Marketing and Development Glossary

Glossary

A permanent redirection from one URL to another; it helps preserve link equity.

A temporary redirection from one URL to another; does not transfer link equity.

A HTTP error code indicating a webpage cannot be found.

A

A method of comparing two versions of a marketing asset to see which performs better with a target audience.

When a customer adds items to their online shopping cart but leaves the site without completing the purchase.

The portion of a web page visible without scrolling, considered prime space for important content.

The total cost associated with acquiring a new customer, including advertising and sales expenses.

The total amount of money allocated for advertising over a specific time period.

The main text or message in an advertisement that aims to persuade a viewer to take action.

Additional information added to search ads, such as phone numbers or site links, to improve visibility and performance.

A platform that connects advertisers to websites that want to host advertisements.

Google's program that allows publishers to display ads on their websites and earn revenue from clicks or impressions.

A platform that connects affiliates (marketers) with companies offering affiliate programs.

Adobe Illustrator file format used for vector graphics.

The simulation of human intelligence by machines, enabling them to perform tasks such as learning, problem-solving, and decision-making without explicit programming.

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, a technique that allows web pages to update asynchronously by exchanging data with a web server.

The placement of elements in relation to each other to create order and structure.

An HTML attribute providing alternative text for images; essential for accessibility and SEO.

Text describing an image on a webpage; important for accessibility and SEO.

The clickable text in a hyperlink, relevant to the linked content.

Application Programming Interface, a set of functions that allows applications to access data and interact with external software components.

A set of rules determining how credit for sales and conversions is assigned to touchpoints in conversion paths.

A high-quality website recognised for trustworthiness and topical expertise.

A modern image format offering excellent compression and quality, designed to replace older formats like JPG and PNG.

B

Search engine optimisation practices tailored for business-to-business marketing.

SEO strategies targeting individual consumers, often involving broader search terms.

The server-side of a web application that processes business logic, database interactions, and server configuration.

An incoming hyperlink from one web page to another website, which helps with SEO ranking.

The distribution of visual weight in a design, which can be symmetrical or asymmetrical.

Delivering marketing messages based on a user’s previous online actions and browsing behaviour.

Unethical SEO tactics that violate search engine guidelines and risk penalties.

The area of a design that extends beyond the edge of the page to ensure proper trimming.

A popular frontend framework for developing responsive and mobile-first websites using CSS and JavaScript components.

The extent to which consumers recognise or recall a brand under different conditions.

Rules that define how a brand should be presented visually and verbally.

The visual elements that represent a brand, including logo, colour, and typography.

A navigational aid showing users their location within a website’s hierarchy.

The likelihood or readiness of a consumer to purchase based on their behaviour, keywords, or content interaction.

C

A stored version of a web page used by browsers and search engines for faster loading.

A prompt that encourages users to take a specific action, such as 'Buy now' or 'Sign up'.

A HTML tag that defines the preferred version of a web page to prevent duplicate content.

The preferred version of a web page, used to avoid duplicate content issues.

A form of advertising that appears in print or online listings by category, often for jobs or items for sale.

Command Line Interface, a text-based interface used to interact with software and operating systems.

The number of clicks it takes to reach a page from the homepage; affects crawl efficiency.

A measure of email effectiveness that compares unique clicks to unique opens.

A black hat SEO technique showing different content to users and search engines.

Content Management System, software used to create, manage, and modify digital content on websites without needing to code from scratch.

Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black – the colour model used in printing.

The study of how colours interact and the emotional responses they evoke.

The decline in a web page’s performance due to outdated or less competitive content.

Identifying keywords or topics competitors rank for that your site does not.

A strategic approach to creating and distributing valuable content to attract and engage a target audience.

The visual difference between elements to make designs more engaging and accessible.

A completed goal or action taken by a user, such as signing up, downloading, or making a purchase.

The percentage of visitors to a website who complete a desired goal, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.

Google's metrics assessing user experience through loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.

The average cost of acquiring one paying customer, used to measure the efficiency of marketing efforts.

Cost Per Click is a metric by Google which shows you how much each click has cost you.

A pricing model in digital advertising where the cost is based on one thousand ad impressions.

The process by which search engines scan web pages for indexing.

The number of pages a search engine bot will crawl on your site within a given time.

Visual or audio advertising materials such as banners, videos, social content or ad designs.

Systems and strategies for managing a company’s interactions with current and potential customers.

The process of increasing the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action.

Cascading Style Sheets, a language used for describing the presentation and design of web pages.

The percentage of people who click on a search result out of the total who saw it.

The entire experience a customer has when interacting with a brand, from awareness to purchase and beyond.

Content crafted with the audience’s needs and preferences in mind, using their tone, values, and pain points.

D

Marketing efforts aimed at creating awareness and interest in a company’s products or services.

Marketing that communicates directly with customers through channels like email, mail, or SMS.

A file submitted to Google to ignore certain backlinks that could harm your rankings.

Visual-based ads that appear on websites, apps, or social media to promote products or services.

The path through which goods and services travel from the producer to the end user.

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance, an email authentication protocol to protect domains from phishing and spoofing.

Document Object Model, a programming interface that allows scripts to update the content, structure, and style of a document.

The address of a website on the internet, such as example.com.

A metric developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on SERPs.

The system that translates domain names into IP addresses.

Dots Per Inch – a measure of print resolution.

A series of automated marketing emails sent based on user behaviour or timing.

A retail fulfilment method where a store sells products without keeping them in stock.

Substantially similar content across multiple pages that can confuse search engines.

URL elements that change based on user behaviour or content variations, often used in e-commerce filters and tracking.

E

Stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness; key content quality signals in Google’s guidelines.

Buying and selling goods or services over the internet.

The use of software to send emails to users automatically based on predefined triggers.

The ability of an email to reach the recipient’s inbox rather than their spam folder.

A collection of email addresses used by a business to send marketing messages or updates.

The use of email to promote products or services and build relationships with customers.

The person who ultimately uses or is intended to use a product or service.

A metric showing how actively users interact with your content, such as likes, comments, shares, and time on page.

Links pointing to a domain outside your own website, often used to cite sources or provide additional context.

Technology used to measure where and how users look at a webpage or advertisement.

F

A small icon associated with a website, displayed in the browser tab or bookmarks.

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

A minimalist design style that uses simple, two-dimensional elements and bright colours.

The area of a design that draws the viewer’s attention first.

A platform for building software applications that provides a foundation and predefined structure.

A business model that offers basic services for free while charging for premium features.

The part of a website or application that users interact with directly, typically built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

A developer or application that works with both frontend and backend technologies.

G

Delivering content or ads to users based on their geographic location.

A distributed version control system used for tracking changes in source code during software development.

A web-based platform for version control using Git, allowing collaboration and sharing of code repositories.

A tool by Google that tracks and reports website traffic and user behaviour.

The database of web pages that Google has crawled and deemed worthy of showing in SERPs.

A gradual blend between two or more colours.

A structure made up of intersecting lines used to organise content in a layout.

H

The main heading tag in HTML, used to indicate the primary title of a web page.

A secondary heading tag in HTML, used to organise content under the H1.

A subheading tag in HTML used under a H2 to further structure page content.

A HTML heading tag used to define content under a H3, typically for detailed segmentation.

An email that is permanently undeliverable, often due to an invalid address.

A word or phrase preceded by a # symbol used on social media to categorise content.

A visual representation of where users click or hover on a webpage, indicating user interest.

A six-digit code used in HTML and CSS to represent colours on the web.

The arrangement of elements to show their order of importance.

A service that stores website files on a server, making them accessible on the internet.

A HTML attribute that tells Google the linguistic and regional targeting of a web page.

HyperText Markup Language, the standard language used to create the structure of web pages.

HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure, a protocol for secure communication over a computer network.

I

A small graphic used to represent actions, objects, or concepts in a user interface.

The number of times an ad or content piece is displayed to users, regardless of interaction.

A strategy that attracts customers by creating valuable content and experiences tailored to them.

The process of adding web pages into a search engine's database.

Partnering with individuals who have influence over a target market to promote products or services.

A strategy that ensures all marketing channels work together to deliver a unified message.

Links from one page to another within the same website, improving crawlability and user experience.

A unique string of numbers that identifies a device on the internet or a local network.

J

A high-level programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers.

A commonly used compressed image format suitable for photos and graphics with many colours.

JavaScript Object Notation, a lightweight format for storing and transporting data, commonly used in APIs.

K

The adjustment of space between individual letter pairs in typography.

The essential elements required for a business or campaign to achieve its goals.

A word or phrase that users enter into a search engine to find relevant content.

When multiple pages on the same website compete for the same keyword, diluting ranking potential.

The percentage of times a keyword appears on a webpage compared to the total word count.

Overusing keywords in content to manipulate rankings; penalised by search engines.

Measurable values used to track the effectiveness of marketing strategies.

L

A filtering system used on e-commerce sites that allows users to refine product searches by attributes like size or brand.

A technique that delays the loading of non-critical resources like images until they are needed, improving page speed.

The process of developing relationships with potential customers through personalised communication at each stage of the buyer journey.

The vertical space between lines of text.

Potential customers who have shown interest in a product or service.

A collection of pre-written code that developers can use to optimise tasks and add functionality.

A strategy that tailors marketing efforts to each phase of a customer’s journey, from acquisition to retention.

A person or company that sells access to lists of potential leads or customers.

SEO tactics aimed at improving visibility for businesses in local search results.

A graphic mark or symbol used to represent a company or brand.

Specific, less competitive keyword phrases that typically consist of three or more words and have clearer intent.

A segment created from a source audience that shares similar characteristics, often used in paid social campaigns.

Latent Semantic Indexing keywords are conceptually related terms that help contextualise content.

M

A penalty issued by Google when a site violates its quality guidelines.

The process of gathering information about consumers’ needs and preferences.

The portion of a market controlled by a particular company or product.

The measurement and analysis of marketing performance to optimise effectiveness.

The use of software to automate repetitive marketing tasks such as emails or social media posts.

Media or content used to support the marketing of a product or service.

The combination of factors (product, price, place, promotion, physical evidence, process, people) that influence a customer’s decision. Also known as the 7ps.

A prospect who has shown interest in a product or service and meets predefined marketing criteria for sales follow-up.

A design language developed by Google that uses grid-based layouts, responsive animations, and depth effects.

A brief summary of a web page’s content, shown under the title in search results.

The title tag of a web page, shown in the SERPs as the clickable headline.

Data that describes other data, such as meta titles and descriptions that summarise web page content for search engines.

Optimising websites for mobile devices to improve search engine rankings.

Google predominantly uses the mobile version of content for indexing and ranking.

A realistic visual representation of a design used to showcase how it will appear in the real world.

A self-contained section of a web page or CMS that delivers specific functionality or content.

A collage of images, text, and samples used to convey a visual style or concept.

The practice of interacting with customers through multiple channels like email, social media, and physical stores.

N

A backlink that is earned organically without requesting or paying for it.

Another term for white space; the empty space around and between elements.

An open-source JavaScript runtime built on Chrome's V8 engine, allowing JavaScript to be run server-side.

A link attribute that tells search engines not to follow the link or pass link equity.

A type of database that does not use traditional table-based relational database structures, suitable for large-scale data storage.

O

SEO actions taken outside of your own website to impact your rankings within SERPs.

A multi-channel sales approach that provides a seamless customer experience across platforms.

Optimisation techniques applied directly on the website, like content and HTML source code.

The degree to which a colour or image is transparent.

The percentage of email recipients who open a specific email out of the total who received it.

Visitors who land on your website as a result of unpaid search results.

P

A score developed by Moz that predicts how well a specific page will rank on SERPs.

The time it takes for a page to fully load; a ranking factor.

Visitors who come to a website through paid advertisements.

A standardised colour matching system used in printing and design.

Portable Document Format, a file format used to present documents consistently across devices.

Customising marketing content based on an individual’s behaviours, preferences, or demographics.

An image format that supports transparency and is ideal for graphics, logos, and illustrations.

Pay Per Click, a Google advertising model which charges you based on the number of clicks.

Pixels Per Inch – a measure of screen resolution.

The process of distinguishing a product from competitors to make it more appealing to a target market.

The stages a product goes through from development and introduction to decline.

How a product is presented to the market and perceived by consumers.

The complete set of products a company offers for sale.

The combination of promotional tools used to reach the target audience.

Marketing tactics intended to increase interest and sales of a product or service.

Grouping related items together to create organisation and meaning.

Photoshop Document – a file format that supports layers and is used in Adobe Photoshop.

Q

A Google Ads metric that estimates the quality and relevance of keywords and ads.

R

Return on investment, displayed as a precentage - (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) * 100

A component of Google's algorithm that uses machine learning to understand search queries.

Graphics made of pixels, resolution-dependent and not scalable without loss.

A JavaScript library developed by Facebook for building user interfaces, especially single-page applications.

A visitor who comes to your site through a link from another website.

Reusing elements throughout a design to create unity and consistency.

The amount of detail an image holds, usually measured in DPI or PPI.

Designing websites to adapt to different screen sizes and devices for optimal user experience.

Representational State Transfer, an architectural style for designing networked applications using stateless communication.

Serving ads to users who have previously interacted with your website or content but did not convert.

Red, Green, and Blue – the colour model used for screens and digital displays.

A file that tells search engine bots which pages they can or cannot crawl.

A web feed that allows users to access updates to online content in a standardised format.

S

Syntactically Awesome Stylesheets, a CSS preprocessor that adds features like variables, nesting, and functions to CSS.

The intensity or purity of a colour.

Structured data code that helps search engines understand the content of your site.

Google’s platform for monitoring site performance, crawling, and search visibility.

Dividing a market into distinct groups based on characteristics like behaviour, demographics, or interests.

A form of internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites through paid advertising.

A SEMrush metric indicating a domain’s overall quality based on backlinks, traffic, and trust signals.

The practice of optimising web pages to rank higher in search engine results and increase organic traffic.

The page displayed by a search engine in response to a query.

An SEO architecture that groups related pages together for improved topic relevance and user navigation.

A file where you provide information about the pages, videos, and other files on your site.

Unsolicited and irrelevant messages sent over the internet, typically to a large number of users.

Structured Query Language, used for managing and querying relational databases.

A standard technology for securing an internet connection and protecting sensitive data.

A digital certificate that authenticates a website's identity and enables encrypted connections.

A document that outlines the visual standards for a brand or project.

Scalable Vector Graphics – an XML-based format for vector images.

T

Labels used in content management and social media to categorise or track content.

A specific group of people identified as the intended audience for a marketing message.

Improving the technical aspects of a website to increase the ranking of its pages in the search engines.

Pages with little or no value to users, often penalised by search engines.

The overall spacing between characters in a block of text.

A snippet of code added to a website to collect data on user behaviour for analytics.

The art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and visually appealing.

U

Content such as reviews, testimonials, or social posts created voluntarily by users, which can enhance SEO and trust.

The visual elements and layout with which a user interacts on an app or website.

User Interface Design – concerned with the look and layout of a product's interface.

The number of individual users who visit a website over a specific time period.

The address of a web page used to access it on the internet.

Tags added to URLs that help track the effectiveness of marketing campaigns through analytics platforms.

The overall experience a user has when interacting with a website or application.

User Experience Design – focused on enhancing user satisfaction by improving usability and accessibility.

V

A clear statement that explains how a product solves a customer’s problem or improves their situation.

Graphics based on mathematical paths, scalable without loss of quality.

The practice of tracking and managing changes to software code over time.

The user's visible area of a web page on a device, used in responsive web design.

A declaration of a company's long-term goals and aspirations.

W

Software that delivers web content to users, typically via HTTP or HTTPS.

Automated messages sent from apps when something happens, used to send real-time data between systems.

An image format developed by Google that provides superior compression for images on the web.

A set of introductory emails sent to new subscribers to familiarise them with a brand and its offerings.

By the book, recommended SEO tactics

The empty space around elements in a design, used for clarity and focus.

A visual guide that represents the skeletal framework of a website or app.

X

A file that lists all important pages on a site to help search engines crawl efficiently.

Z

A layout pattern that follows the natural reading path of the eye, shaped like the letter Z.