Glossary

An MX record tells other mail servers where to deliver email sent to your domain. Wrong MX records mean lost email.

A domain extension, or top-level domain (TLD), is the ending of a web address, such as .com, .org or .co.

DNS propagation is the delay between changing a DNS setting and everyone on the internet seeing the change, usually minutes to a few hours.

Domain registration is reserving a domain name in your name for a set period, usually one to ten years, through a registrar.

Domain renewal is paying to keep your domain registered for another term. If it is not renewed, the domain expires and can be lost.

A registrar is the company you register a domain name through. It keeps your ownership record and handles renewals and transfers.

DNSSEC adds a digital signature to your DNS answers so visitors' computers can tell they have not been faked.

An SRV record tells apps which server and port to use for a specific service, such as a phone system or chat tool, on your domain.

A DNS record is one line of instructions in your domain's DNS settings, such as where your website lives or where email should go.

A URL is the full address of one page or file on the web, such as https://yourbusiness.com/services.

An NS record names the nameservers that hold a domain's DNS settings. It tells the internet where to look up your records.

TTL, or time to live, is how long other computers may remember a DNS record before checking for a newer version. It is set in seconds.

A domain name is the address people type to reach your website, like yourbusiness.com. You rent it yearly from a registrar.

A domain transfer moves your domain's registration from one registrar to another. Your website and email keep working if DNS is handled carefully.

An AAAA record points a domain to a server's IPv6 address. It does the same job as an A record for the newer, longer address format.

An IP address is the number that identifies a device or server on the internet. DNS turns your domain name into one.

Domain forwarding sends visitors from one domain to another web address automatically, such as an extra domain pointing to your main site.

Domain privacy hides your personal contact details from the public domain lookup, replacing them with the registrar's or a privacy service's details.

A CNAME record makes one name an alias of another name, such as pointing www.yourbusiness.com to the address your host gives you.

A nameserver is a server that stores your domain's DNS records and answers lookups. Your registrar settings decide which nameservers are in charge.

DNS, the Domain Name System, is the internet's address book. It turns a domain name into the server address a browser needs to load your site.

WHOIS is the public lookup that shows who registered a domain, which registrar holds it and when it expires. RDAP is its newer replacement.

A TXT record stores a line of text in your DNS. Services use TXT records to verify you own a domain and to protect your email.

The apex domain is your bare domain with nothing in front, like yourbusiness.com. It is also called the root or naked domain.

WWW stands for World Wide Web. In a web address, www is a subdomain that most sites redirect to or from the bare domain.

An EPP code, also called an auth code or transfer code, is a secret code from your current registrar that lets you move a domain to another registrar.

A CAA record lists which certificate authorities may issue SSL certificates for your domain. A wrong one can block certificate renewals.

A subdomain is a name added in front of your domain, like shop.yourbusiness.com, used to run a separate section or service.

An A record is a DNS record that points a domain or subdomain to a server's IPv4 address, such as the server that hosts your website.

A dynamic website builds pages as they are requested, often from a database, so content can change by visitor, time or input.

Incognito mode, or private browsing, opens a browser window that does not use your saved cookies, sign-ins or history.

A widget is a small, self-contained tool placed on a web page, like a chat box, review feed, booking button or map.

A web form is a set of fields on a page where visitors type information and send it to you, such as a contact or quote request form.

Compression makes files smaller so they load faster. It applies to images, code and whole pages sent from the server.

A ping is a quick test that sends a tiny message to a server and times how long the reply takes, to check if it is reachable.

HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP, the language browsers and websites use to talk. It encrypts everything sent between them.

A web application is software you use in a browser, like online booking, a client portal or a store checkout, rather than a page you only read.

A web page is one single document on a website, with its own URL, such as your contact page or a single blog post.

A website backup is a saved copy of your site's files and data that can be restored if something breaks, is deleted or is hacked.

An SSL certificate lets your website use HTTPS, which encrypts data between your site and visitors and shows the padlock in the browser.

WYSIWYG means \"what you see is what you get.\" A WYSIWYG editor shows content as it will look on the page while you edit it.

Page speed is how quickly a web page loads and becomes usable. Slow pages lose visitors and can rank lower in search.

A cookie is a small piece of data a website saves in your browser to remember things, like that you are signed in or what is in your cart.

A static website sends the same ready-made pages to every visitor, without building them from a database each time.

A timeout happens when a computer waits too long for a reply and gives up, showing an error instead of the page.

A hard refresh reloads a web page while skipping your browser's saved copies, so you see the newest version of the page.

A web browser is the app you use to view websites, such as Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox.

Bandwidth is how much data can move over a connection in a given time. Hosts also use it to mean how much data your site may send each month.

An ISP, or internet service provider, is the company that connects your home, office or phone to the internet.

An operating system is the main software that runs a computer or phone, such as Windows, macOS, iOS or Android.

E-commerce means selling products or services online, with a store, a cart and online payments on your website or another platform.

RSS is a feed format that lists a site's newest posts so readers and apps can follow updates without visiting the site.

Web hosting is the service that stores your website's files on a server that is always online, so anyone can load your site at any time.

Uploading sends a file from your device to a website or server. Downloading is the opposite: copying a file from the internet to your device.

A CMS, or content management system, is software that lets you edit your website's words and images without writing code.

A web server is the computer, and the software on it, that stores website files and sends pages to browsers when they ask.

A website is a group of linked web pages under one domain name, such as your home page, service pages, contact page and blog.

A CDN, or content delivery network, stores copies of your site's files on servers around the world so pages load fast wherever visitors are.

FTP is an older way to move files between your computer and a web server. Its secure version, SFTP, encrypts the connection.

A cache is a saved copy of files, kept so pages load faster next time. Caching is why you sometimes see an old version of a page.

A PDF is a file format that keeps a document's layout the same on every device, often used for menus, forms and brochures.

Uptime is the share of time your website is online and working. Downtime is the time it is not.

Shared hosting puts many websites on the same server, splitting its resources. It costs less but busy neighbors can slow your site.

A redirect automatically sends visitors and search engines from one URL to another, such as from an old page to its new address.

A hyperlink, or link, is clickable text, a button or an image that takes you to another page, file or place.

A 302 status code means a page has moved for now. Browsers follow it, but search engines keep the original address.

A 502 Bad Gateway error means one server got a bad or empty answer from another server it relies on.

A 410 Gone status means a page was removed on purpose and will not come back.

A 404 Not Found error means the server is working but there is no page at that address.

A 504 Gateway Timeout error means one server waited too long for another server to answer and gave up.

\"Too many redirects\" means a page keeps sending the browser around in a loop, so the browser stops trying.

A 5xx status code means a server error: the website's server or a service behind it failed while handling the request.

An HTTP status code is a three-digit number a web server sends with every response to say whether the request worked, moved or failed.

A 2xx status code means success. The most common, 200 OK, means the server found the page and sent it normally.

A 3xx status code means redirection: the page you asked for lives somewhere else, and the browser is sent to the new address.

A 301 status code, Moved Permanently, tells browsers and search engines that a page has a new address for good.

A 4xx status code means a client error: the request could not be filled, often because the page is missing or access is not allowed.

A 400 Bad Request error means the server could not understand the request, often because of a broken link or bad browser data.

A 401 Unauthorized error means the page needs you to sign in, or the sign-in details sent were missing or not accepted.

A 403 Forbidden error means the server understood the request but refuses to show the page to you.

This Chrome error means DNS could not find the domain, so the browser has no address to connect to.

A 503 Service Unavailable error means the server cannot handle the request right now, usually because of maintenance or overload.

A 429 Too Many Requests error means a server is limiting how often it will answer, because too many requests came too quickly.

This browser warning means the site's security certificate could not be trusted, so the browser stopped before loading the page.

A 500 Internal Server Error means something went wrong on the website's server, and it could not say exactly what.

A drip campaign is a series of automated emails sent on a schedule, such as one every few days after someone signs up.

POP is an older way for email apps to download messages from the server to one device, often removing them from the server.

Email marketing is sending promotional or helpful emails to people who agreed to hear from your business.

IMAP is a way for email apps to read mail that stays stored on the server, so it stays in sync across all your devices.

Opt-in means a person has actively agreed to receive your emails or texts, for example by checking a box or signing up.

SMTP is the standard method email servers and apps use to send email to other servers.

Segmentation divides your email list into smaller groups so each group gets messages that fit them.

A shared inbox is one email inbox that several team members can read and reply from, such as support@.

An email newsletter is a regular email sent to your list with updates, tips, news or offers from your business.

A hard bounce is a permanent delivery failure, usually because the email address does not exist or the domain is invalid.

A soft bounce is a temporary delivery failure, such as a full mailbox or a server that is briefly unavailable.

An email alias is an extra address that delivers to an existing mailbox, so you can receive mail at more than one address.

An email list is the set of contacts who agreed to receive emails from your business.

Click rate is the share of delivered emails in which someone clicked at least one link.

DKIM adds a digital signature to your outgoing email so receivers can confirm it really came from your domain and was not changed.

List hygiene means regularly cleaning your email list by removing bad, inactive and unsubscribed addresses.

Preheader text is the short preview line that many inboxes show next to or under an email's subject line.

A spam folder, or junk folder, is where your email service puts messages it thinks are unwanted or unsafe.

A spam complaint happens when a recipient clicks Report spam or Junk on your email.

Double opt-in means a new subscriber must confirm their sign-up by clicking a link in an email before they are added to your list.

Open rate is the share of delivered emails that recipients opened, as measured by your email tool.

A forwarding address automatically passes copies of incoming email from one address to another address.

Email automation sends pre-written emails automatically when a set trigger happens, such as a sign-up or a purchase.

Sender reputation is how trustworthy inbox providers think your domain and sending servers are, based on your email history.

SPF is a DNS record that lists which mail servers may send email for your domain, so receivers can spot forged mail.

DMARC is a DNS record that tells receiving servers what to do with mail that fails SPF and DKIM checks, and sends you reports.

A bounce is an email that could not be delivered and was returned to the sender with an error message.

An email service provider is a company or tool that sends email for you, either marketing campaigns or everyday business mail.

An unsubscribe is a request from a recipient to stop getting your marketing emails, usually made with a link in the message.

Indexing is when a search engine stores and organizes a page it has crawled so the page can be shown in search results.

A title tag is the page title set in a page's code. It often appears as the blue clickable headline in search results and in the browser tab.

A meta description is a short summary of a page, set in its code. Search engines may show it under the headline in results.

Keyword difficulty is a score from SEO tools that estimates how hard it would be to rank on the first page for a keyword.

SERP features are the extra boxes on a search results page, such as maps, AI Overviews, image rows and question boxes, beyond the regular website links.

In local search, prominence is how well known and well regarded a business is. It is one of Google's three main local ranking factors.

A local search is a search for something nearby, such as a business or service in a certain town or \"near me.\"

Google Search Essentials are Google's published rules for appearing in search: technical needs, spam policies and best practices. They used to be called the Webmaster Guidelines.

Link equity is the ranking value a link can pass from one page to another. SEOs sometimes call it link juice.

Auto-generated content is text made by software. Google allows it, including AI writing, when it is helpful, but not when it is mass-produced to game rankings.

In local search, relevance is how well a business profile matches what someone searched for. It is one of Google's three main local ranking factors.

The local pack, also called the map pack, is the box of a few nearby businesses with a map that Google shows for local searches.

The page indexing report in Google Search Console shows which of your pages Google has indexed and why others were left out.

Render-blocking resources are code files a browser must load before it can show a page, which can delay what visitors see.

Panda was a Google update from 2011 that pushed down low-quality and thin content. It is now part of Google's core ranking systems.

Seasonal search trends are regular rises and drops in how often people search for something at certain times of year.

A canonical URL is the main version of a page that you want search engines to show when the same content is reachable at more than one address.

A SERP (search engine results page) is the page you see after you search. It holds ads, map results, AI answers and the regular list of websites.

A core update is a broad change Google makes to its ranking systems a few times a year. Rankings can rise or fall across many sites afterward.

Link building is the work of earning links from other websites to yours, to help search engines trust your site and send you visitors.

Anchor text is the clickable words in a link. It tells people and search engines what the linked page is about.

AI Overviews are AI-written summaries Google shows at the top of some search results, with links to the web pages they draw from.

Thin content is a page with little real value: very short, copied, or written mainly for search engines instead of people.

RankBrain is a Google system that uses machine learning to understand what searches mean, especially new or unusual ones.

Keyword stuffing is cramming the same search words into a page over and over to try to rank, which makes the page read poorly and breaks Google's rules.

Google Search Console is a free Google tool that shows how your site performs in Google Search and alerts you to problems that could keep pages out of results.

Black hat SEO means tactics that try to trick search engines, such as buying links or hiding keywords. They break the rules and can get a site penalized.

Local SEO is the work of helping your business show up when people nearby search for what you sell, including on Google Maps.

Header tags (H1, H2, H3 and so on) mark the headings on a web page, from the main title down to smaller section headings.

White hat SEO means improving your search visibility using methods search engines approve of, like helpful content and a well-built site.

Deindexed means a page or whole site has been removed from a search engine's index, so it no longer appears in search results.

A backlink is a link from another website to yours. Search engines treat good backlinks as a sign that your site is trusted. They are also called inbound links.

A directory link is a link to your website from an online business directory, such as a local chamber of commerce or industry listing site.

A keyword is a word or phrase people type or say into a search engine. In SEO it means a search you want your website to show up for.

A link profile is the full set of links pointing to your website: how many there are, where they come from and what they say.

A search query is the exact words someone types or speaks into a search engine. One keyword can match many different queries.

A transactional query is a search made by someone ready to act, such as buying, booking or calling now.

An informational query is a search made to learn something, such as a how-to question, rather than to buy or visit a certain site.

Local business schema is structured data that tells search engines your business name, address, phone, hours and other details in a standard format.

Average position is Search Console's measure of where your site typically appears in Google results. Position 1 is the top.

Crawling is how search engines discover web pages: automated programs visit pages and follow their links to find new and updated content.

Domain Authority is a score from the SEO company Moz that predicts how well a site might rank. It is not a Google metric. Other tools have similar scores.

Hreflang is a code label that tells search engines which language or country each version of a page is for, so searchers see the right one.

Qualified traffic means website visitors who are a good fit for your business and likely to become customers.

A robots.txt file is a small text file on your website that tells search engine crawlers which parts of the site they may or may not visit.

Crawl budget is how many pages a search engine is willing and able to crawl on your site in a given time. It mostly matters for very large sites.

Search operators are special commands you add to a Google search, like site:, to narrow results. They are handy for checking your own site.

Scraped content is text or media copied from other websites, often automatically, and posted without adding anything new.

Unnatural links are links created to manipulate rankings, such as bought links, link swaps or spam, rather than earned on merit.

A commercial investigation query is a search made while comparing options before a purchase, like \"best\" lists, reviews or \"X vs Y.\"

A geographic modifier is a place name added to a search, like a city, neighborhood or \"near me,\" that tells the search engine where to look.

Google's algorithm is the large set of automated systems Google uses to decide which pages to show for a search and in what order.

A meta robots tag is a hidden instruction in a page's code that tells search engines whether to index the page or follow its links.

Your search ranking is where your page appears in the results for a given search. Position one is the first organic result.

An editorial link is a link another site gives you on its own, because it finds your content or business worth mentioning.

Click-through rate is the share of people who click a link after seeing it. It equals clicks divided by impressions.

In local search, distance is how far each business is from the searcher or the place they searched. It is one of Google's three main local ranking factors.

Mobile-first indexing means Google mainly uses the mobile version of your website to understand and rank your pages.

The URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console shows whether a single page is indexed, how Google sees it, and lets you ask Google to recrawl it.

The Search Quality Rater Guidelines are a public handbook Google gives to people it hires to judge the quality of search results.

Cloaking is showing search engines different content from what real visitors see, to trick rankings. It breaks Google's spam policies.

A seed keyword is a short, basic phrase that describes your business. It is the starting point for finding other keywords to target.

An internal link is a link from one page on your website to another page on the same site, like a menu link or a link in a paragraph.

Core Web Vitals are three Google measurements of a page's real-world user experience: loading speed, how fast it responds and how stable the layout is.

A long-tail keyword is a longer, more specific search phrase. Fewer people search it, but those who do usually know what they want.

A featured snippet is a highlighted answer Google sometimes shows near the top of results, quoting part of a web page with a link to it.

A manual action is a penalty a Google employee places on a site that breaks Google's spam policies. It can lower rankings or remove pages from search.

A search engine is a service like Google or Bing that finds pages on the web and lists the most useful ones for what you type or ask.

A navigational query is a search for a specific business or website, like typing a company name to find its site.

PageRank is Google's original method of judging a page's importance by the links pointing to it. A version of it is still one of many ranking signals.

A rich result is a search listing with extra details, like star ratings, prices, event dates or recipe photos, beyond the plain title and text.

A link exchange is an agreement where two sites link to each other. A few natural ones are fine, but swapping links at scale breaks Google's rules.

People Also Ask is a box in Google results listing related questions. Each one opens to show a short answer from a web page.

A noindex tag tells search engines not to show a page in their results, even if they can reach it.

A sitemap is a file that lists the pages on your website so search engines can find them sooner.

In Google Search Console, an impression is counted each time a link to your site appears in a search result someone sees.

Guest blogging is writing an article for another website, usually with a credit and a link back to your site.

Search volume is an estimate of how many times people search for a keyword in a month. It helps compare how popular different searches are.

An organic search result is a regular listing a search engine shows because it judged the page relevant, not because anyone paid for it.

Search intent is the reason behind a search: what the person actually wants to find, learn or do.

Bing Webmaster Tools is Microsoft's free tool that shows how your site performs in Bing search and helps you fix problems.

Content pruning is reviewing old or weak pages on your site and then improving, combining, redirecting or removing them.

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness: qualities Google looks for when judging whether content is reliable.

Search personalization means search results can differ from person to person based on location, language, device and past activity.

Googlebot is the program Google uses to visit and read web pages so they can appear in Google Search. Bing's version is called Bingbot.

A data stream is the source of data flowing into a Google Analytics property, such as your website or your iPhone or Android app.

In analytics, a landing page is the first page a visitor sees when a session starts on your site.

A transaction is a completed purchase recorded in Google Analytics, along with its revenue, items and quantity.

Acquisition reports in GA4 show how people found your site. User acquisition shows how new users first arrived; traffic acquisition shows where each session came from.

Source is where a visit came from, like google or facebook.com. Medium is the type of traffic, like organic, referral, email or cpc.

A self-referral is when your own website, or a checkout or booking site you use, shows up as a referral source in your analytics.

An audience is a group of users you define in GA4, such as people who viewed a service page but did not contact you.

An exploration is a custom, in-depth analysis in GA4 where you can build your own tables, funnels and paths beyond the standard reports.

Organic traffic is visitors who reach your site from unpaid search results, such as clicking your listing on Google or Bing.

(not provided) means the search words a visitor used were hidden for privacy. Google Search Console shows search terms instead.

Data thresholding is when GA4 hides rows with very small numbers in a report to stop anyone from identifying individual visitors.

Key event value is a money amount you assign to a key event, like a lead, so reports can estimate the value your website creates.

A metric is a number in your analytics, such as users, sessions, views or key events. It is the \"how many\" in a report.

Device category tells you whether a visit came from a desktop computer, a mobile phone or a tablet.

A segment is a subset of your data, like only mobile visitors or only sessions from Google, used to compare groups in an analysis.

A session is one visit to your website: a period of activity by one user that ends after 30 minutes of inactivity by default.

Enhanced measurement is a GA4 setting that automatically tracks common actions, like scrolls, outbound clicks, site searches, video plays and file downloads.

Conversion rate is the share of visitors or sessions that complete a goal action, such as a form or purchase, shown as a percentage.

In GA4, views count how many times your pages (or app screens) were shown. They used to be called pageviews.

A channel is a broad grouping of traffic sources, like Organic Search, Paid Search, Direct, Referral, Organic Social or Email.

UTM parameters are tags added to the end of a link that tell analytics exactly which campaign, source and medium a visitor came from.

A data filter in GA4 removes certain traffic, such as visits from your own office or developers, from your reports.

A new user is someone visiting your website for the first time, as far as Google Analytics can tell.

A dimension is a description of your data, like page title, city, device or traffic source. It is the \"what\" or \"where\" in a report.

A Google Analytics account is the top-level container that holds one or more properties, usually one account per business.

In GA4, a user is a person (or more exactly, a browser or device) that visited your site. The main \"Users\" number counts active users.

An engaged session is a visit that lasted more than 10 seconds, included a key event, or viewed at least two pages.

Attribution is how credit for a sale or lead is shared among the ads, searches and other visits that led to it.

Average engagement time is how long your site was actively in view for visitors, on average. It replaced older time on page and session duration numbers.

Demographic data in GA4 estimates visitors' age range, gender, interests, language and location.

Lifetime value (LTV) is the total revenue a customer brings in over their whole relationship with your business, not only their first purchase.

Google Analytics is Google's free tool that shows how people find and use your website: how many visit, where they come from and what they do.

Site search tracking records what visitors type into the search box on your own website.

Paid traffic is visitors who arrive by clicking an ad you paid for, such as a Google Ads search ad or a paid social media post.

PII (personally identifiable information) is data that can identify a person, like a name, email or phone number. Google Analytics does not allow sending it.

A conversion is when a visitor takes an action you want, like calling, booking or buying. Google Analytics 4 calls these key events.

Reporting identity is the GA4 setting that decides how users are recognized across visits and devices: by user ID, Google signals, device or modeling.

Data sampling is when analytics uses a portion of your data to estimate results quickly, instead of counting every event.

A Google Analytics property is where the data for your website or app is collected and reported. Most businesses have one property for their website.

A hostname is the domain where your tracking code ran, like www.yoursite.com. Checking it helps spot spam or test-site data in your reports.

Views per session is the average number of pages viewed in each visit to your site. It was called pages per session in older reports.

A lookback window is how far back in time an ad click or visit can still get credit for a later key event or conversion.

The Google tag is a small piece of code on your website that sends visit data to Google Analytics and other Google tools like Google Ads.

A path exploration in GA4 shows the order in which people move through your pages and actions, as a branching tree.

A returning user is someone who visited your website before and has come back for another session.

In GA4, bounce rate is the percentage of sessions that were not engaged. It is the opposite of engagement rate.

Website traffic is the visitors and visits your website receives, usually measured in users and sessions.

An attribution model is the rule for dividing credit for a key event among the visits that led to it. GA4 uses data-driven attribution by default.

A funnel exploration in GA4 shows the steps people take toward an action, like booking, and how many drop off at each step.

A KPI (key performance indicator) is a number you track to see whether you are reaching an important goal, such as leads per month.

A measurement ID is the code starting with \"G-\" that connects your website to the right Google Analytics data stream.

Consent mode is a Google feature that tells Google Analytics and Google Ads whether a visitor agreed to cookies, so tags adjust what they collect.

(not set) means Google Analytics did not receive a value for that dimension, so it has nothing to show in that row.

The realtime report in GA4 shows activity on your site in the last 30 minutes: active users, pages viewed, sources and events.

A traffic source is where a website visitor came from, such as Google search, another website, social media, an email or an ad.

Google signals is a GA4 setting that uses data from signed-in Google users who allow ad personalization, to improve cross-device and demographic reporting.

In GA4, an event is any single action recorded on your site, such as a page view, a click, a scroll or a form submission.

Cohort analysis groups users who share a start point, such as their first visit week, and tracks how they behave over time.

Scroll depth is how far down a page visitors scroll. GA4 records a scroll event when someone reaches about 90 percent of a page.

Social traffic is visitors who come to your site from social media, like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest or YouTube.

Data retention is how long GA4 keeps detailed user and event data for explorations and funnel reports. Standard properties offer 2 or 14 months.

Data Studio is Google's free tool for building reports and dashboards from Google Analytics, Search Console and other data. It was called Looker Studio for a few years.

Direct traffic is visits where analytics cannot tell where the person came from, such as typing your web address or using a bookmark.

Engagement rate is the percentage of sessions on your site that were engaged. It is GA4's main measure of visit quality.

Referral traffic is visitors who arrive by clicking a link to your site on another website that is not a search engine or social network.

Unassigned traffic is visits GA4 could not place into any channel, usually because a link used unusual or missing UTM values.

A call to action is a short instruction, often a button, that tells people the next step to take, like Call now or Book a visit.

Display ads come in a set of common pixel sizes, such as 300 x 250 and 728 x 90, that most websites and ad networks accept.

A negative keyword is a word or phrase you add to an ad campaign so your ad does not show for searches that contain it.

LinkedIn advertising lets you pay to show ads to LinkedIn members chosen by job title, industry, company and more.

A webinar is a live or recorded online presentation that people sign up to watch, often with time for questions.

Local Services Ads are Google ads for local service businesses that appear at the top of search and charge per lead, not per click.

A banner ad is an image ad shown in a box on a website, often across the top of the page or in a sidebar.

A Google Partner is an agency that meets Google's requirements for Google Ads spend, performance and certifications.

Google Ads is Google's paid advertising platform for showing ads on Google Search, Maps, YouTube and partner websites.

A heatmap is a color map of a web page that shows where visitors click, move or stop scrolling.

A lead magnet is something useful you offer for free in exchange for a person's email address or phone number.

A lead is a person or business that has shown interest in what you sell and shared a way to contact them.

An ad campaign is a group of ads that share one goal, one budget and one set of settings, such as location and schedule.

Cost per acquisition is the average amount you spend on ads to get one conversion, such as a sale, call or lead.

CPM means cost per mille, the price you pay for 1,000 ad impressions, or showings, of your ad.

Digital marketing is any marketing done online, including search, ads, social media, email and your website.

Impression share is the percentage of times your ad was shown out of all the times it could have been shown.

A sitelink is an extra link shown under a search result or search ad that sends people to a specific page on your site.

Return on ad spend is the revenue you earn from ads divided by what you spent on those ads.

Search engine marketing is promoting your business in search results, most often with paid search ads.

YouTube advertising means running video ads before, during or beside YouTube videos, managed through Google Ads.

An ad extension, now called an asset in Google Ads, adds extra details to a search ad, such as links, a phone number or your address.

X advertising means paying to promote posts or accounts on X, the platform formerly called Twitter.

Meta Ads Manager is the tool for creating, running and measuring ads on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.

Inbound marketing attracts customers with useful content and search visibility, so they come to you instead of you interrupting them.

Pay-per-click advertising is a model where you pay each time someone clicks your ad, not when it is shown.

Keyword match types control how closely a search must match your keyword for your ad to show.

A GCLID is a code Google Ads adds to your web address when someone clicks your ad, so the click can be tied to later actions.

A form fill is a completed and submitted form on your website, such as a contact or quote request.

The Google Display Network is a group of millions of websites and apps where Google Ads can show image and video ads.

Display ads are visual ads, such as images or short videos, that appear on websites, apps and video sites.

A tracking pixel is a small piece of code on your website that tells an ad or analytics platform when someone visits or acts.

Conversion rate optimization is the practice of improving a web page so a larger share of visitors take the action you want.

A lookalike audience is a group of new people an ad platform finds because they resemble your current customers.

A marketing funnel describes the steps people go through from first hearing about you to becoming a customer.

Ad rank is the score Google uses to decide if your ad shows and in which position on the search page.

Reach is the number of different people who saw your ad or post at least once.

An impression is counted each time your ad or listing is shown on a screen, whether or not anyone clicks.

An ad network is a company that connects advertisers with websites and apps that have space to show ads.

Content marketing is creating useful articles, videos and other material that draw in and build trust with customers.

Conversion tracking records valuable actions, such as calls, form fills and sales, and ties them back to the ad or source.

Facebook advertising means paying Meta to show your ads to chosen audiences on Facebook and its other apps.

Cost per lead is the average amount you spend on marketing to get one new lead.

The Google Search Network is Google Search plus partner search sites where your text ads can appear next to search results.

Click-through rate is the share of people who click your ad after seeing it: clicks divided by impressions.

Cost per click is the amount you pay each time someone clicks your ad.

Return on investment compares the profit from an effort with what it cost, to show whether it paid off.

Performance Max is a Google Ads campaign type that uses Google's automation to run one campaign across all Google ad channels.

Remarketing, also called retargeting, shows ads to people who already visited your website or engaged with your business.

Microsoft Advertising, formerly Bing Ads, runs paid ads on Bing and other Microsoft and partner search results.

Marketing automation is software that sends emails, texts or other messages for you when a person takes a set action.

Google AdSense is a Google program that pays website owners to show Google ads on their own pages.

Quality Score is a 1 to 10 rating in Google Ads that shows how your ads and landing pages compare with competitors.

An online directory is a website that lists businesses by category and location, like a digital phone book.

Engagement is how people interact with your posts and profile: likes, comments, shares, saves, clicks and messages.

Google Business Profile is Google's free business listing that shows your details, reviews and photos on Google Search and Maps.

A LinkedIn Page is a free company profile on LinkedIn where a business shares updates, jobs and information about itself.

X, called Twitter until 2023, is a social platform built around short public posts, replies and real-time conversation.

Yelp is a website and app where people find local businesses and read and write reviews about them.

A citation is any online mention of your business name, address and phone number, such as a directory or map listing.

A Facebook Page is a public profile for a business or brand on Facebook, separate from anyone's personal profile.

"A hashtag is a word or phrase after a

A knowledge panel is the information box Google shows beside or above search results about a business, person or thing.

Apple Business Connect is Apple's free tool for managing how your business appears in Apple Maps, Siri and other Apple apps.

Bing Places for Business is Microsoft's free tool for managing your business listing on Bing search and Bing Maps.

NAP stands for name, address and phone number, the core business details that should match everywhere your business is listed.

Reddit is a social site made of thousands of topic communities, called subreddits, where people post and discuss.

User-generated content is photos, videos, reviews and posts about your business made by customers rather than by you.

A review response is the public reply a business owner posts under a customer review.

A YouTube channel is the account and page where a person or business publishes videos on YouTube.

An Instagram professional account is a business or creator account that adds insights, contact buttons and ad tools to your profile.

A TikTok business account is a free account type for brands that adds analytics, contact options and access to business tools.

Organic reach is the number of people who see your social media post without you paying to promote it.

A Google review is a star rating and optional comment a customer leaves on your Google Business Profile.

A Facebook profile is a personal account for one real person, which they use to connect with friends and manage Pages.

A handle is your unique username on a social platform, usually shown with an @ sign, like @yourbusiness.

A mention is when a post or comment includes an account's handle, which notifies that account and links to it.

Above the fold is the part of a web page people see before they scroll.

A layout grid is an invisible set of columns and spacing rules that designers use to line up content consistently across pages.

A one-page website puts all its content on a single long, scrolling page, with menu links that jump to each section.

A QR code is a square barcode that phone cameras can scan to open a link, show text or save contact details.

A raster image is made of a grid of tiny colored pixels, like a photo, and it gets blurry if you enlarge it too much.

RGB is the color system screens use, mixing red, green and blue light to make every color you see on a phone or monitor.

A slab serif font has thick, block-shaped serifs that give text a sturdy, bold and often vintage feel.

Point size is the traditional unit for measuring type, where 72 points equal one inch in print.

A script font imitates handwriting or calligraphy with flowing, connected letters.

A slider, or carousel, is a section of a page that rotates through several images or messages in the same spot.

Brand identity is the full set of visible and written choices, like logo, colors, fonts and tone, that make your business recognizable.

A focal point is the spot in a design or photo that draws the eye first.

CMYK is the color system printers use, mixing cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink to reproduce colors on paper.

Cropping trims the edges of an image to remove distractions, change its shape or focus attention on the subject.

A logo is the small, recognizable mark that stands for your business on your website, signs, cards and social profiles.

An SVG is a vector image format made for the web, often used for logos and icons because it stays sharp at every size.

Uppercase letters are capitals, like A and B; lowercase letters are the small forms, like a and b.

Widows and orphans are lonely words or lines left at the end or start of a paragraph, column or page, which look awkward.

A serif font has small strokes, called serifs, at the ends of letters, giving a classic or traditional look.

A JPG (or JPEG) is the most common photo format, keeping files small by discarding detail your eye is unlikely to notice.

UX, or user experience, is how smooth and pleasant it is for people to use your website, app or service from start to finish.

An abstract mark is a logo symbol made from shapes, lines or colors that do not show a real object.

Contrast is the difference between elements, like dark text on a light background or a big heading over small text, that helps things stand out.

Image compression shrinks an image file so it loads faster, either by removing unnoticed detail or by storing data more efficiently.

Lorem ipsum is scrambled Latin placeholder text used in designs before the real words are written.

Error correction is extra data built into a QR code so it can still scan when part of it is dirty, damaged or covered by a small logo.

A brandmark is a logo symbol with no words, such as a picture or shape that people learn to link with your business.

DPI means dots per inch, a measure of print detail; print usually needs far more detail per inch than a screen does.

A color palette is the small set of colors your brand uses everywhere, each with exact codes so it matches across screen and print.

A lettermark is a logo built from your business initials, often used when the full name is long.

The quiet zone is the blank margin around a QR code that scanners need to find the code's edges.

A TIFF is a high-quality raster image format used for print and archiving, with large files that keep every detail.

A user persona is a short profile of a typical customer, based on research, used to guide design and content decisions.

A website footer is the section at the bottom of every page with contact details, links, hours and legal pages.

Proximity is placing related items close together and unrelated items farther apart, so people see what belongs together.

A website header is the strip at the top of every page that usually holds your logo, main menu and a key button or phone number.

A wireframe is a simple black-and-white sketch of a page's layout, showing where things go before colors and images are added.

Aspect ratio is the shape of an image or video, written as width to height, like 16:9 for wide or 1:1 for square.

Leading is the vertical space between lines of text; on websites it is called line height.

Body text is the main reading text on a page, as opposed to headings, captions and buttons.

Color theory is the set of ideas designers use to choose colors that look good together and create the mood they want.

Image resolution is how much detail an image holds, usually described by its pixel dimensions or by dots per inch for print.

UI, or user interface, is the visible part of a website or app that people interact with: buttons, menus, forms, text and layout.

Saturation is how strong or pure a color is, from vivid and bold to muted and grayish.

Trim is the final cut size of a printed piece, marked by a trim line where the paper will be cut.

Typography is the art of choosing and arranging fonts, sizes and spacing so text is readable and fits your brand.

Visual hierarchy is arranging a page so the most important things are seen first, using size, color, weight and position.

X-height is the height of a font's lowercase letters, like the letter x, which strongly affects how large and readable the font looks.

Complementary colors sit opposite each other on the color wheel, like blue and orange, and create strong contrast together.

Tints, tones and shades are lighter, grayer and darker versions of one color, made by adding white, gray or black.

Warm colors are reds, oranges and yellows that feel energetic; cool colors are blues, greens and purples that feel calm.

A prototype is a clickable model of a website or app that lets people try the flow before it is fully built.

Alignment is lining up text and images along shared edges or centers so a page looks orderly and scans quickly.

White space is the empty area around and between things on a page, which helps people read and focus.

Balance is how visual weight is spread across a layout so it feels stable, using symmetrical, asymmetrical or radial arrangements.

Usability is how quickly and smoothly people can use a website or product to do what they came to do, without errors or frustration.

The rule of thirds is a layout guideline that places key subjects along lines that split a frame into thirds, for a more natural look.

A PSD is the layered working file from Adobe Photoshop, used to edit photos and graphics before exporting them.

A combination mark is a logo that pairs a symbol with your business name, and the two can often be used together or apart.

An emblem logo places your name inside a shape, like a badge, seal or crest, so the text and symbol form one unit.

Tracking is the overall spacing between all the letters in a word or line, adjusted evenly to make text looser or tighter.

Bleed is extra artwork that extends past the final edge of a print piece, so no white sliver shows after the paper is cut.

A gradient is a smooth blend from one color to another, used in backgrounds, buttons and logos.

A mascot logo uses an illustrated character, such as a person or animal, to represent your business.

A monochromatic color scheme uses one color in several lighter and darker versions for a clean, unified look.

Analogous colors sit next to each other on the color wheel, like blue, teal and green, and blend into a calm, unified look.

A vector file stores artwork as math-based shapes, so it can grow to any size, from a business card to a billboard, without blurring.

Kerning is adjusting the space between two specific letters so a word looks evenly spaced, especially in logos and headlines.

A pixel is one tiny dot of color; screens and digital photos are made of thousands or millions of them.

A breadcrumb trail is a row of links near the top of a page showing where you are in a site, like Home > Services > Roof Repair.

A PNG is an image format that keeps sharp edges and supports transparent backgrounds, making it popular for logos and graphics.

A breakpoint is a screen width where a responsive website changes its layout, such as switching from three columns to one.

A design system is a shared library of rules and reusable parts, like buttons, colors and type styles, used to build a website or app consistently.

A GIF is an older image format best known for short, looping animations, limited to 256 colors per frame.

A hero image is the large banner photo or graphic at the top of a web page that sets the first impression.

A navigation bar is the main menu of links, usually at the top of a website, that helps visitors move between pages.

A hex code is a six-character code, like #1A73E8, that tells a website or design app exactly which color to show.

A mockup is a realistic, full-color picture of how a design will look, such as a web page or a logo on a sign.

A sans-serif font has clean letters without the small end strokes called serifs, giving a modern, simple look.

An AI file is the native working file from Adobe Illustrator, often the editable master of a logo or illustration.

A typeface is a family of lettering with one shared design, while a font is one specific style within it, like bold or italic.

A wordmark is a logo made only from your business name, set in a distinctive typeface or custom lettering.

An EPS is an older vector file format that printers and sign shops still sometimes request for logos.

Font weight is how thick or thin the strokes of a font are, from light to regular to bold and heavier.

Hue is the basic name of a color, such as red, blue or green, before it is made lighter, darker or duller.

An icon is a small, simple picture that stands for an action or idea, like a phone for "call" or a cart for "checkout".

Pantone is a numbered color-matching system that lets printers mix an exact ink, so a brand color looks the same from job to job.

The front end is the part of a website people see and use in the browser. Front-end development builds it with HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

An API is a set of rules that lets two pieces of software talk to each other, such as your website and a payment or booking service.

JavaScript is the programming language that makes web pages interactive, powering menus, sliders, forms, chat boxes and more.

PHP is a programming language that runs on web servers to build pages on the fly, used by many older and CMS-based websites.

Responsive design means a website adjusts its layout to fit any screen, from a small phone to a large desktop monitor.

A deployment, or deploy, is the step that publishes new code or changes to a live website or app.

A bug is a mistake in software that makes it act in a way it should not, such as a button that does nothing or a wrong total.

A staging site is a private copy of your website used to test changes before they go live to the public.

The back end is the behind-the-scenes part of a website: servers, databases and logic. Back-end development builds and runs it.

Source code is the human-readable instructions developers write to build a website or app, in languages like HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

A framework is a ready-made set of code and rules that developers build on, so they do not write every common feature from scratch.

Agile is a way of running projects in short cycles, delivering working pieces often and adjusting based on feedback.

A plugin is an add-on that gives software a new feature without changing its core, such as a form builder or SEO tool added to a website.

A webhook is an automatic message one app sends to another the moment something happens, like a new order or a paid invoice.

A database is an organized store of information, like customers, orders or page content, that a website or app reads and updates.

CSS is the code that controls how a website looks: colors, fonts, spacing and layout on every screen size.

Cross-browser testing checks that a website looks and works right in different browsers and on different devices.

A script is a small program that runs a specific task on a website, like loading a chat box, tracking visits or checking a form.

A page template is a reusable layout that sets where things go on a type of page, so many pages share the same structure.

An embed code is a short snippet from another service that you paste into a page to show its content, like a video, map or booking form.

Git is a version control tool that records every change to a website's code, so developers can review, undo and work together safely.

HTML is the code that gives every web page its structure: headings, paragraphs, links, images and forms.

Open source software has public code that anyone may use, study, change and share under its license.

WCAG, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, is the international standard for making websites usable by people with disabilities.

Web accessibility means building websites that people with disabilities can use, including people who are blind, deaf, or cannot use a mouse.

A screen reader is software that reads a screen aloud or sends it to a braille display, used mainly by people who are blind or have low vision.

Keyboard navigation means a website can be fully used with only a keyboard, moving between links and buttons with the Tab key.

Color contrast is how different text and background colors are in lightness; enough contrast keeps text readable for everyone.