Glossary
No jargon without a definition. Every technical term used on this site is defined here in plain English, with the reason it matters to a business and a concrete example. 159 terms and counting.
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301 redirect
A 301 redirect is a permanent HTTP status code that automatically sends website visitors and search engines from an old web address to a new location while transferring link authority.
302 redirect
A 302 redirect is a temporary HTTP status code that forwards visitors and search engines from one web page to another while keeping the original page indexed.
A
A/B testing
A/B testing is a controlled experiment method where two versions of a webpage or app element are shown to comparable groups simultaneously to determine which option performs better.
ADA compliance
ADA compliance is the process of ensuring digital products meet the accessibility expectations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, allowing individuals with disabilities to access online software and websites.
AI citation
An AI citation is a named, hyperlinked reference that an artificial intelligence assistant includes in its answer to credit the source of its information.
AI crawler
An artificial intelligence (AI) crawler is an automated software agent that visits websites to gather content for training machine learning models or serving real-time answers.
AI Overviews
AI Overviews are machine-generated search summaries that synthesize answers from multiple web sources and appear above traditional search engine results pages.
Alt text
Alt text is a concise written description embedded in Hypertext Markup Language image tags that screen readers read aloud to visually impaired users and search engines process to understand image content.
Anchor text
Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink that tells readers and search engines what content to expect on the linked webpage.
Answer Engine Optimization
Answer engine optimization is the practice of structuring and writing digital content so that artificial intelligence search systems extract and display it as the direct answer to a user query.
API
An application programming interface (API) is a defined set of rules that allows one software program to request data or services from another program.
ARIA
Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) is a set of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) attributes that describes custom interactive elements to assistive technology when standard markup is insufficient.
Attribution
Attribution is the process of evaluating marketing touchpoints to determine which interactions contributed to a conversion or sale.
Authentication
Confirming that a person or system is who they claim to be, typically using credentials like passwords, magic links, or one-time codes.
Authorization
Authorization determines what permissions an identified user or system possesses within an application, distinguishing what actions they can perform from the process of verifying their identity.
B
Backlink
A backlink is a hyperlink on an external website that points directly to a page on another domain, serving as a signal of trust and credibility to search engines.
BlogPosting schema
BlogPosting schema is a standardized code format that identifies a webpage as a blog post, defining details like its headline, author, publish date, and cover image for search engines.
Bounce rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of website visits in which a user views a single page and exits without triggering any further interactions.
Brand voice
Brand voice is the consistent tone, vocabulary, and level of formality a business uses across all written and verbal communications.
BreadcrumbList schema
A structured data type that describes a page's position in a website hierarchy so search engines can display navigation paths in search results.
Buyer persona
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional profile representing a target customer's role, goals, purchasing triggers, and objections, used to keep marketing and product messaging focused on real user needs.
C
Caching
Caching is the process of storing temporary copies of data in high-speed storage locations so future requests for that information can be served faster.
Call to action
A call to action is an explicit instruction on a webpage or document that prompts the reader to perform a specific next step, such as booking a call or completing a form.
Canonical URL
A canonical URL is an HTML code snippet that tells search engines which web address represents the primary, authoritative version of a page when identical content exists across multiple addresses.
CDN
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a geographically distributed network of servers that caches static website content close to end users to reduce latency and speed up page loading.
Chunking
Chunking is the process of splitting a large document into smaller, standalone segments so an artificial intelligence search system can index, retrieve, and process relevant information efficiently.
Churn
Churn is the rate at which existing customers cancel their subscriptions or stop purchasing goods or services from a business over a given time period.
CI/CD
Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery, or CI/CD, is an automated process that continuously tests software code changes and deploys them to production without manual intervention.
Click-through rate
The percentage of people who saw a listing, link, or advertisement and actually clicked on it.
Client-side rendering
Client-side rendering is a web development method where a web browser downloads a minimal HTML document and uses JavaScript to build and display the page content.
CMS
A content management system (CMS) is software that enables non-technical users to create, edit, manage, and publish website content without writing code.
Colour contrast ratio
Colour contrast ratio is a numerical measure of the visual difference in luminance between text or graphical elements and their background color.
Content pruning
Content pruning is the practice of systematically removing, combining, or updating low-quality web pages to improve the overall quality and performance of a website.
Context window
The context window is the maximum amount of text, measured in tokens, that an artificial intelligence model can process and hold in working memory during a single request.
Conversion rate
The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action on a website or application, such as submitting a form or making a purchase.
Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are a set of standardized performance metrics defined by Google to measure web page loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.
Crawl budget
Crawl budget is the maximum number of pages on a website that a search engine bot will request and analyze during a specific timeframe.
Crawling
Crawling is the process where search engine bots systematically browse the internet, following links to discover and download web page content.
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is the web language that controls how a web page looks, managing visual features like colours, fonts, layout, and responsiveness across different screen sizes.
Cumulative Layout Shift
Cumulative Layout Shift measures how much a webpage's visible elements unexpectedly move around on the screen while the page is loading.
Customer acquisition cost
Customer acquisition cost is the average total spend required to win one new paying customer over a set period.
Customer lifetime value
Customer lifetime value is the total net profit a business expects to generate from a single customer over the entire duration of the commercial relationship.
D
Database
A database is an organised digital store of information that software applications can query, update, and maintain consistently while multiple users access it simultaneously.
Database migration
A database migration is a recorded, repeatable change to a database schema or structure that allows software teams to update environments consistently.
DefinedTerm
DefinedTerm is a Schema.org structured data type used to identify a specific term, its definition, and its parent glossary or dictionary on a webpage.
Discovery phase
The discovery phase is a structured research step conducted before development, where business requirements, technical constraints, and success measures are established in writing.
DNS
The Domain Name System acts as the address book of the internet, translating human-readable domain names into numerical Internet Protocol addresses used by computers.
Duplicate content
Duplicate content refers to identical or near-identical blocks of text that appear at multiple web addresses, making it difficult for search engines to determine which version to index and rank.
E
E-E-A-T
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, representing the criteria human raters use to evaluate content credibility for Search Engine Optimization.
Embedding
An embedding is a sequence of numbers generated by a machine learning model that converts text or media into mathematical values, allowing computers to compare concepts based on semantic meaning rather than exact word matches.
Encryption at rest
Encryption at rest protects stored data on physical media by transforming it into unreadable text that requires a secret key to decipher.
Entity
An entity is a distinct real-world concept or object, such as a person, place, or business, that search engines recognize and track as a unique identity across the web.
F
FAQPage schema
A structured data type that marks a list of questions and answers so search engines and AI assistants can quote them directly.
Featured snippet
A featured snippet is a short answer that a search engine extracts from a webpage and displays in a dedicated box at the top of organic search results.
Fine-tuning
Fine-tuning is the process of further training a pre-existing artificial intelligence model on a specialized dataset so that it learns specific behaviors, formatting, or domain knowledge.
Focus state
A focus state is a visual indicator that highlights the user interface element currently selected or active through keyboard navigation or other input devices.
G
GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation is a European Union law governing how organizations collect, store, and process the personal data of individuals.
Generative Engine Optimization
Generative Engine Optimization is the practice of structuring web content so artificial intelligence assistants quote it and cite the source in direct answers.
Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics 4 is a web and mobile analytics service that measures user activity across websites and applications using an event-based data collection model.
Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile is a free tool from Google that allows organizations to manage how their physical location and contact details appear in Google Search and Google Maps.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free web service provided by Google that allows website owners to monitor search performance, check indexing status, and fix technical site errors.
Grounding
Grounding is the practice of connecting an artificial intelligence model's generated responses to specific, verifiable external data sources to ensure accuracy and enable fact-checking.
H
Hallucination
A hallucination occurs when an artificial intelligence model generates incorrect or fabricated information while presenting it as authoritative and factually accurate.
Headless CMS
A headless Content Management System (CMS) is a content system that stores and manages content as data, delivering it through an Application Programming Interface (API) to any front-end display layer.
Honeypot field
An invisible form field added to web forms that human users cannot see or fill out, designed to detect and block automated spam bots.
Hreflang
An hreflang tag is a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) attribute that specifies the language and geographical targeting of a webpage to help search engines display the correct regional version to users.
HTML
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language used to structure and present content, such as text, images, and links, on the web.
HTTPS
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is the encrypted version of the web's transfer protocol, which prevents third parties from reading or altering data transmitted between a web visitor and a server.
Hydration
Hydration is the process where client-side JavaScript attaches to server-rendered HyperText Markup Language (HTML) in the browser, making an already-visible static page interactive.
I
Impression
An impression is a single instance of a digital listing, advertisement, or content piece being displayed on a user's screen, regardless of whether the user clicks or interacts with it.
Indexing
Indexing is the process where a search engine processes, stores, and organizes web pages in its central database so they become eligible to appear in search results.
Inference
Inference is the process of using a trained artificial intelligence model to process new input data and generate a prediction, decision, or text output.
Interaction to Next Paint
Interaction to Next Paint is a metric that measures how long a webpage takes to update visually after a user taps, clicks, or presses a key on their keyboard.
Internal linking
Internal linking is the practice of placing hyperlinks on a website that connect one page to another page on the same domain, helping users and search engines navigate the site.
J
JavaScript
JavaScript is a standard programming language executed directly by web browsers to create interactive features such as dynamic menus, form validation, animated graphics, and real-time content updates.
JSON
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is a lightweight text format used to store and exchange data as structured pairs of names and values.
JSON-LD
JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data is a lightweight code format placed in a web page's HTML to describe its content to search engines and AI systems in a structured way.
K
Keyboard navigation
Keyboard navigation is the ability to access, interact with, and navigate all interactive elements of a digital interface using only a keyboard instead of a mouse or touchscreen.
Keyword
A keyword is a specific word or phrase that a person enters into a search engine, as well as the phrase a webpage is written to target.
Keyword cannibalisation
Keyword cannibalisation occurs when multiple pages on the same website target the same search phrase, causing search engines to split authority between them and lower their overall rankings.
Knowledge Graph
A knowledge graph is a network of interconnected entities, such as people, places, and concepts, that describes real-world objects and the specific relationships between them in a machine-readable format.
L
Landing page
A landing page is a web page designed for a specific audience and a single objective, stripped of navigation and unrelated content to maximize conversion rates.
Large language model
A large language model is a computer program trained on massive text datasets to calculate probability distributions over word sequences and generate human-like text.
Largest Contentful Paint
Largest Contentful Paint measures the time it takes for a web page to render its main piece of visible content, such as a hero image or primary heading, relative to when loading began.
Lead
A lead is an individual or business that has demonstrated interest in a company's products or services and provided contact information for future communication.
Lead magnet
A lead magnet is a free resource or piece of content offered to potential customers in exchange for their contact information, such as an email address.
llms.txt
An llms.txt file is a plain text file located at the root of a website that presents key content in a clean, structured format specifically for artificial intelligence crawlers.
Local SEO
Local SEO is the process of optimizing a business's web presence so it appears prominently in search engine results when people search for products or services in a specific geographic area.
LocalBusiness schema
LocalBusiness schema is a structured data format that provides search engines with standardized information about a company's physical location, opening hours, contact details, and geographic service area.
Long-tail keyword
A long-tail keyword is a highly specific search phrase that receives a low volume of monthly searches but targets users with explicit intent.
M
Marketing funnel
A marketing funnel is a conceptual model illustrating the stages a prospective buyer moves through, from initial problem awareness to a final purchasing decision.
Meta description
A meta description is a brief HTML element that summarizes a webpage's content for search engines to display in search results.
Microdata
Microdata is a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) specification used to embed structured metadata directly into visible webpage content using HTML attributes.
Minimum viable product
A minimum viable product is the simplest version of a software application that includes enough features to satisfy early users and test key business assumptions before full development.
Mobile-first
Mobile-first is a web design approach that prioritizes creating interfaces for smaller screens before expanding them for desktop displays, aligning with how major search engines index websites.
N
NAP consistency
NAP consistency is the practice of keeping a business's name, address, and phone number written identically across all online directories, websites, and social media platforms.
Noindex
A noindex directive is an instruction that allows search engine crawlers to read a webpage but prevents them from displaying that page in search engine results.
O
Open Graph
Open Graph is a set of metadata tags placed in web pages that controls how titles, descriptions, and preview images appear when links are shared on social platforms and messaging applications.
Organic traffic
Organic traffic refers to website visitors who arrive at a domain by clicking on unpaid search engine results rather than paid advertisements or direct links.
Organization schema
Organization schema is a standardized code format that provides search engines with explicit information about a company, including its legal name, logo, contact details, and official social media profiles.
Orphan page
An orphan page is a webpage on a website that receives no internal links from any other page on the same domain, making it difficult for users and search engines to find.
P
Penetration test
A penetration test is an authorised simulated cyberattack against an organization's systems to identify and fix security vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them.
Personally identifiable information
Personally identifiable information is any data that can single out a specific individual, such as a name, email address, phone number, or precise location.
Pillar page
A pillar page is a comprehensive web page covering a broad topic in detail, which links to and receives links from a group of narrower supporting articles.
Positioning
Positioning is the strategic choice of market category and frame of reference that defines how a business, product, or service is evaluated relative to competitors.
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL is an open-source relational database system designed to store, manage, and retrieve structured data reliably using Structured Query Language.
Progressive Web App
A Progressive Web App is a website designed to be installed on a device, function offline, and deliver a native application experience directly through a web browser.
Prompt
A prompt is a text instruction or question submitted to an artificial intelligence model to guide the format, tone, and content of its generated response.
R
Rate limiting
Rate limiting restricts network traffic by capping the number of requests a single user or Internet Protocol address can make to a server within a set timeframe.
React
React is an open-source JavaScript library for building user interfaces by combining small, self-contained pieces of code called components.
Referral traffic
Referral traffic consists of website visitors who arrive by clicking a hyperlink on another website, rather than through search engines, direct address typing, or paid advertisements.
Responsive design
Responsive design is a web development approach that creates a single website layout that automatically adjusts its structure and visual elements to fit any screen size or device.
REST API
A Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface (REST API) is an architectural style for web services where data resources are accessed through unique web addresses using standard web commands.
Retargeting
Retargeting is a digital advertising practice that serves targeted ads to users who have previously visited a website or interacted with digital content.
Retrieval-Augmented Generation
Retrieval-Augmented Generation is an artificial intelligence framework that searches an external database for relevant information to ground a language model's answer in factual, up-to-date sources.
Return on investment
Return on investment is the gain produced by a financial outlay relative to its cost, expressed as a percentage or a payback period.
Rich result
A rich result is an enhanced search engine listing that displays extra visual features or information, such as review stars, prices, or frequently asked questions, alongside the standard link and text description.
Robots.txt
A plain text file placed at the root of a website that instructs automated web crawlers which pages or files they are permitted or forbidden to request.
Row Level Security
Row Level Security is a database feature that restricts access to individual table records based on user identity or role rules enforced directly at the data layer.
S
Schema markup
Schema markup is code added to a website that explicitly defines content elements for search engine crawlers using a standardized, shared vocabulary.
Schema.org
Schema.org is a standardized, openly maintained vocabulary of tags that major search engines use to understand structured data on web pages.
Scope creep
Scope creep is the uncontrolled expansion of a project's scope beyond its original goals, usually occurring without adjustments to the schedule, budget, or resources.
Screen reader
Software that converts digital text and visual elements into speech or braille output, allowing blind or low-vision individuals to interact with websites and applications.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization is the practice of shaping a website's content, structure, and technical setup so search engines can find, understand, and rank it for relevant user queries.
Search intent
Search intent is the primary goal behind a search query, indicating whether a user wants to learn information, locate a specific website, compare options, or make a purchase.
Semantic HTML
Semantic HTML is the practice of using Hypertext Markup Language elements according to their intended structural meaning rather than purely for visual formatting.
Semantic search
Semantic search is a retrieval method that interprets the context and meaning of a user query rather than matching exact keywords.
SERP
A search engine results page (SERP) is the web page displayed by a search engine in response to a user query, containing organic listings, paid advertisements, and rich interactive features.
Server-side rendering
Server-side rendering is a web development method where a server generates the complete HTML code for a webpage upon request before sending it to the user's web browser.
Service level agreement
A service level agreement is a formal contract between a service provider and a customer that defines measurable performance standards, such as system availability and response times, along with remedies for failing to meet them.
SOC 2
SOC 2 is an independent audit report that evaluates how a service provider manages and protects customer data based on security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.
Software as a Service
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a licensing model where software is delivered over the internet on a subscription basis, hosted centrally by a third-party vendor.
SQL
Structured Query Language, or SQL, is the standard programming language used to manage, search, and update information stored inside relational databases.
SSL certificate
An SSL certificate is a digital credential that verifies the identity of a website and enables an encrypted connection between a web server and a browser.
Staging environment
A staging environment is a private copy of a live website or software application used to test changes safely before deploying them to production.
Static site generation
Static site generation is the process of pre-building every page of a website into fixed files ahead of time so they can be delivered instantly to users without real-time database queries or server rendering.
Structured data
Structured data is information organized in a standardized, machine-readable format that helps search engines and software applications understand the precise meaning of webpage content.
T
Tech stack
A tech stack is the specific combination of programming languages, frameworks, databases, and hosting infrastructure used to build and run a software application.
Technical debt
Technical debt is the implied future cost of extra work and maintenance created by choosing an expedient, short-term software solution over a better-architected long-term approach.
Time to First Byte
Time to First Byte is a performance metric that measures the duration between a web browser requesting a page and receiving the very first byte of response data from the server.
Title tag
A HyperText Markup Language element that names a web page, appearing as the clickable headline in search results and as the label on a browser tab.
Token
A token is a basic unit of text, averaging roughly three quarters of a word, that a language model reads, processes, and generates.
Topical authority
Topical authority is the credibility a website gains with search engines by publishing comprehensive, accurate, and interconnected content covering every aspect of a specific subject.
Total cost of ownership
Total cost of ownership is the full financial obligation of acquiring, operating, maintaining, and replacing a system throughout its entire lifecycle, rather than just its initial purchase price.
TOTP
A Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP) is a temporary passcode generated by an algorithm using the current time and a shared secret key, commonly used for multi-factor authentication.
Twitter Card
Twitter Cards are HTML meta tags embedded in a webpage that control how links appear when shared on X, specifying visual previews like image size, title, and summary text.
Two-factor authentication
Two-factor authentication is an identity verification process that requires users to provide two distinct forms of evidence, such as a password and a temporary mobile code, before gaining access.
TypeScript
TypeScript is an open-source programming language that builds on JavaScript by adding explicit type definitions, catching structural errors before code is deployed to users.
U
Uptime
Uptime is the percentage of time a system, website, or service remains operational and accessible to users over a specified period.
URL slug
A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) slug is the user-readable portion of a web address that appears after the domain name to identify a specific page.
UTM parameter
A Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) parameter is a text snippet added to the end of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that enables analytics software to track the exact source, medium, and campaign of incoming website traffic.
V
Value proposition
A value proposition is a concise statement explaining who a product is for, the problem it solves, and why it outperforms alternatives.
Vector database
A vector database is a specialized storage system designed to hold mathematical representations of data and rapidly retrieve items based on conceptual similarity rather than exact keyword matches.
Vendor lock-in
Vendor lock-in occurs when switching away from a software or service provider is so costly, complex, or risky that a business is practically forced to remain with that supplier.
Version control
Version control is a system that tracks and logs every modification made to a codebase over time, enabling software developers to review, compare, and revert past changes.
W
WCAG
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are an international technical standard defining how to make digital content usable by people with disabilities.
Webhook
A webhook is an automated message sent from one application to another as soon as an event occurs, eliminating the need to continuously check for updates.