Marketing glossary

A test that splits visitors between two versions of a page, ad, or email to see which performs better.

A reliable test changes one thing at a time and runs until each version has enough conversions to trust the result. Small sites can take weeks or months to reach that point. Ask an agency for the visitor and conversion counts behind any winning version it reports.

Other names split test, A/B testing, split testing, bucket test

A script or toolbar added to a site that claims to fix accessibility problems automatically.

An overlay changes the page in the visitor’s browser and does not fix the site’s underlying code. In April 2025 the FTC finalized a $1 million order against one overlay vendor over claims that its product makes any website WCAG-compliant. Ask an agency to fix accessibility in the site’s code and content, not through an overlay alone.

Other names accessibility widget, accessibility plugin, accessibility toolbar, ADA widget

Your main day-to-day contact at an agency, who coordinates the work and reports results.

The role covers planning, client calls, and reports, and specialists or partners often do the hands-on work. Ask how many clients your account manager handles and who else touches your account. Find out how the agency hands your account to a new manager if this person leaves.

Other names client success manager, account lead, client services manager

A one-click Google Ads feature suite that adds AI targeting and ad text to existing Search campaigns.

Google announced it in May 2025 with three parts: search term matching, text customization, and final URL expansion. It reaches searches beyond your keyword list through broad match and keywordless technology. Ask an agency how it uses brand controls and the search terms report to keep spend on searches you want.

Other names AI Max, Google AI Max, AI Max for Search campaigns

A Google Search mode that answers with an AI response, takes follow-up questions, and links to sources.

Google calls AI Mode its most powerful AI search experience. It splits a question into subtopics and searches each one at the same time, a method Google calls query fan-out. Clicks from AI Mode count in Search Console with other web results, so ask an agency how it tracks your brand there.

Other names Google AI Mode, AI Mode in Google Search

AI-generated summaries that appear in some Google results, with links to sources on the web.

Google describes them as an AI-generated snapshot of key information, with links to dig deeper. Google says pages need no special markup or AI text files to appear in them, and standard SEO practices still apply. Search Console counts clicks from AI Overviews in the Performance report, under the Web search type.

Other names Google AI Overviews, AI Overview, Search Generative Experience, SGE

How often AI assistants and AI search features mention or cite your brand, and what they say.

Agencies measure it by running a fixed set of prompts in tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Mode. Citation share, sometimes called AI share of voice, is your percentage of the brand mentions and cited links across those answers. AI answers change from run to run, so ask for the prompt list, dates, and run counts behind each figure.

Other names citation share, AI share of voice, share of voice in AI answers, LLM visibility, AI search visibility

Who legally owns and controls the accounts, data, content, and code an agency creates or uses for you.

The key assets are your domain, website code, ad accounts, analytics, Business Profile, and creative files. Your business should hold the top admin role on each account, with the agency added as a user. Read the contract’s ownership clause, and confirm with your lawyer that you own the work after you pay.

Other names account ownership, IP ownership, work product ownership, data ownership

The rules that decide which ads, clicks, or channels get credit for a sale or lead.

GA4 offers data-driven, paid and organic last click, and Google paid channels last click models. Each ad platform credits itself by its own rules, so platform totals can exceed your real sales. Ask which model each report uses, and keep it the same from month to month.

Other names marketing attribution, attribution model, data-driven attribution, last-click attribution

A clause that renews a contract for a new term if you miss a set cancellation window.

A 12-month contract with 60 days’ notice means you must cancel at least 60 days before the end date. Miss that date and you can owe fees for another full term. Put the notice date on your calendar when you sign, and ask for month-to-month renewal instead of a full new term.

Other names automatic renewal, evergreen clause, rollover clause, auto-renew

Links from other websites to yours, and the work of earning them.

Google says its systems use links between pages to judge what pages are about and which are most helpful. Its spam policies count buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam. Ask an agency for the list of sites that linked to you and how it earned each link.

Other names backlink, inbound links, link acquisition

A signed document that changes the agreed scope, price, or timeline after work begins.

Change orders put new requests and their costs in writing before anyone does the work. Without one, extra requests can turn into surprise invoices or quiet cuts to the work you already pay for. Check that your contract says who can approve a change order and how it is priced.

Other names change request, scope change, contract amendment

The share of people who click a result or ad after seeing it: clicks divided by impressions.

An impression counts each time your page or ad appears, whether or not anyone clicks. Search Console reports CTR for unpaid Google results, and ad platforms report it for ads. A 20% CTR on 50 impressions is still only 10 clicks, so read the rate next to raw clicks.

Other names clickthrough rate, click rate

The share of visitors or clicks that take a goal action, such as calling, booking, or buying.

Conversion rate equals conversions divided by visits or clicks, and the base used changes the number. A sudden jump can come from counting smaller actions, such as scrolls or button clicks, as conversions. Ask which actions count before you compare rates across months or agencies.

Other names CVR, conversion percentage

Work that raises the share of visitors who call, book, buy, or fill out a form.

CRO uses analytics, session recordings, user tests, and A/B tests to find where visitors give up. Raising conversions can cut the cost of each lead without new ad spend. Ask for a test plan with a hypothesis, a target page, and a success measure for each change.

Other names conversion optimization, conversion rate improvement

A broad change Google makes to its ranking systems several times a year.

Core updates do not target specific sites, and Google posts each one’s start and end dates on its Search Status Dashboard. Google advises waiting at least a full week after an update ends before judging its effect in Search Console. Google warns against quick-fix changes, so be wary of an agency that promises a fast recovery.

Other names Google core update, core algorithm update, broad core update

Google’s three metrics for real-world page experience: loading, responsiveness, and visual stability.

The three metrics are Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Google’s targets are 2.5 seconds for LCP, 200 milliseconds for INP, and 0.1 for CLS, measured at the 75th percentile of page loads. Ask an agency for field data from real visitors, such as Search Console’s Core Web Vitals report, not one lab test.

Other names CWV, Web Vitals, page speed metrics

Ad spend divided by the number of conversions, such as leads, calls, or sales.

CPA depends on what counts as a conversion, so agree on that list before comparing agencies. A form fill, a 10-second call, and a paid order are different results with different values. Google Ads can bid toward a target CPA, so wrong conversion data pushes spend toward the wrong results.

Other names cost per action, cost per conversion, cost per lead, CPL

The cost of 1,000 ad impressions, a standard price measure for social, video, and display ads.

CPM equals total cost divided by impressions, times 1,000, and the M comes from mille, Latin for thousand. A low CPM can still mean costly customers if the ads reach the wrong people. Use CPM to compare the cost of reach, then judge the campaign by cost per lead or sale.

Other names cost per mille, cost per 1,000 impressions, CPM rate

Whether search engines can find and fetch your pages, then store them so they can appear in results.

Googlebot finds pages through links and sitemaps, and indexing is the step where Google analyzes and stores them. Google says it does not guarantee that it will crawl, index, or serve any page. Ask an agency to show Search Console’s page indexing report before it sells you more content.

Other names crawling and indexing, Google indexing, index coverage

A site designed and coded for your business instead of built from a stock theme or template.

A custom build gives full control over design, speed, and code, and it usually costs more up front than a template. Ask who owns the code and design files, and where the site is hosted. Find out how you will edit pages after launch and whether the agency charges for each change.

Other names custom-built website, custom web design, bespoke website

What you spend on marketing and sales to win one new customer.

CAC equals total marketing and sales costs, including agency fees and ad spend, divided by new customers in the same period. It includes more costs than CPA, which counts ad spend per conversion. Compare CAC with customer lifetime value to judge whether an agency’s results make money.

Other names cost per customer, cost to acquire a customer, acquisition cost

The total revenue or gross profit one customer brings over the whole relationship.

A simple version multiplies average order value, purchases per year, and years as a customer. Compare it with CAC to see how much you can afford to spend to win a customer. Ask whether an agency’s LTV figure uses revenue or profit, and which customer data it used.

Other names CLV, CLTV, lifetime value

Getting coverage and links from news sites, trade press, and blogs with stories, data, or expert comment.

Agencies pitch journalists with original data, expert comment, or news angles to earn coverage and links. Ask for the list of outlets the agency will pitch and examples of past coverage you can open. Guaranteed placements are paid content, not earned coverage.

Other names online PR, PR link building, press outreach

Short for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness in Google’s content guidance.

Google says trust matters most of the four, and E-E-A-T itself is not a specific ranking factor. Google’s search quality raters use it to judge results, but Google says rater data is not used directly in ranking. Google publishes no E-E-A-T score, so ask any agency that reports one how it calculates it.

Other names EEAT, E-A-T, experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness

A part-time chief marketing officer who sets strategy and manages vendors for a set fee.

A fractional CMO works a set number of days or hours each month and directs agencies, freelancers, or staff. The role sits between hiring a full in-house team, meaning your own salaried staff, and handing all marketing to an agency. Ask whether the CMO takes referral fees from the agencies they recommend.

Other names part-time CMO, outsourced CMO, fractional marketing leader

Work aimed at getting a brand named and cited in AI-generated answers from tools like ChatGPT and Gemini.

The term comes from a November 2023 research paper, and some agencies sell the same work under the label AEO. Google says its own AI features have no extra requirements beyond SEO best practices. Ask an agency what it does beyond SEO and how it measures your brand’s share of AI answers.

Other names answer engine optimization (AEO), AEO, AI SEO, LLM SEO

Google’s current web and app analytics tool, which replaced Universal Analytics in 2023.

GA4 uses event-based data instead of the session-based model of Universal Analytics, which stopped processing data on July 1, 2023. Keep the GA4 property in your own Analytics account and hold the Administrator role, which controls user access. Give the agency only the role its work needs, and remove it when the contract ends.

Other names Google Analytics, Google Analytics 4, GA4 property

Google’s free business listing that shows your hours, phone, photos, and reviews in Search and Maps.

Google lets a business manage this profile at no charge, and the profile supplies its listing in local map results. Each profile has one primary owner, and managers can edit details but cannot remove the profile or manage users. Keep the primary owner role in your own Google account and add any agency as a manager.

Other names GBP, Google My Business, GMB, Google Maps listing

Google’s free tool that shows how a site performs in Google Search and flags indexing problems.

Google says it helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site’s presence in Search results, with data on clicks, impressions, and indexing. You do not need it to appear in Google, but it is where Google reports manual actions and indexing problems. Verify the property under your own Google account and add the agency as a user, so the history stays with you.

Other names Search Console, GSC, Google Webmaster Tools

A content system that stores pages and posts separately from the code that displays them.

Developers pull content from tools such as Contentful, Sanity, or Strapi into a separate front end through an API. The setup can produce fast, secure sites, but layout changes can need a developer. Ask the agency to show you the editing screen and price future changes before you commit.

Other names decoupled CMS, API-first CMS, headless content management system

Google’s term for content made mainly to help people, not to game search rankings.

Google launched a helpful content system in 2022 and folded it into its core ranking systems in March 2024. Its guidance favors people-first content over search engine-first content made mainly to gain rankings. There is no separate helpful content update anymore, so ask an agency to tie any traffic drop to a dated cause.

Other names helpful content update, helpful content system, HCU, people-first content

A number you and the agency agree to track as the main sign that the work is succeeding.

Good KPIs tie to revenue, such as qualified leads, booked calls, cost per lead, or sales. Rankings, impressions, and traffic help explain changes, but they do not prove sales on their own. Set two to four KPIs, a baseline, and a target date in the contract or kickoff notes.

Other names key metric, success metric, performance metric

A page built for one campaign or offer, with a single main action such as call, book, or buy.

The page should match the ad or email that sent the visitor, with the same offer and wording. Sending paid clicks to a busy homepage makes results harder to measure and improve. Ask who owns the landing pages and whether they stay live if you leave the agency.

Other names lander, campaign page, squeeze page

A potential customer who contacts you or shares details by phone, form, chat, or booking.

Agencies count leads in different ways, and some counts include spam, repeat contacts, or job seekers. Agree in writing on what counts as a lead, and check a sample against your own call logs or CRM. Cost per lead only means something once both sides use the same definition.

Other names sales lead, inquiry, prospect, enquiry

A proposed Markdown file, placed at /llms.txt, that points AI tools to a site’s most useful pages.

Jeremy Howard published the idea on September 3, 2024, and it remains a proposal, not a formal web standard. Google says sites do not need AI text files to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Ask an agency which AI tools read the file and how it will measure any effect.

Other names LLMs.txt, llms.txt file, LLM text file

The map and short list of businesses Google shows for searches with local intent.

The local pack appears for searches such as “dentist near me” and pulls its listings from Google Business Profiles. Searchers can call, get directions, or visit the website straight from a listing. Judge local SEO by the calls, direction requests, and website clicks your profile reports, not by rank screenshots alone.

Other names map pack, 3-pack, local 3-pack, Google local results

SEO for businesses that serve a set area, aimed at map listings and city-level searches.

Google ranks local results mainly on relevance, distance, and prominence, its word for how well-known a business is. Local SEO work covers the Business Profile, reviews, location pages, and matching business details across directories. Google says no one can pay for a better local ranking, so treat a guaranteed map position as a red flag.

Other names local search marketing, local search, map SEO, Google Maps SEO

A review of your marketing channels, tracking, and results that ends with a ranked list of fixes.

A useful audit names specific pages, campaigns, and settings, with evidence for each problem. A free audit from an agency doubles as a sales pitch, so check which findings point to services it sells. Ask for the raw data behind the audit and keep the report, whoever you hire.

Other names SEO audit, digital marketing audit, marketing assessment, site audit

The main contract that sets legal terms for all work, with each project defined in its own SOW.

An MSA usually covers payment terms, confidentiality, ownership of work, liability limits, and how either side can end the deal. When an MSA and an SOW conflict, the contract’s order of precedence clause says which one wins. The MSA governs every later SOW, so have your own lawyer review it.

Other names master agreement, master service agreement, framework agreement

Meta’s suite of AI and automation tools that make audience, placement, and budget choices for ads.

The full-campaign options are Advantage+ sales campaigns, formerly Advantage+ shopping campaigns, plus Advantage+ app and leads campaigns. Meta’s system decides who sees the ads, where they run, and how the budget spreads. Ask how the agency tests ad creative and checks reported sales against your own records.

Other names Advantage+, Advantage Plus, Advantage+ sales campaigns, Advantage+ shopping campaigns, ASC

The shortest period you must stay in a contract before you can cancel without a penalty.

A 6-month minimum on a $3,000 monthly retainer commits you to $18,000. Ask what the agency will deliver in each month of the term, and what you owe if you leave early. Check how the minimum term works with any auto-renewal clause.

Other names minimum commitment, initial term, lock-in period

Lead stages: a marketing qualified lead fits your target, and a sales qualified lead is ready for sales.

Marketing marks a lead as an MQL when it meets set rules, such as industry, budget, or actions on your site. Sales marks it as an SQL after confirming real interest and a need it can serve. Write both rules down with the agency, then track how many MQLs become SQLs and sales.

Other names marketing qualified lead, sales qualified lead, MQL, SQL, lead qualification

A clause that bars one side from hiring away the other side’s staff, or sometimes its clients.

In an agency contract, it can stop you from hiring the agency’s staff for a set period, such as 12 months after the contract ends. Some clauses add a placement fee if you hire that person anyway. Have your own lawyer review the length and any fee before you sign.

Other names non-solicit, no-hire clause, non-poaching clause, no-poach clause

Website visits that come from unpaid search results instead of ads.

Part of it comes from people who already know your business and search its name. Ask for organic clicks split into branded and non-branded searches, compared with the same months a year earlier. Search Console counts clicks and GA4 counts sessions, so their totals differ.

Other names organic search traffic, unpaid search traffic, SEO traffic

A drag-and-drop tool for building web pages without code, such as Elementor or Divi on WordPress.

Page builders let your team edit pages without a developer, and they can add extra code that slows pages down. Check your Core Web Vitals on real mobile visits before and after a redesign. Ask whether the site depends on a paid plugin license, and who holds that license.

Other names website builder, drag-and-drop builder, visual editor

Advertising where you pay each time someone clicks your ad, as on Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising.

The price of each click is the cost per click (CPC): total ad cost divided by clicks. A low CPC means little if the clicks do not turn into calls, forms, or sales. Ask an agency to report cost per lead or sale next to CPC, and to confirm you own the ad account.

Other names paid search, CPC advertising, cost per click (CPC), search ads

A goal-based Google Ads campaign type that reaches all Google Ads inventory from one campaign.

One campaign can serve ads on YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps, and Smart Bidding sets bids from your conversion goals. Advertisers supply goals, creative assets, and audience signals, and they can add brand exclusions and negative keywords. Ask an agency for channel and placement reports, and for proof that the conversion goals match real leads or sales.

Other names PMax, Performance Max campaigns, P-Max

Building many pages from a template and a data set, such as one page per city or product.

Each page needs unique, useful data, such as local prices, inventory, or specs, to stand on its own. Google’s scaled content abuse policy targets many pages made mainly to manipulate rankings, so thin template pages put a site at risk. Ask to see sample pages and the data source before an agency publishes hundreds at once.

Other names pSEO, programmatic pages, template pages

How often an agency sends reports and meets with you, such as weekly or monthly.

Pick a cadence that matches how fast spend and results change, such as weekly for large ad budgets and monthly for SEO. A good report compares results with the agreed KPIs and explains what the agency will do next. Put the cadence, format, and live dashboard access in the contract.

Other names reporting schedule, reporting frequency, client reporting

A fixed monthly fee that pays an agency for a set amount of ongoing work.

A retainer buys capacity, such as hours or deliverables, not a guaranteed result. Get the monthly hours or outputs in writing, and ask what happens to unused time. Agree on how the agency prices extra work before you sign.

Other names monthly retainer, retainer fee, retainer agreement

Showing ads to people who already visited your site, used your app, or engaged with your brand.

Retargeting audiences come from website tags, app activity, or customer lists you upload. Some of these people return and buy without any ad, so retargeting can take credit for sales it did not cause. Ask an agency to report retargeting results apart from campaigns aimed at new customers.

Other names remarketing, retargeting ads, pixel retargeting

Revenue from ads divided by what the ads cost, often shown as a ratio such as 4:1 or as 400%.

ROAS counts revenue, not profit, so a 4:1 ROAS can still lose money after product costs and fees. Each ad platform counts sales by its own attribution rules, so platform totals can add up to more than your actual sales. Ask an agency to check ROAS against sales in your own records.

Other names return on advertising spend, target ROAS, tROAS

Producing many low-value pages mainly to manipulate search rankings, by any method.

Google’s spam policies say this applies no matter how the pages are made, whether by AI tools, scraping, or people. Examples include generating many pages without adding value and stitching together content from other sites. Ask any agency that promises dozens of new pages a month how each page will add something a searcher cannot find elsewhere.

Other names mass-produced content, scaled content, AI content spam

Work that helps a website earn more traffic from unpaid search results on Google and Bing.

SEO covers a site’s content, technical setup, and links from other sites. Google says it does not accept payment to rank sites higher, so no agency can pay Google for your position. Ask an agency which pages it will change each month and how it will tie rankings to calls and sales.

Other names organic search, SEO services, organic SEO

Publishing third-party pages on an established site mainly to use that site’s ranking signals.

Google’s spam rules cover it under the site reputation policy, and third-party content alone does not break that policy. Pages that break it can get a manual action, with different handling for searchers in the European Economic Area. Paid placements on high-ranking sites carry this risk when the main goal is search rankings, not readers.

Other names site reputation policy, parasite SEO, parasite hosting

Google’s published rules on tactics that can push a site down or out of its search results.

The list includes cloaking, doorway abuse, expired domain abuse, keyword stuffing, link spam, and scaled content abuse. Google says violating sites can rank lower or disappear from results, and Search Console reports any manual action. You own the site, so your business carries the risk if an agency breaks these rules.

Other names Google spam policies, Google spam rules, black hat SEO

The document that lists the work, deliverables, timeline, and fees for a project or retainer.

Its scope of work section says what the agency will and will not do. A vague line such as “ongoing SEO support” makes missed work hard to prove. Ask for named deliverables, quantities, and due dates, plus a list of what is out of scope.

Other names scope of work, SOW, project scope, scope document

Code that labels page details such as prices, reviews, and hours in a format search engines read.

Most structured data that Google supports uses the schema.org vocabulary, and Google recommends the JSON-LD format. Google says markup makes a page eligible for rich results but does not guarantee them. Misleading markup can lead to a manual action, so ask an agency to mark up only what visitors can see on the page.

Other names schema markup, schema, schema.org markup, JSON-LD

SEO work on a site’s code and setup, so search engines can crawl, render, and index its pages.

Technical SEO covers crawlability, site speed, mobile layout, redirects, sitemaps, and structured data. A useful technical audit lists each problem with the affected URLs and a fix order. Ask whether the agency or your web developer will make the fixes, and who pays for that time.

Other names tech SEO, technical SEO audit, site health audit

A clause that lets a party end a contract without having to prove a breach, usually after notice.

It usually requires written notice, such as 30 days, and payment for work done up to the end date. Check that the right applies to you, not only to the agency. Have your own lawyer confirm what you owe on exit, such as notice fees or unpaid deliverables.

Other names termination without cause, cancel for convenience, exit clause

Tags added to the end of a link that tell analytics tools where a visit came from.

Google Analytics says to always use utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign, with utm_term and utm_content for more detail. Consistent tags let you compare email, social, and paid campaigns in GA4 on equal terms. Ask the agency for its tagging rules in writing so your reports stay readable after any agency switch.

Other names UTM codes, UTM tags, campaign parameters, tracking parameters

The W3C’s technical standard for making websites usable by people with disabilities.

WCAG 2.2 became a W3C Recommendation on October 5, 2023, and its success criteria fall into levels A, AA, and AAA. Content that meets WCAG 2.2 meets the 2.1 and 2.0 versions too. Ask an agency which WCAG version and level it builds to, and for a test report with manual checks.

Other names WCAG 2.2, WCAG 2.1, web accessibility guidelines, WCAG AA

Work that an agency buys from another company and resells to you under its own brand.

Agencies use white-label partners for SEO, ads, web builds, and reporting. Your account manager can be the only person you deal with, and the people doing the work stay unnamed. Ask who does each task, whether a partner gets access to your accounts, and what the contract says about your data.

Other names white label, private label, outsourced fulfillment, reseller

A search that ends on the results page, with no click through to any website.

The searcher gets an answer from an AI Overview, featured snippet, map listing, or other feature and stops there. Your brand can still reach buyers this way, but your website analytics will not record a visit. Ask an agency to report impressions, AI answer mentions, and Business Profile calls next to website clicks.

Other names zero-click searches, no-click search, zero-click results