Glossary
Each explanation is a few lines long and written for someone who does not work in this industry.
The words you will meet
SEO
Work on a site and its content so it appears for searches that bring you customers. Not a service with an end date, but upkeep.
AEO
Preparing a site so an AI can read, understand and cite it when answering a question instead of showing a list of links.
PPC
Pay per click. A model where you pay each time someone opens your ad, whether or not they buy.
Search Console
A free Google tool showing which searches your site appears for and which technical problems Google sees. It must be on your account.
Analytics
A system for measuring visitor behaviour. Installing it is not the same as configuring it to count what matters to you.
Structured data (schema)
A hidden record in the page explaining to a machine what the content is: a product, an article, a company. Copied identically everywhere, it brings no benefit.
Canonical
A signal for which version of a page is the main one when the same content sits at several URLs. A common problem in shops with filters.
Redirect
A rule sending an old URL to a new one. Its absence during a site move is the most expensive technical mistake you can make.
Core Web Vitals
Google’s measures of how fast and stable a page loads from the point of view of the person in front of the screen. Free to check.
Sitemap
A list of your page URLs meant for search engines. Useful, but solves nothing on its own.
llms.txt
A new file intended for AI systems. Harmless and quick to add. So far there is no evidence it affects anything, and it is not a strategy.
Conversion
The action you want to happen: an order, an enquiry, a call. Everything else in a report is intermediate.
Impressions
The number of times you appeared in front of someone. It rises even when you appear for searches that will never buy.
Migration
Moving a site or shop to a new platform or address. The riskiest operation in a business’s entire digital life.
Hosting
Where the site’s files live. It can sit with your provider, as long as you get access on request and know where the backups are.
Domain
Your site’s address. The only thing on this list that cannot be rebuilt if you lose it. It must be in your name.