Web Analytics & SEO Glossary
Learn the key terms behind web analytics, SEO, and conversion optimization. Understand what each metric means, why it matters, and how to improve it.
Analytics & Metrics
Bounce Rate
The percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page.
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Session Duration
The total time a visitor spends on your website in a single visit.
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Pageviews
The total number of pages viewed across all visitors and sessions.
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Conversion Rate
The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action on your site.
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Exit Rate
The percentage of visitors who leave your site from a specific page.
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Unique Visitors
The number of distinct individuals who visit your site in a given time period.
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Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The percentage of people who click on a link after seeing it.
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Referral Traffic
Visitors who arrive at your site by clicking a link on another website.
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Heatmap
A visual representation of where visitors click, move, and scroll on your webpage.
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Funnel Analysis
Tracking how visitors move through a series of steps toward a conversion goal.
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Event Tracking
Recording specific user interactions on your website such as clicks, form submissions, and video plays.
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Engagement Rate
The percentage of visitors who meaningfully interact with your website rather than passively viewing it.
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Traffic Source
The origin or channel through which visitors find and arrive at your website.
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Dwell Time
The time a searcher spends on a page before returning to the search results.
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User Retention
The ability of a website or product to keep users coming back over time.
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Churn Rate
The percentage of users or subscribers who stop using your product or cancel their subscription over a given time period.
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Average Order Value (AOV)
The average amount of money spent each time a customer places an order on your website.
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Pages Per Session
The average number of pages a visitor views during a single session on your website.
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Daily Active Users (DAU)
The number of unique users who engage with your website or product within a single day.
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SEO & Search
Meta Tags
HTML elements that provide search engines and browsers with information about your page.
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Organic Traffic
Visitors who find your website through unpaid search engine results.
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UTM Parameters
Tags added to URLs that track the source and campaign of incoming traffic.
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Canonical URL
An HTML tag that tells search engines which version of a page is the preferred one.
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Backlinks
Links from other websites that point to your site, acting as votes of confidence for search engines.
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Alt Text
Descriptive text added to images that helps search engines and screen readers understand the content.
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Internal Linking
Links within your website that connect one page to another on the same domain.
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Structured Data
Code added to your pages that helps search engines understand your content and display rich results.
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Keyword Research
The process of finding and analyzing search terms people use to find content like yours.
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Sitemap
A file that lists all the pages on your website to help search engines discover and index your content.
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Search Intent
The underlying goal or purpose behind a user's search query.
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Website Audit
A comprehensive evaluation of a website's performance, SEO, accessibility, and user experience.
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Open Graph
A protocol that controls how your web pages appear when shared on social media platforms.
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Heading Structure
The hierarchical organization of H1-H6 heading tags that defines your page's content outline.
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Robots.txt
A file that tells search engine crawlers which pages they can and cannot access on your website.
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Technical SEO
The practice of optimizing the technical aspects of a website to help search engines crawl, index, and rank it effectively.
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Rich Snippets
Enhanced search result listings that display additional information like ratings, prices, or images beyond the standard title and description.
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Mobile-First Indexing
Google's practice of using the mobile version of a website's content for indexing and ranking in search results.
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301 Redirect
A permanent redirect that sends users and search engines from an old URL to a new one while preserving SEO value.
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Anchor Text
The visible, clickable text in a hyperlink that tells users and search engines what the linked page is about.
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Long-Tail Keywords
Specific, multi-word search phrases that have lower search volume but higher conversion intent than broad keywords.
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SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
The page displayed by a search engine in response to a user's query, showing organic results, ads, and special features.
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llms.txt
A markdown file at your website's root that helps large language models and AI tools understand your site's content and structure.
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Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Optimizing web content to be cited and surfaced in AI-generated search responses from platforms like Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT.
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Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Optimizing content to be selected as direct answers in featured snippets, People Also Ask boxes, voice search results, and knowledge panels.
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Conversion Optimization
Call-to-Action (CTA)
A prompt on your page that encourages visitors to take a specific action.
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Landing Page
A standalone page designed specifically to convert visitors from a marketing campaign.
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A/B Testing
Comparing two versions of a page to see which performs better.
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Social Proof
Elements like reviews, testimonials, and trust badges that build visitor confidence.
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Value Proposition
A clear statement that explains why visitors should choose your product or service.
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Form Optimization
Improving web forms to increase completion rates and reduce user friction.
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Micro-Conversion
A small, measurable action that indicates a visitor is progressing toward a primary conversion goal.
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Landing Page Optimization
The process of improving landing page elements to increase conversion rates.
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Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
The systematic process of increasing the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action.
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Cart Abandonment
When a shopper adds items to their online cart but leaves the website without completing the purchase.
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Lead Generation
The process of attracting and capturing potential customers' interest and contact information through your website.
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User Experience
Above the Fold
The portion of a webpage that is visible without scrolling.
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Page Load Time
The time it takes for a webpage to fully display its content to the visitor.
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Mobile Responsiveness
A website's ability to adapt its layout and content to work well on any screen size.
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Scroll Depth
A metric that measures how far down a page visitors scroll before leaving.
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Web Accessibility
Designing websites so people with disabilities can perceive, navigate, and interact with them.
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User Flow
The path a visitor takes through your website to complete a specific goal.
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Visual Hierarchy
The arrangement of design elements to guide visitors' attention in order of importance.
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Information Architecture
The structural organization of website content to help users find information and complete tasks.
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Breadcrumbs
A navigational aid that shows users their location within a website's hierarchy, displayed as a trail of links.
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Website Navigation
The system of menus, links, and UI elements that help users find and move between pages on a website.
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Color Contrast
The difference in luminance between foreground text and its background, critical for readability and accessibility.
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Typography
The art and technique of selecting, sizing, and arranging typefaces to make text readable, legible, and visually appealing on the web.
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Website Performance
Core Web Vitals
A set of three Google metrics that measure real-world user experience on your website.
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Time to First Byte (TTFB)
The time between a browser requesting a page and receiving the first byte of data from the server.
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Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A distributed network of servers that delivers web content to users from the nearest geographic location.
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Image Optimization
Reducing image file sizes and using modern formats to improve page load speed.
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Lazy Loading
A technique that delays loading images and content until they are needed, speeding up initial page load.
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Browser Caching
Storing website files locally in a visitor's browser so repeat visits load faster.
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Render-Blocking Resources
CSS and JavaScript files that delay your page from displaying content to visitors.
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Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
A Core Web Vital that measures how long the largest visible element takes to render on screen.
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Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
A Core Web Vital that measures how much visible content unexpectedly shifts during page loading.
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First Contentful Paint (FCP)
A performance metric that measures how quickly the first piece of content appears on screen.
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Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
A Core Web Vital that measures how quickly your page responds to user interactions like clicks, taps, and key presses.
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