Glossary
Glossary: the terms behind websites that work.
Short, plain definitions of the design, development, SEO and growth terms that come up in our work, each with links to the services and guides that go deeper.
All terms, A to Z
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A
- A/B testingA/B testing is an experiment that shows two versions of a page or element to randomly split groups of visitors at the same time and compares how each performs against one goal, such as sign-ups.
- Answer engine optimisation (AEO)Answer engine optimisation is the practice of structuring content so that AI assistants and answer features, such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews, can find it, understand it and quote it.
- AstroAstro is an open-source web framework for building fast, content-focused websites.
B
C
- Canonical URLA canonical URL is the address a site names as the main version of a page when the same or very similar content is reachable at several URLs.
- CloudflareCloudflare is a company that runs a global network for delivering and protecting websites.
- CMS collectionA CMS collection is a set of content items that share the same fields, such as blog posts, case studies or team members.
- Content delivery network (CDN)A content delivery network is a group of servers spread across many locations that keep cached copies of a website's files.
- Conversion rate optimisation (CRO)Conversion rate optimisation is the structured practice of increasing the share of visitors who take a desired action, such as booking a call, signing up or buying.
- Core Web VitalsCore Web Vitals are three metrics Google uses to measure real-world page experience: Largest Contentful Paint for loading, Interaction to Next Paint for responsiveness and Cumulative Layout Shift for visual stability.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)Cumulative Layout Shift is a Core Web Vitals metric that measures how much visible content moves unexpectedly while a page is open.
D
F
G
- Generative engine optimisation (GEO)Generative engine optimisation is the work of making a brand and its content more likely to be mentioned and cited in answers written by generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity.
- Google AI OverviewsAI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that Google shows at the top of some search results.
H
I
L
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)Largest Contentful Paint is a Core Web Vitals metric that measures how long it takes for the largest image or block of text in the viewport to render after a page starts loading.
- llms.txtllms.txt is a proposed convention for a Markdown file at the root of a website, at /llms.txt, that gives large language models a short, curated guide to the site: what it is about and links to its most useful pages.
M
R
S
- SanitySanity is a headless content management system.
- Schema markupSchema markup is structured data added to a web page, using the shared Schema.org vocabulary, that tells search engines and AI tools exactly what the page describes, such as an organisation, an article, a product, a set of questions or a service.
- Static site generator (SSG)A static site generator is a tool that builds every page of a website into ready-made HTML files ahead of time, usually from templates plus content in Markdown or a headless CMS.
