LOCAL MARKETING GLOSSARY.
Plain-English definitions of the local SEO, Google Business Profile and ad terms small business owners run into. Each term links to the guide that covers it, and factual definitions cite Google, Meta or web.dev.
A–Z
Account access (owners and managers)
Who can control your Business Profile and ad accounts. On a Business Profile, owners have full control, including adding or removing users; managers have mostly the same access but can't add or remove users or remove the profile.5 Keep ownership in your business's name.
Guide: How to choose a local SEO agency
AI Overviews
AI-generated summaries in Google Search that give the gist of a topic with links to learn more. Google says there are no additional requirements or special optimizations needed to appear in them.15
Guide: AI search for local business
Average daily budget
The amount you set for a Google Ads campaign per day. A campaign might spend up to twice the average daily budget on a given day, but no more than 30.4 times it over a month.21
Call tracking
Counting phone calls that come from your marketing. In Google Ads, a call can count as a conversion when it lasts longer than a length you set.20
Guide: Track phone calls from Google
Citations (business listings)
Mentions of your business name, address and phone number on other sites, such as directories and map apps. Google lists information from across the web, like links, articles and directories, as part of prominence.1
Guide: Business listings and citations
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
The Core Web Vital for visual stability: how much the page jumps around while it loads. Good is 0.1 or less.9
Guide: Website speed and Core Web Vitals
Conversion
A customer action that is valuable to your business, such as a call, form or booking. Google Ads defines a conversion action as a specific customer activity that is valuable to your business.19
Guide: Google Ads for local business
Conversions API
Meta's way to send marketing events from your server, website platform, app or CRM to Meta, alongside or instead of the browser Pixel.29
Guide: Meta ads for local business
Core Web Vitals
Three measures of real-world page experience: LCP (loading), INP (interactivity) and CLS (visual stability). web.dev recommends checking the 75th percentile of page loads, on mobile and desktop.9
Guide: Website speed and Core Web Vitals
Crawler (bot)
An automated program that downloads pages from the web. Google's crawlers fetch text, images and videos so pages can be indexed.11
Guide: AI search for local business
Doorway pages
Pages made to rank for similar searches that send people on to a less useful destination. Google's spam policies give the example of many pages targeted at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page.14
Guide: Local landing pages
GA4 key events
Events in Google Analytics 4 that measure actions particularly important to your business, such as a form submit or a tap on your phone number. Any event you collect can be marked as a key event.18
Guide: Google Analytics 4 setup
Geofencing
Showing ads to people inside a drawn boundary, usually through a third-party ad platform. Google Ads itself offers location and radius targeting (see below). Precise location data raises privacy rules, which our guide covers.
Guide: Geofencing and location-based ads
Google Business Profile
Your free business listing on Google Search and Maps. Verifying it lets you edit your business info and interact with customers.3
Guide: Google Business Profile setup
Google Verified badge
A badge on Local Services Ads that signals a business has passed Google's screening process.27
Guide: Google Local Services Ads
HTTPS
The secure version of HTTP. It helps stop intruders from tampering with or listening to traffic between your site and visitors.10
Indexing
When Google analyzes a page and stores it in the Google index, its large database. A page that isn't indexed can't appear in results.11
Guide: Search Console for local business
INP (Interaction to Next Paint)
The Core Web Vital for interactivity: how quickly the page responds when someone taps or clicks. Good is 200 milliseconds or less.9
Guide: Website speed and Core Web Vitals
Interchange
Card network fees passed between the merchant's bank and the cardholder's bank on each card sale. Visa describes interchange reimbursement fees as transfer fees between acquiring and issuing banks.31
Guide: Lower card processing fees
Keyword match types
Settings that control which searches can trigger a Google Ads keyword: broad, phrase (in quotes) and exact (in square brackets). Broader match types reach all the searches of narrower ones, plus more.24
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
The Core Web Vital for loading: when the biggest piece of content appears. Good is within 2.5 seconds.9
Guide: Website speed and Core Web Vitals
Local SEO
Work that helps a business show up in local search and maps: an accurate profile, a useful website, real reviews. Google says it costs nothing to appear in organic results and there's no way to pay for a better local ranking.161
Guide: Local SEO checklist
Local Services Ads
Google ads for service businesses where you receive leads directly and pay only for leads related to your business and services.27 Available for certain business types and places.
Guide: Google Local Services Ads
LocalBusiness schema
Structured data on your website that tells Google about your business, such as hours and departments.8
Guide: LocalBusiness schema markup
Location targeting
Choosing where Google Ads can show. By default Google uses people in, regularly in, or who've shown interest in your chosen locations; you can change that in advanced location options.22
Map pack (local pack)
The group of Business Profiles with a map that Google shows for many local searches. Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence.1
Guide: Optimize your Google Business Profile
Meta Pixel
A snippet of JavaScript that tracks visitor activity on your website for Meta ads.28
Guide: Meta ads for local business
NAP (name, address, phone)
Industry shorthand for your core business details. Google asks that your name reflect your real-world name as used consistently on your storefront, website and stationery, with a precise address and/or service area.2
Guide: Business listings and citations
Negative keywords
Words that stop Google Ads from showing for searches you don't want, such as "jobs". Negative keywords don't match close variants, so add plurals and synonyms yourself.25
Opt-out (unsubscribe)
A way for someone to stop getting your marketing messages. The FTC says commercial email must explain how to opt out, and requests must be honored within 10 business days.33
Guide: Email and text marketing rules
Organic results
The unpaid listings in Google Search. Google says advertising with Google won't affect your site's presence in them.16
Guide: Local SEO vs Google Ads
Performance Max
A goal-based Google Ads campaign type that can use all Google Ads inventory, including YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps, from one campaign.26
Guide: Performance Max for local business
Primary category
The main category on your Business Profile. Google says to pick one that best describes your business, and categories help connect you with customers searching for your services.4
Promoted pins
Square-shaped ad pins on Google Maps that stand out from the usual round pins. Google says they need a Business Profile linked to Google Ads.34
Guide: Google Maps ads
Radius targeting
A Google Ads option to target a radius around a location. Google requires a radius of at least 1 km.23
Guide: Geofencing and location-based ads
Review gating
Asking only customers you expect to be happy for reviews, or steering unhappy ones elsewhere. Google says merchants must not selectively solicit positive reviews.35
Guide: Reputation management beyond Google
Reviews
Customer ratings on your Business Profile. Google prohibits offering incentives, like discounts, in exchange for posting, changing or removing reviews.7
Guide: Get more Google reviews
robots.txt
A file that tells search engine crawlers which URLs they can access on your site. Google says it isn't a way to keep a page out of Google; use noindex for that.13
Guide: AI search for local business
Search Console
Google's free tool for your site in Search. Its Performance report shows clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position.17
Guide: Search Console for local business
Service-area business
A business that travels to customers, such as a plumber. Google asks these businesses to hide their address and show a service area instead.2
Guide: Local landing pages
Sitemap
A file that tells search engines about the pages and files on your site and how they relate.12
Guide: Search Console for local business
Special Ad Categories
Meta campaign labels for housing, employment, financial products and services, and issues, elections or politics, which come with targeting limits. Advertisers must say whether a campaign belongs to one.30
Guide: Meta ads for local business
Store code
A unique identifier you give each location in a Business Profile account, so bulk spreadsheet changes apply to the right location.32
Guide: Business Profile for multiple locations
Suspended profile
A Business Profile that Google has suspended or disabled, typically for not following its guidelines.6
SOURCES
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google.
- Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google.
- Google Business Profile Help, Verify your business on Google.
- Google Business Profile Help, Manage your business category.
- Google Business Profile Help, Manage owners and managers of a Business Profile.
- Google Business Profile Help, Fix suspended or disabled profiles.
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to get more reviews.
- Google Search Central, Local business (LocalBusiness) structured data.
- web.dev, Web Vitals.
- web.dev, Why HTTPS matters.
- Google Search Central, In-depth guide to how Google Search works.
- Google Search Central, Learn about sitemaps.
- Google Search Central, Introduction to robots.txt.
- Google Search Central, Spam policies for Google web search.
- Google Search Central, AI features and your website.
- Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO?.
- Search Console Help, Performance report (Search results).
- Google Analytics Help, About key events.
- Google Ads Help, About conversion measurement.
- Google Ads Help, Set up phone call conversion tracking.
- Google Ads Help, About overdelivery and your average daily budget.
- Google Ads Help, About targeting geographic locations.
- Google Ads Help, Target ads to geographic locations.
- Google Ads Help, About keyword matching options.
- Google Ads Help, About negative keywords.
- Google Ads Help, About Performance Max campaigns.
- Google Local Services Ads Help, About Local Services Ads.
- Meta for Developers, Meta Pixel.
- Meta for Developers, Conversions API.
- Meta for Developers, Special Ad Categories.
- Visa, Credit card processing fees & interchange rates.
- Google Business Profile Help, Add & manage Business Profile store codes for bulk uploads.
- Federal Trade Commission, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business.
- Google Ads Help, How to advertise in Google Maps.
- Google Maps Help, Maps user contributed content policy.
KEEP READING
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL
Rather not learn all the jargon? Tell us about your business on a 15-minute call and we will explain what matters for you.