Here you will find the most important terms around websites, SEO, Google Ads, AI agents and social media, explained briefly and with examples from the everyday work of practices and businesses. Search for a term directly or browse from A to Z.
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A screen reader reads the content of a website aloud to blind and visually impaired people and lets them operate it by keyboard or gestures. For this, the website needs a clean structure, alternative texts and clearly labeled buttons.
Example: The iPhone already has a built-in screen reader: VoiceOver.
See also: Accessibility, Alt text, WCAG
Also: Search engine advertising, PPC, Paid search
SEA stands for search engine advertising, meaning paid ads in search engines, usually via Google Ads; in English, it is mostly called PPC or paid search. Unlike SEO, SEA works immediately but costs money for every click.
See also: Google Ads, SEO, CPC
Also: User intent
Search intent is the goal behind a search: getting information, finding a specific page, or booking or buying something. Google ranks the pages highest that best fulfill this intent.
Example: Someone searching for “wrinkle treatment results” wants information; someone searching for “wrinkle treatment appointment Düsseldorf” is looking for a practice.
See also: Keyword, Long-tail keyword, Content marketing
Search volume indicates how often a search term is searched on average per month. It helps when choosing keywords but says nothing about how many searchers actually become customers.
See also: Keyword, Long-tail keyword, Search intent
Also: Search engine optimization
SEO stands for search engine optimization: all measures that help a website rank high on Google without paid ads. Results usually take a few months but then last.
See also: SEA, On-page SEO, Local SEO
Also: Search engine results page
SERP stands for search engine results page. Besides the traditional results, it now often shows ads, maps, AI Overviews and highlighted answers.
See also: Ranking, Snippet, Local pack
Also: Search snippet
The snippet is how a page is shown in the search results, usually with title, address and a short description. A clear, appealing snippet helps decide whether searchers click.
See also: Meta title, Meta description, Rich results
Also: Social media advertising, Paid social
Social ads are paid ads on social networks such as Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn. They can be targeted by region, age and interests and are suitable for building awareness or filling open appointments.
See also: Reach, Social media marketing, Remarketing
Also: SMM
Social media marketing uses networks such as Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn to make a business known, build trust and win customers. This includes regular posts, interaction with the community and paid ads.
See also: Editorial calendar, Community management, Social ads
Also: Trust signals
Social proof is evidence that others have already trusted a business, such as reviews, testimonials, case studies or awards. Placed where they are easy to see, they lower the barrier to a first inquiry.
See also: Review management, Call to action, Conversion rate
Also: TLS certificate, HTTPS
An SSL certificate encrypts the connection between browser and website, recognizable by “https” in the address. Without a certificate, browsers warn about the site, and data from forms would be unprotected.
See also: Hosting, Domain, Website maintenance
Also: Staging environment, Test environment
A staging environment is a non-public copy of the website where changes and updates are tested first. Only when everything works there do they go to the live website.
Also: Schema.org, Schema markup
Structured data is additional information in a page’s code that tells search engines unambiguously what it is about, such as address, opening hours or questions and answers. It usually follows the Schema.org standard and helps Google and AI search understand the page.
See also: Rich results, GEO, Snippet
Also: Brand guidelines, Brand guide
A style guide records the rules of a visual identity: logo variants, colors, fonts, spacing and examples of use. This way, every new piece of marketing material looks consistent, even when different people design it.
See also: Corporate design, Logo, Corporate identity
Also: Brand claim, Claim
A tagline is a short, memorable sentence that, together with the logo, says what a brand stands for. Unlike a slogan for a single campaign, it stays the same for years.
Example: Below the name of a dental practice, it says “Healthy teeth without fear”.
See also: Positioning, Corporate design, Logo
Also: Content cluster, Pillar page
A topic cluster is a group of pages on one topic: a central overview page and several in-depth articles that link to each other. This shows Google that a website covers a topic comprehensively.
See also: Internal linking, Content marketing, E-E-A-T
Also: Software update
An update is a new version of a piece of software, such as the CMS, a plugin or the server. Updates close security gaps and fix bugs, so they should be installed regularly and tested.
See also: Plugin, Website maintenance, Staging
Also: UX
User experience describes how people experience using a website: whether they quickly find what they are looking for, whether everything is clear and whether it works smoothly. A good user experience leads to more inquiries and fewer drop-offs.
See also: Responsive design, Page speed, Customer journey
Also: UTM code, Campaign parameters
UTM parameters are additions at the end of a link that let analytics tools recognize where a visit comes from, for example a newsletter or a flyer with a QR code. The most important ones are utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign.
See also: Web analytics, Conversion tracking, Canonical tag
Also: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
The WCAG are the international guidelines for accessible websites, currently in version 2.2. They have three levels from A to AAA; the middle level, AA, is usually the benchmark.
See also: Accessibility, Contrast ratio, BFSG
Also: Tracking
Web analytics measures how many people visit a website, where they come from and what they do there. Privacy-friendly tools without cookies often work without a consent banner, while Google Analytics requires consent.
See also: Bounce rate, UTM parameters, Cookie banner
Also: Maintenance plan, Website care
Website maintenance covers the ongoing technical upkeep of a website: updates, backups, security checks and monitoring of loading time and availability. It prevents outages and security gaps before visitors notice them.
See also: Update, Backup, Monitoring
Also: Page sketch, Mockup
A wireframe is a simple draft of a page that shows only its structure and content, without colors and images. It helps clarify early on what goes where before the design is created.
See also: User experience, Relaunch, Responsive design
Also: Sitemap
An XML sitemap is a file that lists all the important addresses of a website for search engines. It helps Google find new and changed pages faster and is submitted in Google Search Console.
See also: Crawler, Indexing, Google Search Console
Also: Zero click
In a zero-click search, someone finds the answer directly on the results page, for example in an AI Overview, and doesn’t click on any website. This makes it all the more important to be named there as a source and to be present with your business profile.
See also: AI Overviews, Featured snippet, GEO
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