Digital marketing and AI glossary

A

A/B test

Comparing two versions of an ad, page or email by showing each to part of the audience and measuring which performs better.

Ad auction

The instant process Google or Meta uses to decide which ads show and in what order, based on bid, ad quality and expected impact.

Ad extensions (assets)

Extra information added to Google search ads, such as sitelinks, callouts, phone numbers and locations.

Ad rank

Google's score that decides an ad's position, combining bid, ad quality, landing page experience and assets.

Advantage+

Meta's automated campaign and targeting features that use machine learning to find audiences and placements.

AEO (answer engine optimisation)

Structuring content so search features and AI assistants can lift a direct, accurate answer from it.

AI hallucination

When an AI tool states something false or invented as if it were fact; every AI output needs checking.

AI Overviews

AI-generated summaries shown at the top of some Google results, citing web pages as sources.

Algorithm

The set of rules a platform uses to rank or show content, such as Google's ranking systems or Instagram's feed.

Alt text

A short text description of an image in HTML, used by screen readers and search engines.

Anchor text

The clickable words in a hyperlink, which help search engines understand the linked page.

Attribution

How credit for a conversion is assigned to the ads, channels or touchpoints a customer interacted with.

Audience signal

Information you give Performance Max about likely customers to help its automation start faster.

B

Backlink

A link from another website to yours; quality backlinks are a strong trust signal for search engines.

Bounce

A visit where the user leaves without meaningful interaction; GA4 reports engagement rate instead.

Brand voice

The consistent personality and tone a brand uses in its writing and content.

Breadcrumbs

Navigation links showing where a page sits in a site's structure, also shown in search results.

Buyer persona

A research-based profile of a typical customer, including goals, problems and how they search.

C

Call to action (CTA)

The instruction that tells people what to do next, such as "Enquire now" or "Call us".

Campaign

A set of ads with a shared goal, budget and settings in Google Ads or Meta Ads Manager.

Canonical tag

An HTML tag telling search engines which URL is the main version of a page with duplicate or similar content.

Carousel

A post or ad format with several swipeable images or videos.

Click-through rate (CTR)

The percentage of people who saw an ad or listing and clicked it.

Content calendar

A schedule of planned content by date, platform, topic and owner.

Content cluster

A group of related pages around one pillar topic, linked together to build topical authority.

Conversion

A valuable action you want users to take, such as a form submission, call, WhatsApp message or purchase.

Conversion rate

The percentage of visitors or clicks that result in a conversion.

Conversions API (CAPI)

Meta's server-side way to send conversion events, complementing the browser-based Pixel.

Cookie

A small file stored by a browser, used for logins, preferences and some tracking.

Core Web Vitals

Google's page experience metrics: Largest Contentful Paint, Interaction to Next Paint and Cumulative Layout Shift.

Cost per acquisition (CPA)

The average ad cost to get one conversion.

Cost per click (CPC)

The average amount paid for each ad click.

Cost per lead (CPL)

The average ad cost to generate one lead.

CPM

Cost per thousand impressions, common in awareness and social campaigns.

Crawl budget

How many pages a search engine is willing to crawl on a site in a given period.

Crawler

An automated program, such as Googlebot or GPTBot, that visits and reads web pages.

CRM

Customer relationship management software that stores leads, customers and their interactions.

Custom audience

A Meta or Google audience built from your own data, such as website visitors or customer lists.

Customer journey

The stages a person goes through from first awareness to purchase and beyond.

D

Dashboard

A visual report that shows key metrics in one place, often built in Looker Studio.

Digital PR

Earning coverage and links from news sites and blogs through newsworthy content or data.

Domain authority

A third-party score estimating a website's strength in search; not a Google metric.

E

E-E-A-T

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness, the qualities Google's guidelines use to judge content quality.

Email automation

Emails sent automatically when someone takes an action, such as signing up or enquiring.

Engagement rate

The share of sessions or impressions where users actively interact; definitions differ by platform.

Entity

A distinct thing, such as a business, person or place, that search engines and AI systems recognise and connect facts to.

Event (GA4)

Any user interaction tracked in Google Analytics 4, such as a page view, click or form submission.

F

Featured snippet

A highlighted answer box at the top of some Google results.

First-party data

Data you collect directly from your own customers and website.

Frequency

The average number of times one person sees your ad.

Funnel

A model of the stages from awareness to consideration to conversion.

G

GEO (generative engine optimisation)

Improving how often and how accurately AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity cite and describe your brand.

Geo-targeting

Showing ads only to people in chosen locations, such as Kathmandu or Nepal.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

Google's analytics platform that measures website and app behaviour through events.

Google Business Profile

Google's free business listing that appears in Maps and local search results.

Google Search Console

Google's free tool showing how a site performs in search and reporting indexing issues.

Google Tag Manager (GTM)

A tool for adding and managing tracking tags on a website without editing code each time.

H

Hashtag

A tag beginning with # that groups social media posts by topic.

Headless browser

A browser without a visible window, used by some crawlers and testing tools.

Hook

The first line or seconds of content designed to stop the scroll and earn attention.

I

Impression

One display of an ad or search listing on a screen.

Indexing

When a search engine stores a page so it can appear in results.

Influencer marketing

Partnering with people who have engaged audiences to promote a brand.

Internal link

A link from one page to another on the same website.

K

Keyword

A word or phrase people type or speak into a search engine.

Keyword cannibalisation

When several pages on one site compete for the same keyword, weakening each other.

Keyword difficulty

An estimate of how hard it is to rank for a keyword, from third-party SEO tools.

Keyword Planner

Google Ads' free tool for keyword ideas and search volume estimates.

KPI

Key performance indicator, a metric chosen to measure progress toward a goal.

L

Landing page

The page a visitor arrives on from an ad, email or search result, designed around one action.

Large language model (LLM)

An AI model trained on large amounts of text that can generate and understand language, such as GPT, Claude or Gemini.

Lead

A potential customer who has shared contact details or shown clear interest.

Lead form

A form inside an ad platform, such as Meta lead ads, that collects details without leaving the app.

Link building

Earning links from other websites to improve visibility and authority.

llms.txt

A plain-text file at a site's root summarising key pages and facts for AI systems.

Local SEO

Optimising a business to appear in local and map results for nearby searches.

Long-tail keyword

A longer, more specific search phrase with lower volume but clearer intent.

Lookalike audience

A Meta audience of people similar to an existing source audience, such as past customers.

Looker Studio

Google's free tool for building reports and dashboards from many data sources.

M

Match type

A Google Ads keyword setting (broad, phrase or exact) controlling which searches can trigger an ad.

Meta Ads Manager

Meta's platform for creating and managing ads on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.

Meta description

A short HTML summary of a page that may appear under its title in search results.

Meta Pixel

Code on a website that sends visitor actions to Meta for measurement and targeting.

N

NAP

Name, address and phone number, which should be identical everywhere a business is listed.

Negative keyword

A term added in Google Ads to stop ads showing for irrelevant searches.

Nofollow

A link attribute telling search engines not to pass ranking credit through a link.

O

Organic

Unpaid visibility or traffic, such as regular search results or non-promoted social posts.

P

Page speed

How quickly a page loads and becomes usable, measured with tools like PageSpeed Insights.

Performance Max

A Google Ads campaign type that uses automation to show ads across Search, YouTube, Display, Gmail, Maps and Discover.

Persona

See buyer persona.

PPC (pay-per-click)

Advertising where you pay when people click your ad, such as Google Ads and many Meta campaigns.

Prompt

The instruction or question you give an AI tool.

Prompt library

A saved, organised set of tested prompts for repeated marketing tasks.

Q

Quality Score

Google's 1–10 rating of keyword, ad and landing page relevance, which affects cost and position.

R

Reach

The number of unique people who saw content or an ad.

Remarketing (retargeting)

Showing ads to people who previously visited your site or engaged with your content.

Responsive search ad

A Google search ad built from multiple headlines and descriptions that Google combines automatically.

Return on ad spend (ROAS)

Revenue generated divided by ad spend.

Rich results

Enhanced search listings, such as FAQs, ratings or breadcrumbs, made possible by structured data.

Robots.txt

A file that tells crawlers which parts of a site they may or may not crawl.

ROI

Return on investment, the profit or value gained relative to the cost.

S

Schema markup

Structured data in a standard vocabulary (Schema.org) that describes page content to machines.

Search intent

The goal behind a search: informational, navigational, commercial or transactional.

Search terms report

The Google Ads report showing the actual searches that triggered your ads.

SEO (search engine optimisation)

Improving a website so it appears for relevant searches without paying for ads.

SERP

Search engine results page.

Session

A group of interactions one user has with a website within a time frame.

Sitemap

A file listing a site's important URLs to help search engines discover them.

Smart bidding

Google Ads automated bid strategies, such as Maximise Conversions or Target CPA, that set bids for each auction.

Social listening

Monitoring social media for mentions of a brand, competitors or topics.

Social proof

Evidence that others trust a business, such as reviews, testimonials and case studies.

Structured data

See schema markup.

T

Target CPA

A smart bidding strategy aiming to get conversions at a chosen average cost.

Target ROAS

A smart bidding strategy aiming for a chosen return on ad spend.

Technical SEO

Optimising a site's infrastructure, including crawling, indexing, speed and structure, so search engines can use it.

Title tag

The HTML title of a page, usually shown as the clickable headline in search results.

Topical authority

How comprehensively and reliably a site covers a subject, built through connected, in-depth content.

Tracking code

Code that records visitor actions for analytics or advertising platforms.

U

UGC

User-generated content, such as reviews, photos or videos created by customers.

URL slug

The readable part of a URL that identifies a page, such as /seo-training/.

UTM parameters

Tags added to a URL to identify the source, medium and campaign of traffic in analytics.

V

Value proposition

A clear statement of why a customer should choose you over alternatives.

Viral

Content shared widely and rapidly beyond its original audience.

Voice search

Searches made by speaking to a phone or smart assistant.

W

Web accessibility

Designing sites so people with disabilities can use them, which also improves usability and SEO.

WhatsApp click-to-chat

Ads or buttons that open a WhatsApp conversation with a business.

Z

Zero-click search

A search answered directly on the results page or by AI, without a click to a website.