Glossary: Google and Meta advertising terms explained

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Ad Rank: What decides your position in the auction: bid, quality and ad assets. Read the guide: How much does it cost to advertise on Google Ads?
Audience: The people you want to reach, based on things like location, age and interests. Read the guide: How much does Facebook advertising cost?

Campaign objective: What you ask Meta to optimise for, such as enquiries, sales or visits. Read the guide: How much does Facebook advertising cost?
Cluster: A group of keywords with the same search intent, which should share a page. Read more in our keyword research guide
Content gap: A search where your competitors appear but you don't. Read more in our keyword research guide
Conversion: An action you want visitors to take, such as calling, sending an enquiry or buying. Read the guide: How much does it cost to advertise on Google Ads?
Conversion tracking: Measuring what visitors do after clicking, such as calling, sending an enquiry or buying. Read the guide: How does Google Ads work?
Cost per click (CPC): What you pay when someone clicks your ad. Read the guide: How much does it cost to advertise on Google Ads?
Cost per enquiry (CPA): Your ad spend divided by the number of enquiries or sales. Read the guide: How much does it cost to advertise on Google Ads?
CPM: Cost per thousand impressions. This is how the price is usually counted on Facebook and Instagram. Read the guide: How much does Facebook advertising cost?
CTR: The share of people who see your ad and also click it. Read the guide: How much does Facebook advertising cost?

Daily budget: The most you want to spend per day on average. On a single day, Google can spend up to twice that. Read the guide: How much does it cost to advertise on Google Ads?

Internal linking: Links between the pages on your own site, which show Google what belongs together.

Keyword: The word or phrase you want your ad to show for. Read the guide: How does Google Ads work?
Keyword cannibalisation: When several of your own pages compete for the same search. Read more in our keyword research guide
Keyword mapping: Assigning each cluster to a specific URL on your site. Read more in our keyword research guide

Landing page: The page a customer lands on after clicking your ad. Read the guide: How does Google Ads work?

Match type: How closely a search has to match your keyword for your ad to show: broad, phrase or exact. Read the guide: How does Google Ads work?
Meta pixel: A piece of code on your site that tells Meta what visitors do, once they've accepted cookies. Read the guide: How much does Facebook advertising cost?
Monthly retainer: A fixed monthly fee for ongoing SEO work. Read more in our guide to SEO pricing

Negative keywords: Keywords you exclude, so your ad doesn't show when someone searches for them. Read the guide: How does Google Ads work?

Organic traffic: Visitors who come from the regular search results, not from ads.

Performance Max: A campaign type where Google shows your ads across all its channels and decides where they appear. Read the guide: How does Google Ads work?

Quality Score: Google's rating from 1 to 10 of your ad, its expected click-through rate and your landing page. Read the guide: How does Google Ads work?

Retargeting: Ads to people who have already visited your site or account. Read the guide: How much does Facebook advertising cost?

Search Console: Google's free tool that shows what your site appears for, with position and clicks.
Search intent: What the searcher wants: to learn, compare, buy or find a specific company. Read more in our keyword research guide
Search volume: Roughly how many times a month a keyword is searched for.
Sitelinks: Extra links below your ad that lead to different pages on your site. Read the guide: How much does it cost to advertise on Google Ads?

Topical authority: How well a site covers a topic, which makes Google trust it more.