Digital Marketing & SEO Glossary | Audrim Resources

This glossary defines the terms most likely to come up when discussing a website, a search ranking, or a digital marketing campaign. Entries are kept short and specific rather than exhaustive. Where a term is covered in more depth elsewhere on this site, that page is linked. New terms are added as they enter common use; a changelog at the bottom of this page records what was added and when.

A/B testing. Showing two versions of a page or ad to separate visitors and measuring which one performs better against a defined metric, such as clicks or conversions.

Above the fold. The portion of a webpage visible without scrolling. The exact area varies by device and screen size, so the term is used loosely rather than as a fixed measurement.

AI Overview. An AI-generated summary that Google places above traditional search results for some queries, synthesizing information from multiple sources into a single answer. See the AI search history guide for the full background.

Alt text. A short written description attached to an image in a page's HTML, read aloud by screen readers and used by search engines to understand image content when the image itself cannot be parsed.

Anchor text. The clickable, visible text of a hyperlink. Search engines use anchor text as one signal for understanding what the linked page is about.

Answer engine optimization (AEO). The practice of structuring content to be surfaced as a direct answer by AI-powered assistants and search features, including featured snippets, knowledge panels, and AI-generated summaries. Used largely interchangeably with generative engine optimization (GEO) in current industry usage, though some practitioners draw a narrower distinction between the two.

Backlink. A link from one website to another. Backlinks from credible, relevant sites remain one of the stronger off-page signals search engines use to judge a page's trustworthiness.

Bounce rate. The percentage of visitors who leave a site after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate is not automatically bad; it depends on what the page was meant to do.

Breadcrumb. A secondary navigation trail, usually near the top of a page, showing a visitor's location within a site's structure (for example, Home › Blog › Article Title).

Canonical URL. The single, preferred version of a page's URL, specified in the site's code so that search engines know which version to index when duplicate or near-duplicate versions exist.

Click-through rate (CTR). The percentage of people who click a link out of everyone who saw it. In search results, it is calculated as clicks divided by impressions.

Content management system (CMS). Software used to create, edit, and organize a website's content without writing code directly, such as WordPress, Webflow, or a custom-built admin panel.

Conversion rate. The percentage of visitors who complete a defined goal, such as submitting a form, making a purchase, or booking a consultation.

Core Web Vitals. A specific set of Google-defined metrics measuring loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability, used as a ranking input since 2021. See the Google algorithm history guide for when this was introduced.

Cost per click (CPC). The amount an advertiser pays each time someone clicks a paid ad, common in Google Ads and Meta Ads campaigns.

Crawl budget. The number of pages a search engine is willing to crawl on a given site within a given timeframe. Relevant mainly for very large sites; most small business sites never approach this limit.

Data Privacy Act (RA 10173). The Philippine law governing the collection, storage, and processing of personal data, enforced by the National Privacy Commission. See the Philippine digital compliance guide for what this requires of a business website.

Domain authority. A third-party score (not an official Google metric) estimating how likely a website is to rank well, based largely on its backlink profile. Different tools calculate their own version of this score, so numbers are not directly comparable across providers.

DTI registration. Registration of a sole proprietorship's business name with the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry. Partnerships, corporations, and one-person corporations register with the SEC instead. See the Philippine digital compliance guide.

Duplicate content. Substantially identical content appearing at more than one URL, either on the same site or across different sites, which can dilute ranking signals if not resolved with a canonical URL.

E-E-A-T. Shorthand for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, the framework Google's quality rater guidelines use to describe what makes content and its author credible.

Featured snippet. A short answer pulled from a webpage and displayed above regular search results, typically in response to a direct question. One of the earlier examples of Google surfacing an answer without a click.

Generative engine optimization (GEO). The practice of structuring content so that AI systems such as AI Overviews, ChatGPT, or Perplexity are more likely to cite it directly in a generated answer. Builds on top of standard SEO rather than replacing it.

Google Business Profile. A free Google listing that controls how a business appears in Google Maps and local search results, including hours, reviews, photos, and a Q&A section.

Google Search Console. A free Google tool that reports how a website performs in Google Search: which queries bring traffic, which pages are indexed, and, as of June 2026, how often pages appear in AI-generated answers.

Hreflang. An HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and regional version of a page to show to users in different locations, used on sites with multiple language or country versions.

Impressions. The number of times a page, ad, or listing was shown to someone, regardless of whether they clicked it.

Indexing. The process by which a search engine stores and organizes a webpage after crawling it, making that page eligible to appear in search results. A page can be crawled without being indexed.

Keyword density. The frequency of a specific keyword relative to the total word count of a page. Largely obsolete as a direct ranking factor; modern search engines evaluate topical relevance rather than counting keyword repetitions.

Landing page. A standalone page designed around a single goal, usually built to receive traffic from a specific ad, campaign, or link rather than general site navigation.

Local SEO. The practice of optimizing a business's online presence to appear in geographically relevant searches, built primarily around a Google Business Profile, consistent business information, and location-specific content.

Meta description. A short summary of a page's content, written into the page's HTML and often (though not always) displayed under the title in search results.

Mobile-first indexing. Google's practice of using the mobile version of a webpage as the primary basis for indexing and ranking, reflecting that most searches now happen on phones.

No-index tag. A directive placed in a page's code telling search engines not to include that page in search results, used for pages like internal admin tools or duplicate content that shouldn't compete with the canonical version.

Off-page SEO. Ranking factors that occur outside a website itself, primarily backlinks, but also brand mentions and third-party signals of credibility.

On-page SEO. Ranking factors controlled directly on a webpage, including its written content, title tags, header structure, internal links, and page speed.

Organic traffic. Visitors who arrive at a site through unpaid search results, as distinct from paid ads, social media, or direct visits.

Page speed. How quickly a webpage loads and becomes usable, measured through several metrics under the Core Web Vitals framework.

Pay-per-click (PPC). An advertising model where the advertiser pays only when someone clicks the ad, most commonly associated with Google Ads and Meta Ads.

Responsive design. A web design approach where a single page layout adjusts automatically to fit different screen sizes, from phones to desktop monitors.

Robots.txt. A text file at a website's root directory that tells search engine crawlers which parts of a site they may or may not access.

Schema markup (structured data). Code added to a webpage, following a shared vocabulary maintained by schema.org, that describes the page's content in a format machines can parse directly, used for everything from rich search results to AI citation.

Sitemap. A file listing a website's pages in a structured format, submitted to search engines to help them discover and understand the site's structure.

SSL certificate. A security certificate that encrypts data moving between a visitor's browser and a website's server, indicated by "https" and a padlock icon in the browser address bar.

Title tag. The HTML element defining a page's title, displayed as the clickable headline in search results and in a browser tab.

User experience (UX). How a person experiences using a website or product in practice, covering usability, navigation, load times, and overall ease of completing a task.

Zero-click search. A search query that gets answered directly on the results page, whether by a featured snippet, knowledge panel, or AI Overview, without the user clicking through to any website.

Changelog

September 1, 2026 — Added "Answer engine optimization (AEO)," now in common industry use alongside generative engine optimization (GEO), per coverage from HubSpot, CXL, and other SEO industry publications through 2026.

July 30, 2026 — Glossary published with 45 initial terms.