The marketing glossary

A

A/B testAds

Running two versions of an ad, page or email at the same time to see which gets more enquiries. Change one thing at a time, or you will not know what made the difference.

Ad spendAds

The money you pay Google or Meta for the ads themselves, separate from any management fee. We recommend at least $50 a day on either platform. Work yours out with the ad budget calculator.

AI OverviewAI search

The AI-written answer Google shows above the normal results for many searches. It cites a handful of websites, so being one of them is the new version of ranking first.

AI searchAI search

Getting answers from tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google's AI Overviews instead of a list of links. These tools recommend businesses by name, using websites their crawlers can read. Check yours with the AI visibility checker.

B

BacklinkSEO

A link from another website to yours. Links from relevant, trusted sites help you rank; cheap bought links from spam sites can hold a site back for months.

Bounce rateAnalytics

The share of visits where someone leaves without doing anything else. In GA4 the opposite measure, engagement rate, is used instead.

Broad matchAds

A Google Ads keyword setting that shows your ad for searches loosely related to your keyword. Without negative keywords, it is the most common way beginners waste budget.

C

Call trackingAnalytics

Counting phone calls from your ads and website as conversions. For most local businesses, half or more of the enquiries are calls, so without it you cannot see what works.

Canonical URLSEO

A tag that tells search engines which address is the main version of a page when the same content is reachable at more than one URL.

CitationSEO

A mention of your business name, address and phone on another site, such as a directory. In AI search, a citation also means a link to your site in an AI answer.

Click-through rate (CTR)Ads

The share of people who saw your ad or listing and clicked it. Useful for testing headlines, but enquiries matter more than clicks.

Close rateAnalytics

The share of leads that become paying customers. Fast call-backs raise it more than anything else: within 10 minutes for trades, within the hour for finance.

ConversionAnalytics

An action you count as a result: a call, a form, a booking or a sale. Your ads and SEO should be judged on conversions, not clicks or traffic.

Conversion rateAnalytics

The share of visitors who convert. Local service websites commonly convert 2% to 5% of visitors into enquiries.

Core Web VitalsWeb

Google's measures of how fast and stable a page feels to a real visitor: loading, responsiveness and layout shifts. Slow mobile pages lose rankings and enquiries.

Cost per click (CPC)Ads

What you pay each time someone clicks your ad. For local services in Melbourne this is commonly a few dollars to $20 or more.

Cost per lead (CPL)Ads

Ad spend divided by the number of leads. In our 2026 accounts, around $20 on Meta for cleaning and trades, $50 on Google Ads for trades, $50 on Meta for mortgage brokers and $70 for property investment. See the cost per lead benchmarks.

CrawlerSEO

The program a search engine or AI tool uses to read websites, such as Googlebot or OAI-SearchBot. If your robots.txt blocks it, that tool cannot recommend you.

CreativeAds

The image, video and words in an ad. On Meta, testing many creatives and keeping the winners is what brings cost per lead down.

D

Domain authoritySEO

A score from SEO tools estimating how strong a website's backlinks are. Google does not use it, but it is a fair rough guide to how hard a competitor will be to outrank.

E

E-E-A-TSEO

Experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust: the qualities Google's quality guidelines ask raters to look for. Real authors, real results and named sources are how a small business shows them.

F

Featured snippetSEO

The boxed answer at the top of some Google results, taken from one website. Clear, direct answers to a question in your content give you the best chance of winning it.

G

GA4Analytics

Google Analytics 4, Google's free analytics tool. It shows where visitors come from and which channels bring enquiries, when conversions are set up properly.

Google AdsAds

Google's advertising platform. Search ads put you at the top of Google when people search for what you sell. See Google Ads for small business.

Google Business ProfileSEO

Your free listing in Google Maps and the map pack. For most local businesses it brings in more calls than the website. Use our checklist.

Google Tag ManagerAnalytics

A free tool for adding tracking code, such as GA4 and conversion tags, to a website without editing the site each time.

I

ImpressionsAnalytics

How many times your ad or listing was shown. In Search Console, how often your site appeared in results.

IndexingSEO

Google storing a page so it can appear in results. A page that is not indexed cannot rank, however good it is.

Instant formAds

A Meta lead form that opens inside Facebook or Instagram, pre-filled with the person's details. It gets more leads than a landing page; add up to five qualifying questions to keep quality up.

K

KeywordSEO

A word or phrase people search for, such as "emergency plumber Frankston". SEO and Google Ads both start with the keywords your customers actually use.

L

Landing pageWeb

The page someone arrives on after clicking an ad. It should be about exactly what the ad offered, with the phone number and form easy to find.

LeadAnalytics

A potential customer who has given you a way to contact them: a call, a form or a message. A lead is only worth something if someone follows it up, ideally five or six times.

llms.txtAI search

A plain text file at the root of a website that summarises the business for AI tools: what you do, where, prices and key pages. New and optional, but cheap to add.

Local SEOSEO

SEO for businesses that serve an area: the map pack, Google Business Profile, reviews, citations and suburb pages.

Long-tail keywordSEO

A longer, more specific search, such as "hot water system replacement Frankston". Fewer searches, but the people searching are closer to buying.

M

Map packSEO

The three businesses shown with a map near the top of Google for local searches. Most local service clicks go to these three.

Meta adsAds

Ads on Facebook and Instagram. They reach people before they start searching, which suits businesses people do not search for, such as mortgage broking. See Facebook and Meta ads.

Meta descriptionSEO

The short summary under your page title in search results. It does not affect ranking directly, but a clear one gets more clicks.

N

Negative keywordAds

A word you tell Google Ads never to show your ad for, such as "free", "jobs" or "DIY". The quickest way to stop wasted spend.

O

Organic trafficSEO

Visitors from unpaid search results. It keeps coming after the work is done, which is why SEO compounds. Organic search brings Vipa Library Supplies 62.8% of its online revenue.

P

Performance MaxAds

A Google Ads campaign type that runs across Search, YouTube, Display, Gmail and Maps from one budget, with Google choosing where. Powerful, but you see less of where the money goes.

PPCAds

Pay per click: advertising where you pay each time someone clicks, mainly Google Ads. See PPC management in Melbourne.

Q

Quality ScoreAds

Google's 1 to 10 rating of how relevant your keyword, ad and landing page are. A higher score means you pay less per click for the same position.

R

Redirect (301)Web

A permanent instruction that sends visitors and search engines from an old URL to a new one, passing most of the old page's ranking. Essential when you move or rebuild a website.

RetargetingAds

Showing ads to people who have already visited your website or engaged with your page. Usually cheaper leads, from people who already know you.

Return on ad spend (ROAS)Ads

Revenue from ads divided by ad spend. A ROAS of 4 means $4 back for every $1 spent on ads, before other costs.

robots.txtSEO

A file that tells crawlers which parts of your site they may read. One wrong line can hide your site from Google or from AI tools.

S

Schema markupSEO

Structured data in a page's code that tells Google and AI tools facts in a form machines read directly: your business, address, hours, services, FAQs and reviews.

Search ConsoleSEO

Google's free tool showing which searches your site appears for, how often it is clicked, and any indexing problems.

Search intentSEO

What the person searching actually wants: information, to compare options, or to buy or book now. The page that ranks is the one that matches the intent.

SEOSEO

Search engine optimisation: improving your website and presence so you rank in Google and appear in AI answers without paying per click. See how much SEO costs.

Speed to leadAnalytics

How quickly you contact a new lead. The first business to call usually wins the job: we recommend within 10 minutes for trades and within the hour for brokers.

T

Title tagSEO

The page title shown as the blue link in search results. One of the strongest on-page signals for what a page is about.

U

UTM parametersAnalytics

Tags added to a link, such as ?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic, so GA4 can tell you where a visit came from.

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