SEO & AI Glossary

The encrypted version of HTTP that secures data in transit between browser and server — a confirmed Google ranking signal since 2014.

When an AI language model confidently generates factually incorrect, fabricated, or unsupported information that sounds plausible but is false.

A deliberate approach to selecting and using hashtags on social media posts to maximise discoverability and audience reach.

A content management system that stores and delivers content via API, decoupling the content backend from the presentation layer.

A data visualisation that shows where users click, move, or scroll on a web page, using colour gradients to indicate engagement intensity.

Visual data tools that display user interaction patterns on a webpage — where users click, scroll, and focus attention — using colour-coded frequency visualisations.

A Google algorithm update and ongoing system introduced in 2022 that penalises content created primarily for search engines rather than to genuinely help users.

An HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and region a page is intended for, enabling correct targeting for international websites.

SEO optimisation targeting searches in a very specific geographic area — a neighbourhood, street, or city district — typically for businesses serving that micro-area.

A detailed description of the type of company or individual that would gain maximum value from your product and provide maximum value in return.

Reducing the file size of images through lossy or lossless compression algorithms — one of the highest-impact page speed optimisations for image-heavy websites.

AI technology that identifies and classifies objects, scenes, and content within digital images.

Optimising images on a website for search engine understanding, faster loading, and visibility in image search results.

A Google Ads metric showing the percentage of eligible impressions your ads actually received versus the total available impressions.

The number of times a URL, ad, or piece of content is displayed to a user — in search results, on social media feeds, or in ad placements — regardless of whether it is clicked.

A strategy that attracts customers by creating valuable content and experiences tailored to them, rather than interrupting them with outbound messages.

An experimental methodology that measures the true causal impact of a marketing activity by comparing a treated group against a control group that did not receive the activity.

When a website has a disproportionately large number of low-quality, duplicate, or unnecessary pages indexed by Google — wasting crawl budget and diluting site quality signals.

The Google Search Console report showing which pages on a site are indexed by Google and which are excluded—with reasons for exclusion.

The ability of a web page to be stored in a search engine's index and considered for ranking in search results.