Glossary
The small business website glossary.
The words web designers and marketers use, explained in plain English for people who run a business. Each one says what it means, why it matters to you and what to do about it.
A
- Above the fold
- The part of a web page people see before they scroll, on a phone or a computer screen.
- AI Overviews
- Google's AI-written summaries at the top of some search results, with links to the pages they drew on.
- Alt text
- A short written description of an image, read aloud by screen readers and used by search engines.
B
- Business email
- An email address that ends in your own domain name, like hello@yourbusiness.com, instead of free webmail.
C
- Call to action
- A short instruction, usually a button, that tells visitors the next step: call, book or get a quote.
- Call tracking
- Using a separate phone number for each ad or listing to see which ones make your phone ring.
- Click-to-call
- A phone number or button on a website that starts a call with one tap on a phone.
- CMS (content management system)
- Software that lets you add and change the words, photos and pages on your website without code.
- Contact form
- A short form on a website where visitors type their details and a question, sent straight to the business.
- Conversion rate
- The share of website visitors who do what you want, like calling, booking or sending a form.
- Core Web Vitals
- Google's three measures of how a page feels to use: loading, response to taps and layout stability.
- CRM
- Software that keeps every lead and customer in one place, with their history and your next step.
- Custom domain
- A web address you own, like yourbusiness.com, used instead of the free address a website builder gives you.
D
- DNS
- The internet's address book: the system that turns a domain name into the address of the server behind it.
- Domain name
- Your website's address on the internet, like yourbusiness.com, which people type to find you.
E
- Email marketing
- Sending emails to customers who asked to hear from you: news, offers and reminders that bring them back.
G
- Generative engine optimization
- Making your business easy for AI assistants and AI search answers to understand, trust and mention.
- Google Analytics
- Google's free tool for measuring website visits: how many people come, where from and what they do.
- Google Business Profile
- Your free business listing on Google Search and Maps, with your hours, phone number, photos and reviews.
- Google Local Services Ads
- Pay-per-lead ads at the very top of Google, with a verified badge, a star rating and a call button.
- Google Search Console
- Google's free tool that shows how your site appears in Google Search and flags problems to fix.
I
- Intake form
- Questions a new client or patient answers before a first meeting, telling you who they are and what they need.
L
- Landing page
- A web page built for one goal, often where people arrive from an ad, an email or a search.
- Lead generation
- Attracting people who might need what you sell, and getting their contact details so you can follow up.
- Local SEO
- Helping your business show up when people nearby search for what you do, on Google Search and Maps.
M
- Map pack
- The map and short list of local businesses Google shows near the top for local searches.
- Meta description
- A short summary of a page that search engines may show under its title in the results.
N
- NAP (name, address, phone)
- Your business name, address and phone number, which should read the same everywhere you're listed online.
- No-show fee
- A charge for a booked appointment the client misses without enough notice, agreed before they book.
O
- Online booking
- A way for customers to pick a service, date and time on your website and book it themselves.
- Online ordering
- A way for customers to order food from a website or app, pay, and choose pickup or delivery.
P
- Page speed
- How quickly a web page loads and becomes usable, above all on a phone with a weak signal.
R
- Responsive design
- Building a website so every page fits and works on any screen, from a phone to a desktop.
- Review request
- A short message asking a customer to leave a review, sent soon after the job, with a direct link.
S
- Schema markup
- Code on a page that labels facts like your hours, address and menu so search engines read them right.
- SEO
- Search engine optimization: making your website easier to find in Google and other search results.
- Service area business
- A business that serves customers at their homes or job sites, rather than at its own storefront.
- Service area page
- A page about the work you do in one town or area, for businesses that travel to their customers.
- SSL certificate
- A digital certificate that lets a website use https, protecting what visitors send and proving the site is yours.
T
- Testimonials
- A customer's own words about your work, shown on your website or in your marketing with their permission.
- Trust signals
- The proof on a website that a business is real and reliable: licenses, insurance, reviews, guarantees and real photos.
U
- UTM parameters
- Short tags added to the end of a link that tell your analytics where a visitor came from.
W
- Web designer
- A professional who plans how a website looks and works, and often builds it too.
- Web hosting
- The service that stores your website on always-on computers and sends it to everyone who visits.
- Website accessibility
- Making a website usable by everyone, including people who use screen readers, keyboards, captions or larger text.
- Website as a service
- A website you pay for monthly or yearly, with the design, hosting, updates and support included.
- Website builder
- An online tool for creating and publishing a website without writing code, usually for a monthly fee.
- Website maintenance
- The ongoing work that keeps a website secure, working and up to date after it launches.
- Website template
- A ready-made website design you fill in with your own words, photos and colors.
#
- 301 redirect
- A permanent forward from an old web address to a new one, so visitors and Google reach the new page.
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