Glossary
Web, SEO and GEO terms, explained.
66 plain-English definitions from the Cloud9 Web Developments team. No jargon about jargon.
A
A/B test
- An experiment that shows two versions of a page or message to different visitors to see which performs better against a goal such as form submissions.
Above the fold
- The part of a web page visible without scrolling. It should tell visitors what you do and what to do next.
Accessibility
- Designing and building websites so people with disabilities can use them, including people who use screen readers, keyboards or voice control. WCAG is the main standard.
Alt text
- A short written description of an image, used by screen readers and by search engines to understand what the image shows.
Anchor text
- The clickable words of a link. Descriptive anchor text tells people and search engines what the linked page is about.
Answer engine
- A search tool, often powered by AI, that gives a direct written answer to a question instead of only a list of links.What is GEO?
B
Backlink
- A link from another website to yours. Links from relevant, trusted sites are a major signal of authority.
Brand guidelines
- A document that explains how a brand should look and sound: logo use, colours, typography, imagery and voice.
Brand strategy
- The plan that defines who a business serves, how it is different and how it wants to be perceived, before any design work begins.Brand strategy
Brand voice
- The consistent personality and style of a brand’s writing, such as warm and clear or formal and precise.
C
Call to action (CTA)
- A button or link that tells visitors what to do next, such as “Request a quote”.
Canonical URL
- The preferred address of a page when the same or similar content exists at more than one address. It is set with a canonical tag to avoid duplicate-content confusion.
Click-through rate (CTR)
- The percentage of people who click after seeing a link or ad. It is clicks divided by impressions.
CMS (content management system)
- Software such as WordPress that lets non-developers create and edit website pages.WordPress vs custom
Conversion rate
- The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as filling in a contact form or making a purchase.
Core Web Vitals
- Three measurements of page experience used by Google: loading speed (LCP), responsiveness (INP) and visual stability (CLS).
Cost per click (CPC)
- What an advertiser pays each time someone clicks an ad in a pay-per-click campaign.
Crawling
- When search engine bots follow links across the web to discover and re-visit pages.
CRM (customer relationship management)
- A system that stores contact details, conversations and sales progress so a business can manage leads and customers.
D
Domain name
- The address of a website, such as cloud9dg.com, registered through a domain registrar.
Duplicate content
- Substantially the same content available at more than one web address. It can dilute rankings and confuse search engines.
E
E-E-A-T
- Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness: the qualities Google’s quality guidelines use to describe helpful, reliable content.
Entity
- A distinct, identifiable thing — a business, person, place or product — that search engines and AI systems can recognise and connect facts to.
F
Featured snippet
- A highlighted answer shown at the top of some search results, taken from a web page that answers the question clearly.
Funnel
- The journey a customer takes from first hearing about you to becoming a buyer, often described as awareness, consideration and decision.
G
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
- Making content clear, trustworthy and structured so AI answer engines understand, cite and recommend your business.GEO service
Google Ads
- Google’s advertising platform, used to show paid ads in search results and across the web.
Google Business Profile
- A free listing that controls how a business appears in Google Search and Maps, including hours, photos and reviews.Optimization guide
Google Search Console
- A free Google tool that shows how your site performs in search, which searches bring impressions and clicks, and any indexing problems.
H
Hosting
- The service that stores a website’s files and makes them available on the internet.
hreflang
- A tag that tells search engines which language or regional version of a page to show to which audience.
HTTPS / SSL
- The secure version of the web’s protocol. It encrypts data between a visitor’s browser and your site and shows as a padlock.
I
Indexing
- When a search engine stores a page in its database so it can appear in results.
Internal link
- A link from one page of your site to another. Internal links help visitors navigate and help search engines understand structure.
K
Keyword
- A word or phrase people type into a search engine. Keyword research finds the phrases your customers use.
L
Landing page
- A page built for a single purpose, such as getting a quote request, usually reached from an ad, email or search result.
Lazy loading
- Delaying the loading of images or content until the visitor scrolls near them, which speeds up the first view of a page.
Lead magnet
- A free resource, such as a checklist, offered in exchange for contact details.Free checklists
Local SEO
- Optimising for searches with local intent, such as “electrician near me”, so a business appears in map results and local listings.Local SEO service
Long-tail keyword
- A longer, more specific search phrase with lower volume but usually clearer intent, such as “emergency plumber North Vancouver”.
M
Meta description
- A short summary of a page that may appear under its title in search results. It influences whether people click.
Mobile-first design
- Designing for the smallest screen first and adding to it for larger ones. Google also primarily uses the mobile version of pages for indexing.
N
NAP
- Name, address and phone number. Keeping them identical everywhere online helps local rankings and trust.
O
Organic traffic
- Visits that come from unpaid search results, as opposed to ads.
P
Page speed
- How quickly a page loads and becomes usable. It affects user experience, conversions and, to a degree, rankings.
Pay-per-click (PPC)
- An advertising model where you pay each time someone clicks your ad, as with Google Ads.
Positioning
- The place your business occupies in customers’ minds relative to competitors: who you are for and why you are the better choice.
R
Redirect (301)
- A permanent forward from one address to another. It passes visitors and most ranking value to the new address and is essential when URLs change.
Responsive design
- A design approach in which a page adapts its layout to fit any screen size, from phone to desktop.
Retargeting
- Showing ads to people who have already visited your site, to bring them back.
robots.txt
- A text file at the root of a website that tells search engine crawlers which areas they may or may not crawl.Free robots.txt generator
ROI (return on investment)
- The profit generated compared with the amount spent. In marketing, it is revenue attributed to a channel measured against its cost.
S
Schema markup
- Code that labels a page’s content, such as a business, product or article, in a standard vocabulary so machines can understand it.
Search intent
- The goal behind a search: to learn something, compare options or buy. Content ranks best when it matches the intent.
SEO (search engine optimization)
- Improving a website so it appears higher in unpaid search results for the searches that matter to a business.SEO service
SERP
- Search engine results page: the page of results shown after a search.
Sitemap (XML)
- A file listing the important pages of a website to help search engines find them.Free sitemap builder
Structured data
- Information on a page formatted in a consistent, machine-readable way, most often with schema markup.
T
Technical SEO
- The behind-the-scenes work that lets search engines crawl and index a site efficiently: speed, structure, redirects, sitemaps and more.
Thin content
- Pages with little useful or original information, which rarely rank well.
U
UI (user interface)
- The visual and interactive elements people use on a site: layout, buttons, typography and colour.
UTM parameters
- Tags added to a link so analytics can show which campaign, source and medium a visit came from.Free UTM builder
UX (user experience)
- How easy and pleasant a site is to use, shaped by structure, content, speed and design.UI/UX design
W
WCAG
- The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the international standard for making web content accessible.
Z
Zero-click search
- A search where people get what they need from the results page itself, such as an answer box or AI summary, without clicking through.