Plain-English Glossary
Look up a word while you learn. Here are the terms we use in the guides and on the Today dashboard.
A
- A/B test
- A comparison between two versions of one thing, such as two subject lines, to see which helps readers respond.
- Affiliate link
- A special link that tells a seller who sent a visitor. The person who shared it may earn a commission if the visitor takes an eligible action.
- Affiliate program
- An arrangement in which a business pays people for eligible referrals under its rules.
- Algorithm
- A set of rules a computer follows, such as the rules a site uses to choose which posts to show.
- Alt text
- A written description that gives people using assistive technology the important meaning of an image.
- Anchor link
- A link that takes you straight to a particular section of a page.
- Autoresponder
- A tool that sends a prepared email when something happens, such as when a reader confirms their signup.
B
- Backup
- An extra copy of a file or site that you can use to recover your work.
- Bounce
- In email, a message a mail server returned without delivering it.
- Browser
- The app you use to visit web pages, such as Chrome, Safari, Edge, or Firefox.
C
- Cache
- Copies that your browser saves so it can load familiar pages or pictures faster.
- Call to action
- The instruction that tells a visitor what to do next, such as ‘Download the checklist.’
- Capture page
- A simple page with an email form, often offering a useful free gift.
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- The share of people who clicked after seeing a link, measured using the starting group specified in the report.
- Commission
- A payment a referral partner may receive when a referral qualifies.
- Confirmation email
- An email with a button to verify that the owner of an address asked to sign up.
- Conversion
- A visitor taking the action you were measuring, such as joining your email list.
- A small piece of information a website can ask the browser to remember.
D
- Dashboard
- A main screen that puts your most useful information and controls in one place.
- Deliverability
- How successfully your messages reach inboxes instead of being rejected or filtered.
- Digital product
- Something a customer receives as a file or online access, such as a checklist or class.
- Domain
- The readable address of a website, such as seniorsuccessonline.com.
- Double opt-in
- A signup process where someone submits a form and then confirms using a link in their inbox.
- Download
- A copy of something saved from the internet to your device.
E
- Email list
- A group of email addresses belonging to people who agreed to receive messages from you.
- Export
- Saving data from a tool as a separate file you can keep or use elsewhere.
F
- Funnel
- The steps a visitor follows toward one action, such as going from a guide to a signup page to a welcome email.
G
- Generative AI
- Software that makes a new draft of text, pictures, or other material in response to an instruction.
H
- Hosting
- The service that stores your website files and makes the pages available on the internet.
- HTTPS
- A protected connection between your browser and a website. It does not verify that a seller is honest.
I
- Impression
- One recorded display of a post, link, or ad. A single person can account for several.
J
- JPEG
- A common picture file format, often used for photographs. The filename usually ends in .jpg or .jpeg.
K
- Keyword
- A word or phrase that describes a topic or that someone types into a search box.
L
- Landing page
- The web page a visitor reaches after clicking a specific link.
- Lead magnet
- A useful free item, such as a checklist, offered to people who choose to join an email list.
- Link tracking
- Recording visits or clicks using a specially labeled link.
- Local storage
- Information a website saves inside your browser on your own device.
M
- Master resell rights (MRR)
- A license that may allow a buyer to sell the item with resale rights for the next buyer. Check the terms.
- Metadata
- Details about a page, picture, or file that help software describe it.
N
- An email people choose to receive regularly about a subject.
- Niche
- The particular group of people or type of problem your work focuses on.
O
- Opt-in
- A person actively agreeing to receive something, such as email updates.
- Organic traffic
- Visits that come from unpaid discovery, such as a search result or useful post.
P
- Password manager
- A tool that creates and stores passwords so you can use a different one on each site.
- Phishing
- A message or page that tries to trick you into revealing private details or handing over account access.
- Private label rights (PLR)
- Permissions that may let you edit, rebrand, or share a ready-made product under its particular license.
- Prompt
- The instructions or question you give an AI tool.
Q
- QR code
- A square pattern you can scan with a camera to open information or a link.
R
- Redirect
- A step that sends your browser from one address to another.
- Referral
- A person introduced to a website or business by someone else.
S
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Making pages clear and discoverable so search engines can understand what they help people with.
- Spam
- Unwanted messages, often sent to many recipients at once.
- Subscriber
- A person who chose to receive your emails, videos, or other updates.
T
- Template
- A reusable starting layout for something such as a page, email, or document.
- Traffic
- The visits a page or site receives.
- Two-factor authentication
- A second sign-in check that helps protect your account if someone learns the password.
U
- Unsubscribe
- To ask the sender to stop sending you future email updates.
- URL
- The full address of a page or file, including the part before and after the domain.
V
- Video captions
- On-screen words that represent speech and other important sounds in a video.
W
- Welcome email
- The first message a subscriber receives after joining a list.
- WordPress
- Software used to build and edit websites.
X
- XML sitemap
- A file listing important site URLs so search engines can discover them.
Y
- YouTube Studio
- The area of YouTube where you upload videos and manage details such as captions.
Z
- ZIP file
- A file that bundles other files together, often making them smaller for downloading.