Glossary
Website, search and AI terms in plain English: what each one means and why it matters for getting found by the right buyers. Many are optional signals, not must-haves.
59 terms
Scores and audits
- Audit
A scan of your website's pages that checks for findability problems and turns them into a list of fixes.
Why it matters: It tells you what to fix first. Your first full audit is free once per account.
- Carried-forward result
A recent real measurement of your own site (up to 90 days old) reused when a fresh one couldn't be taken. It is labelled with its date.
Why it matters: It avoids guessing, but it may be out of date if you changed things since.
- Check fixes
A quick re-test of specific problems you have marked as fixed.
Why it matters: It confirms a fix actually worked. Some issues can only be confirmed by a full audit or by checking yourself.
- Measured score
A score built from data we actually collected for your site in that audit.
Why it matters: You can trust it reflects the site at that moment.
- Provisional score
A score shown with a warning because part of the evidence is missing or older.
Why it matters: Treat it as a rough guide until a full audit fills in the gaps.
- Rescan
Running a fresh audit after you have made changes.
Why it matters: It updates your scores with what the site looks like now, rather than last time.
- RocketRank™
Web App Rocket's own overall score out of 100 for how findable your site looks, combining SEO and GEO checks.
Why it matters: It shows your progress at a glance. It is our indicator, not your Google position, and a higher score never guarantees rankings, traffic or AI mentions.
- Unscored check
Something we report on but don't count toward your score, such as backlinks or local listings when we couldn't measure them.
Why it matters: Useful context without punishing you for data we don't have.
- Withheld score
A score we deliberately don't show because a required measurement (such as page speed) is missing. Missing data is never treated as a perfect score or a zero.
Why it matters: It keeps your numbers honest. A rescan usually fills it in.
How search engines find you
- Backlink
A link from another website to yours.
Why it matters: Relevant links from trusted sites help search engines trust you. Quality matters far more than quantity.
- Bot-blocked link
A link our checker couldn't open because the other site refuses automated visitors, though it may work fine for people.
Why it matters: It isn't necessarily broken. Check it in your own browser before changing anything.
- Broken link
A link that leads to a page that doesn't exist or errors.
Why it matters: It frustrates visitors and wastes crawler time. Fix or remove it.
- Canonical URL
A tag that says which address is the main version when the same content exists at several URLs.
Why it matters: It stops duplicate copies competing with each other and focuses credit on one page.
- Crawling
When an automated program (a crawler or bot) visits your pages to read them.
Why it matters: If crawlers can't reach a page, search engines and AI tools can't learn what's on it.
- Domain evidence vs heuristic
Domain evidence is something we measured directly on your site. A heuristic is an educated guess from patterns, like a page's address.
Why it matters: We label guesses as guesses, so you know which findings to double-check.
- Indexability
Whether a page is allowed and able to be indexed: it loads, isn't blocked and isn't marked noindex.
Why it matters: Pages you want found must be indexable. We only check the pages that should be.
- Indexing
When a search engine stores a page so it can appear in results.
Why it matters: A page that isn't indexed can't show up in search. Being crawled doesn't guarantee being indexed.
- Noindex
A tag or header that asks search engines not to include a page in results.
Why it matters: Right for private or thank-you pages; harmful if it's left on pages you want found.
- Redirect
An instruction that sends visitors from one address to another. 301 means permanent, 302 temporary.
Why it matters: Good for moved pages. Long chains of redirects slow things down and can lose people along the way.
- Referring domain
A separate website that links to you, counted once however many links it has.
Why it matters: Ten different sites linking once usually says more than one site linking ten times.
- robots.txt
A small text file at your site's root that tells crawlers which areas they may or may not visit.
Why it matters: One wrong line can block search engines or AI tools from your whole site. It controls crawling, not whether a page is indexed.
- SEO
Search Engine Optimisation: making your site easy for Google and Bing to find, understand and show to the right people.
Why it matters: Search is still the biggest source of free, ready-to-buy visitors for most sites.
- Sitemap
A file that lists the pages on your site you want search engines to know about.
Why it matters: It helps new or deep pages get discovered faster. It's a hint, not a guarantee of indexing.
- Status code
The number a server sends back with each page: 200 means OK, 404 means not found, 5xx means a server error.
Why it matters: Pages you want found should return 200. Errors waste visitors and crawler time.
Learn more: Google Search Central: how Search works · Bing Webmaster Guidelines
On your pages
- Article markup
Structured data that marks a page as an article or blog post, with author and date.
Why it matters: Only relevant for real articles. We only check it on pages that look like articles, not on your homepage or product pages.
- Content quality
Whether a page offers something genuinely useful, or looks unfinished, copied or near-empty (for example leftover demo text or a listing with almost nothing on it).
Why it matters: Weak pages give people little reason to stay or cite you. It depends on context: a short page isn't automatically bad, and there's no automatic Google penalty. Our page-text check is currently a limited owner test, not generally available.
- FAQ markup
Structured data that labels questions and answers visible on a page.
Why it matters: Useful only where a page genuinely shows FAQs. It must match visible text. Google now shows FAQ results only for a few site types.
- H1
The main heading at the top of a page's content.
Why it matters: It tells visitors and machines what the page is about in one line.
- Meta description
A short summary of a page that search engines may show under the title.
Why it matters: It doesn't directly raise rankings, but a good one can earn more clicks. Search engines sometimes write their own.
- Structured data
Hidden labels in your page code (usually written as JSON-LD) that spell out what things are: a business, product, article or FAQ.
Why it matters: It helps machines understand your page. It's optional, and adding it doesn't guarantee special search features.
- Title tag
The page name shown in the browser tab and usually as the clickable headline in search results.
Why it matters: A clear, unique title helps people choose your result.
Learn more: Google: intro to structured data · Google: title links
AI answers
- AEO
Answer Engine Optimisation: making your site easy to find and understand for tools that give direct answers. In RocketRank it's the Visibility half.
Why it matters: More people now ask a question and read one answer instead of clicking links.
- AI citation
When an AI assistant names your brand or links your page in its answer.
Why it matters: It can send interested visitors. We only report citations we actually observed.
- AI visibility
How often, and how accurately, AI assistants mention your business when people ask relevant questions.
Why it matters: It's a new route to buyers. No tool can guarantee AI assistants will mention you.
- Citation Integrity
An optional paid check (in Additional Audit Tools) of whether a page is clear and accurate enough for an AI assistant to quote safely.
Why it matters: It helps you spot pages AI might misquote. It costs Credits, shown before you run it.
- GEO
Generative Engine Optimisation: making your pages easy for AI assistants like ChatGPT to quote and credit. In RocketRank it's the Citability half.
Why it matters: Clear, factual, well-structured pages are easier for AI tools to use and mention.
- llms.txt
An optional plain-text (Markdown) file at your site's root that summarises what you do and lists key pages for AI tools. It's not a web page.
Why it matters: It's a proposed convention, cheap to add. Not all AI tools use it, and it doesn't guarantee rankings or citations.
Learn more: The llms.txt proposal
Speed and experience
- CLS
How much the page jumps around while loading. Good is 0.1 or less.
Why it matters: Jumping layouts cause mis-taps and feel untrustworthy.
- Core Web Vitals
Google's three measures of real page experience: loading (LCP), responsiveness (INP) and visual stability (CLS).
Why it matters: Fast, stable pages keep visitors. They're one of many signals, not a ranking shortcut.
- INP
How quickly a page reacts when someone taps or clicks. Good is 200 milliseconds or less.
Why it matters: Laggy buttons feel broken and lose sign-ups.
- LCP
How long the biggest visible part of a page (often a main image or heading) takes to appear. Good is 2.5 seconds or less.
Why it matters: Slow loading makes people leave before they see anything.
- PageSpeed / Lighthouse
Google's lab test of a page. Its performance score measures speed; its separate SEO score checks basic tags. Neither is your Google ranking.
Why it matters: A speed score and an SEO checklist score measure different things, so a fast page can still have SEO gaps and vice versa.
Learn more: web.dev: Core Web Vitals
Measuring results
- Attribution
Working out which channel or campaign led to a visit or key event.
Why it matters: It shows what's worth repeating. It's never perfect, so we say when a source is unknown.
- Clicks
How many times someone clicked through to your site from search results.
Why it matters: Clicks are actual visits, the step after being seen.
- CTR
Clicks divided by impressions: the share of people who saw your result and clicked.
Why it matters: A low CTR often means your title or description needs work.
- Engagement rate
In GA4, the share of visits that lasted over 10 seconds, viewed two or more pages or triggered a key event. Bounce rate is the opposite.
Why it matters: It hints whether visitors found what they came for.
- Google Analytics 4
Google's free tool that counts visits and actions on your website.
Why it matters: It shows whether visitors arrive and what they do. Without it, we can't show visitor numbers.
- Google Search Console
Google's free tool showing how your site appears in Google search: which searches show it and how often people click.
Why it matters: It's the most direct evidence of your Google visibility. Connect it so we can show real numbers.
- Impressions
How many times your site appeared in search results, whether or not anyone clicked.
Why it matters: Rising impressions usually come before rising clicks.
- Key event
An action in GA4 you've marked as important, like a form sent or a sign-up. GA4 used to call these conversions.
Why it matters: We count only the key events you map yourself. An event isn't necessarily a person or a sale: one person can trigger several.
- Organic traffic
Visitors who arrive from unpaid search results.
Why it matters: Free, ongoing visitors who were already looking for what you offer.
- Self-reported outcome
Leads, sign-ups or customers you record yourself, kept separate from analytics data.
Why it matters: It captures real results analytics can miss, labelled so you know where the number came from.
Learn more: Search Console performance report · GA4: about key events
Marketing
- Channel
A place you reach people, such as search, LinkedIn, email, communities or a newsletter.
Why it matters: Focusing on a few channels your buyers actually use works better than spreading thin.
- Draft approval
Your explicit OK on a specific version of a marketing draft before you copy and use it.
Why it matters: You stay in control of everything said in your name.
- Marketing Manager
Web App Rocket's guided weekly plan of suggested marketing actions for your site, with drafts you edit and approve.
Why it matters: It turns 'do some marketing' into a few concrete steps. Nothing is sent or posted automatically.
- Target audience
The specific people most likely to buy what you offer.
Why it matters: Attracting the right buyers beats attracting lots of uninterested visitors.
- Tracked link
A link with extra labels added so analytics can tell which post or campaign sent a visitor.
Why it matters: It shows which of your efforts actually bring people in.
- UTM parameters
The labels added to the end of a tracked link, like utm_source=linkedin.
Why it matters: GA4 reads them to group visits by source and campaign.
Your account
- Credits
Your Web App Rocket usage balance for metered work like extra audits, AI checks and research. Purchased Credits never expire.
Why it matters: They're not ranking points. The exact cost is shown before you approve anything that uses them.