Velly · Marketing glossary

Marketing terms,
in plain English.

The words we use when we talk about websites, search, ads and follow-up, explained in a sentence or two.

A

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization): Making your business information clear and well structured so that answer engines (voice assistants, AI chat tools and Google’s AI answers) can find it and quote it directly in their answers.
AI (Artificial intelligence): Software that handles tasks that usually need a person, such as understanding a question, writing a reply or answering a phone call. In marketing it powers chat assistants, phone agents and AI search tools.
AI Overviews: The AI-written summaries Google shows at the top of some search results. They pull facts from websites and cite them, so clear, accurate pages can be quoted there.
AI phone agent: An automated receptionist that answers calls, talks with the caller in natural language, takes their details and passes them to your team, including when no one can pick up.
Alt text: A short written description of an image, stored in the page code. Screen readers read it aloud to people who can’t see the image, and search engines use it to understand what the image shows.

Backlink: A link from another website to yours. Links from relevant, trusted sites help search engines see your site as credible.
Booking calendar: An online calendar that lets customers pick and book an available time themselves, usually with automatic confirmations and reminders.

Call tracking: Using tracked phone numbers or tap-to-call events to see which ads, pages or listings lead to phone calls.
Citation: Any online mention of your business name, address and phone number, such as a directory listing on Yelp, Apple Maps or Bing. Consistent citations help local search rankings.
Conversion: When a visitor does what you want them to do, such as calling, sending a form or booking an appointment.
Core Web Vitals: Google’s measurements of how a page feels to use: how fast the main content appears, how quickly it responds to a tap, and whether things jump around while it loads.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management): Software that keeps every customer and lead in one place, with their contact details, conversations, estimates and next steps, so follow-ups don’t slip.
CTA (Call to action): The step a page asks the visitor to take next, such as “Call now” or “Get my free audit”, usually shown as a button.
CTR (Click-through rate): The share of people who click a result or ad after seeing it. For example, 50 clicks from 1,000 views is a 5% click-through rate.

GA4 (Analytics (GA4)): Google Analytics 4 is Google’s free tool for measuring website visits: how many people come, where they come from and what they do, such as sending a form or tapping to call.
GBP (Google Business Profile): Your free business listing on Google Search and Maps, showing your hours, phone number, reviews, photos and directions.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): Helping your business appear in answers written by generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot, by keeping your information accurate, consistent and easy for them to understand.
Google Ads: Google’s advertising platform. Your ads can appear in search results, on Maps and across Google’s network, and you usually pay when someone clicks.

Indexing: When a search engine reads a page and adds it to its database, so it can show the page in results.

Keyword: A word or phrase people type into a search engine, such as “plumber near me”. Pages and ads are matched to the keywords people use.

Landing page: A focused web page built for one goal, such as getting a quote request from people who clicked an ad.
Lead: A potential customer who has shown interest, for example by calling, sending a form or messaging you.
Lead tracking: Recording every lead, where it came from and what happened next, so none are lost and you can see which marketing works.
Local pack: The map and short list of nearby businesses Google shows for local searches such as “marketing agency near me”. It is fed by Google Business Profiles.
Local SEO: Search engine optimization focused on nearby customers: your Google Business Profile, reviews, citations and location-relevant pages, so you show up in local searches and on maps.

Marketing automation: Software that sends the right message at the right time without manual work, such as an instant text after a form, a reminder before an appointment or a review request after a job.
Meta ads: Ads on Meta’s platforms, mainly Facebook and Instagram, targeted by location, interests and other audience settings.

NAP (Name, address, phone): Your business name, address and phone number. Search engines compare it across your website, Google Business Profile and directories, so it should be written the same way everywhere.

Organic search: Search results that appear because a page is relevant, not because someone paid for an ad.

PPC (Pay-per-click): Advertising where you pay each time someone clicks your ad. Google Ads and Meta ads are common pay-per-click platforms.

Responsive design: A website layout that adapts to any screen, from phones to large monitors, so it is easy to read and use everywhere.
Retargeting: Showing ads to people who have already visited your website or interacted with your business, to remind them to come back.
Review management: Asking happy customers for reviews, replying to reviews and keeping an eye on your ratings across Google and other sites.

Schema (structured data): Code in a page that describes its content in a standard format search engines understand, such as your business name, address, services and opening hours.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Improving your website and online presence so search engines understand it and show it to more of the right people, without paying for ads.
Sitemap: A file that lists a website’s pages for search engines, so they can find and index them.
SMS (Text message marketing): Sending texts to customers who have opted in, such as appointment reminders, follow-ups and offers. SMS stands for Short Message Service.

Questions

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