Digital Marketing
Glossary

Alternative text is a written description of an image on a web page. Alt text serves two purposes: it makes images accessible to visually impaired users who use screen readers, and it helps search engines understand what an image depicts. Good alt text is descriptive, concise, and naturally incorporates relevant keywords.

A link from one website to another. Backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors in traditional SEO because they signal to Google that other websites consider your content valuable and trustworthy. The quality and relevance of backlinks matter more than quantity — a single link from a respected industry publication is worth more than hundreds of links from low-quality directories.

The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page without taking any further action. A high bounce rate often indicates that visitors are not finding what they expected, the page loads too slowly, or the content does not match the search query that brought them there. Reducing bounce rate is a key goal of conversion-focused web design.

A canonical URL tells search engines which version of a page is the 'official' version when multiple URLs contain similar or identical content. This prevents duplicate content issues that can dilute your search rankings. For example, if your page is accessible at both 'example.com/page' and 'example.com/page?ref=social', the canonical tag tells Google which one to index.

An AI-powered conversational assistant developed by OpenAI. With over 883 million monthly users, ChatGPT has become a major search platform where people ask for business recommendations, product comparisons, and service advice. Getting your business recommended by ChatGPT requires Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) — a different approach than traditional SEO.

The percentage of website visitors who complete a desired action — such as filling out a contact form, making a phone call, or requesting a quote. The average conversion rate for traditional Google search is approximately 2.8%, while AI search platforms like ChatGPT deliver conversion rates of approximately 14.2% — five times higher.

A set of specific metrics that Google uses to measure the user experience of a web page. The three Core Web Vitals are: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measuring loading performance, Interaction to Next Paint (INP) measuring interactivity, and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measuring visual stability. Good Core Web Vitals scores contribute to higher Google rankings.

A score (typically 0-100) that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine results. Domain authority is influenced by the age of the domain, the number and quality of backlinks, and the overall trustworthiness of the website. While important for traditional SEO, domain authority is less influential in AI search (GEO), where content quality and structure matter more.

The small icon that appears in browser tabs, bookmarks, and search results next to your website's name. A professional favicon reinforces brand recognition and makes your site look more trustworthy in search results. Google displays favicons alongside search listings, making them a subtle but important element of search presence.

The practice of optimizing a business's digital presence so that AI-powered search platforms — such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, and Grok — recommend, cite, or reference the business in their generated responses. GEO differs from traditional SEO in that it focuses on content authority, structured data, and topical depth rather than backlinks and keyword density.

A free business listing on Google that appears in Google Search and Google Maps. A complete, optimized Google Business Profile includes your business name, address, phone number, website, hours, services, photos, and reviews. It is one of the most important factors for local SEO and also contributes to AI search visibility, as AI platforms cross-reference Google Business Profile data.

The practice of linking from one page on your website to another page on the same website. Internal linking helps search engines discover and understand the structure of your site, distributes ranking authority across pages, and helps visitors navigate to related content. A strong internal linking strategy is essential for both SEO and GEO.

JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data — a method of embedding structured data in web pages using a script tag. JSON-LD is the format recommended by Google for implementing schema markup. It tells search engines and AI platforms specific, machine-readable information about your business, services, articles, FAQs, and other content without affecting the visible page design.

A word or phrase that people type into search engines when looking for information, products, or services. Keyword research — identifying the specific terms your potential customers use — is the foundation of SEO strategy. In the context of GEO, keywords evolve into natural language questions, as AI search users tend to ask conversational questions rather than typing keyword phrases.

A free resource (such as a guide, checklist, template, or tool) offered to website visitors in exchange for their contact information, typically an email address. Lead magnets are a core component of lead generation strategy — they provide value to potential customers while building your email list for follow-up marketing through drip campaigns.

The practice of optimizing a business's online presence to attract customers from relevant local searches. Local SEO involves optimizing your Google Business Profile, building local citations (directory listings), earning reviews, and creating location-specific content on your website. For businesses that serve specific geographic areas, local SEO is often the highest-ROI digital marketing investment.

HTML elements that provide metadata about a web page to search engines and social media platforms. The most important meta tags for SEO are the title tag (displayed in search results) and the meta description (the snippet below the title in search results). Open Graph meta tags control how your page appears when shared on social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn.

NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone number. NAP consistency means ensuring that your business name, address, and phone number are identical across every online listing — your website, Google Business Profile, Yelp, BBB, industry directories, and social media profiles. Inconsistencies confuse both search engines and AI platforms, reducing your visibility in both traditional and AI search.

A protocol originally created by Facebook that controls how web pages appear when shared on social media platforms. Open Graph tags specify the title, description, image, and URL that appear in social media previews. Proper Open Graph implementation ensures your content looks professional and compelling when shared, increasing click-through rates from social media.

An AI-powered search engine that provides direct, sourced answers to user queries. Unlike traditional search engines, Perplexity generates comprehensive answers with citations, often recommending specific businesses, products, or services by name. Appearing in Perplexity's answers requires the same GEO optimization strategies used for ChatGPT visibility.

A standardized vocabulary of tags (developed by Schema.org) that you add to your website's HTML to help search engines and AI platforms understand your content. Schema markup can describe your business type, services, location, reviews, FAQs, articles, events, and more. Implementing comprehensive schema markup is one of the most impactful things you can do for both SEO (rich snippets) and GEO (AI recommendations).

The page displayed by a search engine in response to a user's query. A typical Google SERP includes paid ads at the top, AI Overviews (if applicable), featured snippets, organic results (the 'ten blue links'), local pack results (map listings), and related questions. Understanding SERP features helps you optimize your content to appear in the most visible positions.

Additional links that appear below your main search result on Google, showing key pages from your website. Sitelinks are automatically generated by Google based on your site structure and cannot be manually requested. Having sitelinks indicates that Google trusts your website and understands its structure — they typically appear for branded searches once your site has established authority.

Information that is organized in a standardized, machine-readable format. In the context of web development, structured data refers to schema markup (typically in JSON-LD format) that explicitly tells search engines and AI platforms what your content means — not just what it says. Structured data is the foundation of both Google rich snippets and AI search recommendations.

A measure of how comprehensively a website covers a particular subject area. A website with multiple interlinked articles, service pages, and resources about a specific topic demonstrates higher topical authority than one with a single page on the subject. Both Google and AI platforms use topical authority to determine which sources are most trustworthy and recommendation-worthy.