your website has an SSL certificate and data is encrypted. HTTPS is a Google ranking factor, all websites should use it.
Impressions
How many times your ad or search result was shown to users, regardless of whether they clicked. Used with CTR to measure ad relevance.
Indexing
When Google discovers and adds a page to its database. If a page isn't indexed, it won't appear in search results. Use Google Search Console to check indexing status.
Internal Linking
Links between pages on your own website. Good internal linking helps search engines understand your site structure and distributes "link equity" to important pages.
Keyword
The word or phrase someone types into a search engine. SEO and paid ads are built around targeting the right keywords for your business.
Keyword Research
The process of finding what search terms your target audience uses, how often they search, and how competitive those terms are.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
A measurable value that tracks progress toward a goal. Common marketing KPIs: traffic, leads, conversions, ROAS, CPL, rankings.
Landing Page
A dedicated page designed for a specific campaign or ad, focused on one action (enquiry, purchase, sign-up). Landing pages typically have no navigation to reduce distraction.
Lead Generation
The process of attracting potential customers and capturing their contact details. SEO, paid ads, social media and content marketing are all lead generation channels.
Link Building
The process of acquiring backlinks from other websites to improve your domain authority and search rankings.
Local SEO
Optimising a website to appear in local search results, "plumber near me", "dentist in Manchester". Involves Google Business Profile, local citations and location-specific content.
Long-Tail Keywords
Longer, more specific search phrases with lower search volume but higher intent, e.g. "emergency boiler repair London" vs "plumber". Often easier to rank for and higher converting.
Meta Description
The short description shown under your page title in search results. Doesn't directly affect rankings but heavily influences click-through rate.
Meta Ads
Paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram, managed through Meta's Ads Manager platform. Powerful for audience targeting based on demographics, interests and behaviours.
Mobile-First Indexing
Google's approach of using the mobile version of your website as the primary version for indexing and ranking. Your site must work perfectly on mobile.
Organic Traffic
Visitors who arrive at your site from unpaid search results. Growing organic traffic through SEO reduces your dependence on paid advertising.
On-Page SEO
SEO optimisations made on your actual web pages, title tags, headings, content, internal links, image alt text and URL structure.
Off-Page SEO
SEO activities that happen outside your website, primarily building backlinks and brand mentions from other sites.
Page Speed
How quickly your web pages load. Slow pages hurt both user experience and SEO rankings. Aim for under 3 seconds; under 2 seconds is ideal.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
An advertising model where you pay each time someone clicks your ad. Google Ads and Meta Ads are both PPC platforms.
Pixel
A small piece of code placed on your website by platforms like Meta or TikTok to track visitor behaviour and target them with ads later (retargeting).
Position Zero
See Featured Snippet, the result that appears above organic position 1 in Google, in a box answering the query directly.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
Revenue generated ÷ ad spend. A ROAS of 4× means £4 revenue for every £1 spent. Different from ROI, which accounts for all costs including agency fees and product costs.
Remarketing / Retargeting
Showing ads to people who have previously visited your website. Retargeting campaigns typically achieve much higher conversion rates than cold audience ads.
Responsive Design
A website that automatically adjusts its layout to look good on any screen size, desktop, tablet, mobile. Essential in 2026; Google penalises non-responsive sites.
ROI (Return on Investment)
(Revenue − Total Cost) ÷ Total Cost × 100. Unlike ROAS, ROI accounts for all costs. A positive ROI means your marketing is profitable.
Schema Markup
Structured data code added to pages that helps Google understand the content, enabling rich results like star ratings, FAQs and event listings in search results.
Search Intent
The reason behind a search query. Informational (want to learn), Navigational (looking for a site), Commercial (researching options), Transactional (ready to buy). Matching your content to intent is fundamental to SEO.
SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
The page that appears after you perform a search, showing organic results, paid ads, featured snippets, maps and more.
Social Proof
Testimonials, reviews, ratings, case studies and follower counts that build trust by showing others have already chosen and benefited from your business.
Technical SEO
Optimisations to the technical foundation of your website, crawlability, indexability, site speed, mobile-friendliness, structured data and more.
Title Tag
The HTML title of a web page, shown as the blue headline in search results. One of the most important on-page SEO elements; should include your primary keyword.
Traffic
The number of visitors to your website. Usually broken down by source: organic (SEO), direct, paid, referral, social and email.
UX (User Experience)
How easy, enjoyable and efficient it is to use a website or app. Good UX reduces bounce rate, increases time on site and improves conversion rates.
UTM Parameters
Tags added to URLs to track campaign performance in analytics. E.g. ?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc tells you the visitor came from a Google paid ad.
White Hat SEO
Ethical SEO techniques that follow Google's guidelines, quality content, natural link building, good user experience. Contrasts with "black hat" tactics that risk penalties.
Word Count
Longer content (1,500+ words) often ranks better for informational queries because it can cover a topic more comprehensively. But quality always beats quantity.
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