Web glossary
Every web and search term, defined simply and in a citable way.
Alt text
Alt text is a written description of an image that screen readers read aloud and search engines use to understand the image.
Read the definition →Anchor text
Anchor text is the clickable, visible words of a link, which give readers and search engines context about the linked page.
Read the definition →Backlink
A backlink is a link from another website that points to yours, acting as a vote of trust for search engines.
Read the definition →Bounce rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page, without any further interaction.
Read the definition →Call to action (CTA)
A call to action is a button or link that tells visitors what to do next, such as Book a call or Get a quote.
Read the definition →Canonical URL
A canonical URL tells search engines which version of a page is the main one when the same content exists at several addresses.
Read the definition →CMS (Content Management System)
A CMS is software that lets you create and update a website without writing code, such as WordPress, Webflow, or Shopify.
Read the definition →Conversion rate
Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as booking a call or buying.
Read the definition →Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are three Google metrics that measure a page’s loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.
Read the definition →Domain authority
Domain authority is a score that estimates how likely a website is to rank on search engines, based mainly on its backlinks.
Read the definition →Domain name
A domain name is the address people type to reach your website, such as bigbrowser.co.
Read the definition →E-commerce
E-commerce is the buying and selling of products or services online, through a website with a catalog and secure payment.
Read the definition →GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
GEO is optimizing a website so AI assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity cite it in their answers.
Read the definition →Indexing
Indexing is when a search engine stores and organises a crawled page so it can appear in search results.
Read the definition →Keyword
A keyword is a word or phrase people type into a search engine, which pages target to get found.
Read the definition →Landing page
A landing page is a single web page built around one goal, such as capturing leads or selling a product.
Read the definition →Large Language Model (LLM)
A large language model is an AI trained on vast amounts of text to understand and generate human language, powering tools like ChatGPT and Claude.
Read the definition →Meta description
A meta description is the short summary of a page shown under its title in search results.
Read the definition →Open Graph
Open Graph is a set of meta tags that control how your page looks when shared on social media and messaging apps.
Read the definition →Organic traffic
Organic traffic is the visitors who reach your site from unpaid search results, rather than from ads.
Read the definition →Responsive design
Responsive design builds websites that adapt automatically to any screen size, from desktop to phone.
Read the definition →robots.txt
robots.txt is a text file at the root of a site that tells crawlers which pages or sections they may or may not access.
Read the definition →SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO is the practice of improving a website so it ranks higher in search engines like Google.
Read the definition →SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
A SERP is the page of results a search engine shows for a query, mixing organic links, ads, and rich features like featured snippets.
Read the definition →Sitemap
A sitemap is a file that lists a website’s pages to help search engines discover and index them.
Read the definition →SSL certificate
An SSL certificate encrypts the connection between a website and its visitors, shown by the padlock and https.
Read the definition →Structured data (Schema markup)
Structured data is code that helps search engines and AI understand the meaning of a page’s content.
Read the definition →UX and UI design
UX design is how easy a website is to use; UI design is how it looks. Together they turn visitors into customers.
Read the definition →Web accessibility
Web accessibility is the practice of building sites that everyone can use, including people with visual, motor, or cognitive disabilities.
Read the definition →Web crawler
A web crawler is an automated bot that browses the web to discover and read pages so search engines and AI tools can index them.
Read the definition →Web hosting
Web hosting is the service that stores your website files on a server and keeps them available online 24/7.
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