Website terms, in plain English.
MySiteReview uses specific terms in your report. Here’s what they all mean — in plain English.
No tech background needed. If you can read a menu, you can read this glossary — and walk away knowing exactly what every word in your scan means for your business.
- Above the Fold
- Everything a visitor sees on your website before they scroll. The phrase comes from old newspapers — the top half above the physical fold. On the web, it's the first screen of your homepage.
- Alt Text
- A short written description of an image, hidden in the code. Screen readers read it out loud for blind visitors, and search engines use it to understand your photos.
Why it matters for your business: It's your storefront window. If it doesn't say what you do and why to trust you, most people leave.
Why it matters for your business: Better alt text means more people can use your site, and Google can rank your images in search results.
- Bounce Rate
- The percentage of visitors who land on your site and leave without clicking anything else. A high bounce rate usually means people didn't find what they expected.
- Broken Link
- A link on your site that goes to a page that no longer exists, usually showing a '404 Not Found' error. It happens when pages get deleted or URLs change.
Why it matters for your business: If most people bounce, your homepage isn't doing its job — visitors aren't becoming customers.
Why it matters for your business: Broken links frustrate customers, look unprofessional, and quietly hurt your ranking on Google.
- Call-to-Action (CTA)
- The button or link that tells a visitor what to do next — 'Book a call', 'Get a quote', 'Shop now'. It's the moment a browser becomes a customer.
- Click-through Rate (CTR)
- Out of everyone who sees a link — in Google results, an email, or an ad — the percentage who actually click it. If 100 people see your Google listing and 4 click, your click-through rate is 4%.
- Color Contrast
- How easy it is to read text against its background. Light gray text on a white background has low contrast; black on white has high contrast.
- Conversion
- Any time a visitor does the thing you actually want them to do — booking an appointment, buying a product, filling out a contact form, calling your business. A 'conversion' is a visit that turned into a result.
- Core Web Vitals
- Google's three official measurements of how fast and stable your site feels: how quickly the main content loads, how fast it responds when tapped, and whether things jump around as the page loads.
- Crawlability
- How easily search engines like Google can read and explore your website. Think of Google as a visitor with a map — crawlability is how clear that map is.
Why it matters for your business: Without a clear, obvious CTA, visitors don't know how to buy from you — and they won't.
Example: Rewriting a dull page title to something more compelling can double your CTR overnight.
Why it matters for your business: A higher click-through rate means more visitors from the same exposure — basically free extra traffic.
Why it matters for your business: Low contrast means older customers and people on phones in sunlight literally can't read your site.
Example: If 200 people visit your site and 6 book a call, your conversion rate is 3%.
Why it matters for your business: Traffic without conversions is just window-shopping. Conversions are what actually grow your business.
Why it matters for your business: Google uses these scores to decide where you appear in search results — better scores mean more visitors.
Why it matters for your business: If Google can't crawl your pages, they won't show up in search results — no matter how good they are.
- Domain Authority
- An estimated score (0–100) of how trustworthy your website looks to search engines, based mostly on how many other reputable sites link to you. It's not an official Google metric, but it's a useful benchmark.
Why it matters for your business: Higher authority means you're more likely to outrank competitors in Google search results.
- Engagement
- How much visitors actually interact with your site — scrolling, clicking, watching a video, reading more than one page. Strong engagement means people are genuinely interested, not just bouncing in and out.
Why it matters for your business: Engaged visitors are far more likely to become customers — and Google notices, ranking your site higher.
- Footer
- The strip at the very bottom of every page on your site. It usually holds your contact info, address, hours, social links, and small print like privacy policies.
- Funnel
- The journey a visitor takes from first hearing about you to becoming a paying customer. It's called a funnel because lots of people enter at the top, and only some make it all the way to the bottom (the sale).
Why it matters for your business: A useful footer answers last-minute questions (hours, phone, location) and quietly builds trust.
Example: Homepage visit → Services page → Contact form → Booked call. Each step is a stage in the funnel.
Why it matters for your business: Understanding your funnel shows you exactly where you're losing potential customers — and what to fix.
- H1 Tag
- The main headline of a webpage in the code. There should only be one per page, and it should clearly say what the page is about — for your homepage, that means what your business does.
- Headline
- The big sentence at the top of a page that grabs attention and tells visitors what you do or what they'll get. It's often the first — and sometimes only — thing a visitor reads before deciding to stay or leave.
- Hero Section
- The big top area of your homepage that visitors see first — usually a large headline, a short supporting line, a button, and often a photo or background image. Think of it as your storefront window.
- HTTPS / SSL Certificate
- The little padlock icon next to your website address in the browser. It means your site is using a secure, encrypted connection so information passed between you and visitors can't be snooped on.
Why it matters for your business: It's the single biggest signal to Google (and to your customer) about what this page is.
Example: 'Family dentistry in Austin — same-day appointments' beats 'Welcome to our practice' every time.
Why it matters for your business: A clear, benefit-driven headline can lift conversions more than any other single change on your site.
Why it matters for your business: If your hero section doesn't instantly say what you do and why to choose you, most visitors leave within seconds.
Why it matters for your business: No padlock means browsers warn visitors that your site is 'not secure' — and they leave.
- Image Compression
- Shrinking the file size of photos and graphics so they load faster, without making them look noticeably worse. A 5 MB photo can usually be cut to 200 KB and still look great.
- Internal Link
- A link from one page on your site to another page on your site — like 'See our services' linking to your services page. The opposite is an external link, which goes to someone else's site.
Why it matters for your business: Heavy images are the #1 reason small business sites feel slow on phones — and slow sites lose sales.
Why it matters for your business: Good internal links keep visitors exploring and help Google understand which pages matter most.
- Keyword
- A word or short phrase that customers actually type into Google when looking for what you sell — like 'pizza near me' or 'wedding photographer austin'. It's the language your customers use, not your industry's jargon.
Why it matters for your business: If your site doesn't use the words your customers search, they'll never find you.
- Landing Page
- Any page where a visitor first 'lands' on your site — often coming from a Google search, a social post, or an ad. It might be your homepage, a service page, or a special promo page built for one campaign.
- Load Time / Page Speed
- How many seconds your website takes to fully appear on a visitor's screen. Anything over 3 seconds on mobile starts losing customers fast.
Why it matters for your business: A focused landing page that matches what the visitor searched for converts far better than a generic homepage.
Why it matters for your business: A 1-second delay can drop conversions by 7%. Slow sites quietly cost you sales every day.
- Meta Description
- The short snippet of text (about 1–2 sentences) that appears under your link in Google search results. You write it; Google shows it. It doesn't directly affect ranking, but it heavily affects whether people click.
- Mobile Responsiveness
- Whether your website automatically rearranges itself to look good on a phone, tablet, or laptop. A responsive site doesn't require pinching or sideways scrolling on mobile.
Why it matters for your business: A great meta description is a free ad in Google results — it decides whether searchers pick you or a competitor.
Why it matters for your business: More than half of your visitors are on phones. If your site is hard to use on mobile, they're gone.
- Navigation Menu
- The row of links at the top of your site (and sometimes a hamburger icon on mobile) that lets visitors jump to your main pages — Services, About, Contact, and so on. It's the map of your website.
Why it matters for your business: A confusing menu is one of the fastest ways to lose a customer. Clear navigation keeps visitors moving toward booking or buying.
- Page Title (Title Tag)
- The clickable blue headline shown for your page in Google search results, and the text on the browser tab. It's one of the most important pieces of SEO copy on your site.
Why it matters for your business: A clear, keyword-rich title is often the difference between a click and a scroll-past in search results.
- Redirect
- A rule that automatically sends visitors from an old URL to a new one — for example, when you move a page or rebrand. The most common kind is called a '301 redirect' (a permanent move).
Why it matters for your business: Good redirects keep your old Google rankings and prevent customers from hitting dead ends.
- Schema Markup
- Extra hidden labels you add to your website code that tell search engines exactly what each piece of content is — 'this is a phone number', 'this is a review', 'this is a price'.
- Search Engine (Google / Bing)
- A service that lets people type a question and get a list of websites with answers. Google handles the vast majority of searches; Bing is a smaller second.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- The practice of making changes to your website so that it shows up higher when people search Google for what you sell. It's a mix of clear writing, fast loading, useful content, and clean code.
- Sitemap
- A simple file (usually called sitemap.xml) that lists every page on your site, like a table of contents for search engines. You submit it to Google to make sure nothing gets missed.
- Social Proof
- Anything on your site that shows other real people trust you — reviews, testimonials, star ratings, client logos, press mentions, before/after photos. It borrows credibility from people who aren't you.
- Subpage
- Any page on your website other than the homepage — your About page, Services page, individual blog posts, product pages, and so on.
Why it matters for your business: Schema is what gets you stars, prices, and FAQs to appear right inside Google results — making you stand out.
Why it matters for your business: Most new customers find local businesses through search. Showing up there isn't optional anymore.
Why it matters for your business: Better SEO means more free traffic from Google — visitors you don't have to pay ads for.
Why it matters for your business: A sitemap helps Google find and index every page, so all of your content has a chance to rank.
Why it matters for your business: Visitors trust other customers far more than they trust your own marketing copy.
Why it matters for your business: Subpages are where most buying decisions happen. They need to be just as polished as your homepage.
- URL Structure
- The way your web addresses are written. A clean URL like yoursite.com/services/wedding-photography is easier for both people and Google to understand than yoursite.com/?p=2734.
- User Experience (UX)
- The overall feeling a visitor has using your site — how easy it is to find things, how clear the buttons are, how quickly they get what they came for. Good UX feels invisible; bad UX feels like work.
Why it matters for your business: Clear URLs are easier to share, easier to remember, and rank better in search.
Why it matters for your business: A site that feels good to use turns more visitors into customers — full stop.
- White Space
- The empty room around text, images, and buttons on your page. It doesn't have to be white — it's just breathing space. More white space makes a page feel calmer, more premium, and easier to read.
Why it matters for your business: Cramped pages feel cheap and overwhelming. White space quietly signals quality and confidence.
Ready to see these terms in action?
Run a free MySiteReview scan and we’ll show you exactly which of these matter most for your site — in plain English.
Start my review