Miami Marketing Glossary.

GA4 (Google Analytics 4)

Google's free analytics platform that tracks who visits your website, what they do, and which channels drive results.

GTM (Google Tag Manager)

A free Google tool that lets you add and manage tracking codes on your site without editing the code yourself.

UTM parameter

Tags added to the end of a link so analytics knows exactly which campaign, ad, or email drove that visit.

Attribution

The system that decides which marketing channel gets credit when a customer takes weeks to finally buy.

Conversion

Any meaningful action a visitor takes that moves them closer to becoming a paying customer.

Event tracking

Recording specific visitor actions on your site like clicks, form submits, calls, or video plays so you can measure what works.

Conversion funnel

The step-by-step path a visitor takes from first landing on your site to becoming a paying customer.

Session (GA4)

One visit to your website by one person, from the moment they arrive until they leave or sit idle for 30 minutes.

First-party data

Customer information you collect directly from your own audience: emails, phone numbers, purchase history, form submissions.

Tracking pixel

A tiny piece of code from Facebook, Google, or TikTok that tracks what visitors do on your site for ad targeting.

Google Business Profile (GBP)

Your free business listing on Google that appears in Search and Maps with hours, photos, reviews, and directions.

Google Reviews

Public 1-to-5 star ratings and written feedback customers leave on your Google Business Profile that heavily influence rankings and trust.

Google Q&A

The public questions-and-answers section on your Google Business Profile where anyone can ask, and anyone — including strangers — can answer.

Google Posts

Mini social-media updates published directly inside your Google Business Profile — offers, events, news — visible right in Search results.

GBP Categories

The primary and secondary business types you select on your Google Business Profile that decide which searches you're eligible to rank for.

GBP Attributes

Specific yes/no checkboxes on your Google profile (wheelchair access, free Wi-Fi, women-owned, LGBTQ+ friendly) that filter you into niche searches.

Service area business

A Google Business Profile setup for businesses that travel to customers (plumbers, mobile groomers, locksmiths) instead of having a storefront.

Google listing hijack

When someone gains unauthorized control of your Google Business Profile or edits it maliciously — changing your phone, address, or hours.

Review snippets (★ ratings in SERP)

The gold stars and review counts that appear under your search result, pulled from Google or schema markup, that boost click-through dramatically.

Proximity factor (Map Pack)

How close your business is to the searcher's physical location — one of the top three factors deciding who shows in Google's local Map Pack.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

Software where you store every lead, customer, conversation, and deal so nothing slips through the cracks.

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

The total money you spend on marketing and sales divided by the number of new paying customers you got.

LTV (Customer Lifetime Value)

The total revenue you expect to earn from one customer over the entire time they buy from you.

Lead

Anyone who has shown interest in your business by giving you their contact info or asking a question.

MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)

A lead who has shown enough interest (downloads, page views, form fills) to be worth a sales conversation.

SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)

A prospect who has been vetted and is ready for a sales conversation, not just more marketing nurture.

Lead magnet

A free, valuable resource you give away in exchange for someone's email or phone number.

Drip campaign

A pre-written series of emails or texts sent automatically over days or weeks to nurture a lead.

Audience segmentation

Splitting your audience into smaller groups so you can send each group messages that actually fit them.

Buyer persona

A short, written profile of your ideal customer so your whole team markets to the same real person.

Google Ads

Google's paid advertising platform — you bid to appear at the top of search results and across the web.

CPC (Cost Per Click)

How much you pay each time someone clicks one of your ads — the main pricing model in Google Ads.

CPM (Cost Per Mille)

The cost to show your ad 1,000 times — the main pricing model for awareness and display campaigns.

CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)

How much you spend on ads to land one paying customer or qualified lead — the metric that actually matters.

ROAS (Return On Ad Spend)

Revenue earned for every dollar spent on ads — the scoreboard for paid marketing.

Quality Score

Google's 1-10 rating of how relevant your ad, keywords, and landing page are to searchers.

Google Display Network

Google's network of 2+ million websites, apps, and YouTube where your banner and image ads can appear.

Remarketing / Retargeting

Showing ads specifically to people who already visited your website but did not convert.

Meta Ads (Facebook + Instagram)

Paid advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp managed through Meta's Ads Manager.

LSA (Local Service Ads)

Google ads with the green "Google Guaranteed" badge that appear above regular search results for local services.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

The practice of improving your website so it shows up higher in Google's free search results for relevant queries.

Local SEO

SEO focused on showing up when someone nearby searches for a service, like 'plumber near me' in Miami.

Google Map Pack

The boxed list of three local businesses with a map that Google shows above regular search results.

SERP (Search Engine Results Page)

The page Google shows after you type a search — including ads, the Map Pack, regular links, and rich features.

Keyword

A word or phrase people type into Google that you want your business to appear for.

Long-tail keyword

A longer, more specific search phrase with less traffic but much higher intent and easier to rank for.

Backlink

A link from another website pointing to yours, which Google treats as a vote of confidence.

Domain Authority (DA)

A 0-100 score from Moz that predicts how likely your whole website is to rank in Google.

Page Authority (PA)

A 0-100 score predicting how well a single page on your website will rank, similar to Domain Authority but page-level.

Schema markup

Hidden code on your website that tells Google exactly what your content is, helping you earn rich search results.

Structured data

Hidden code that tells Google exactly what your page is about so it can show rich results.

Meta description

The short summary under your page title in Google results that convinces people to click.

Meta title (Title tag)

The clickable headline of your page in Google results — the single most important on-page SEO element.

Canonical URL

A tag that tells Google which version of a duplicate or similar page is the official one to rank.

Hreflang

A tag that tells Google which language and country each page version is for, so users land on the right one.

Crawl budget

The limited amount of time and pages Google's bots will spend on your site each visit.

Robots.txt

A small file at the root of your site that tells search engine bots which pages they can and can't crawl.

XML Sitemap

A machine-readable list of every important page on your site, submitted to Google so nothing gets missed.

Indexing

The process of Google adding your page to its giant library so it can show up in search results.

Bounce rate

The percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page without interacting.

CTR (Click-Through Rate)

The percentage of people who see your link in search results and actually click on it.

Dwell time

How long a visitor stays on your page after clicking a Google result before going back to search.

Featured snippet

The boxed answer Google shows above the regular results, pulled directly from a webpage.

Knowledge Panel

The information box Google displays on the right side of search results for a brand, person, or place.

Local citation

Any online mention of your business name, address, and phone number — even without a link back to you.

NAP consistency

Keeping your Name, Address, and Phone number written exactly the same way everywhere online.

White-hat SEO

SEO done by Google's rules — content, technical health, and earned links that build long-term rankings.

Black-hat SEO

Manipulative tactics that break Google's rules to rank fast — and usually get the site penalized.

E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)

Google's framework for judging whether your content was made by someone who actually knows the topic and can be trusted.

Core Web Vitals

Google's three speed and stability scores that measure how fast and smoothly your page loads for real users.

Page Speed

How fast your website loads and becomes usable, which directly impacts rankings, conversions, and whether visitors stay or leave.

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)

The time it takes for the biggest visible element on your page, usually a hero image or headline, to fully load.

FID (First Input Delay)

How long your site takes to respond the first time a visitor taps or clicks something after the page loads.

CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)

A measure of how much your page elements jump around while loading, causing frustrating misclicks and a sloppy feel.

INP (Interaction to Next Paint)

Google's newest speed metric that measures how responsive your site feels across every tap, click, and keypress.

Mobile-first design

Designing your website starting from the phone screen first, then scaling up to tablet and desktop, not the other way around.

Responsive design

A website built so its layout automatically adjusts to fit any screen size, from phones to tablets to giant monitors.

UX (User Experience)

The overall feeling a visitor has using your website, from how easy it is to navigate to how quickly they find what they need.

UI (User Interface)

The visual design of your site, every button, color, font, and image a visitor sees and interacts with on screen.

CTA (Call to Action)

A button or link that tells a visitor exactly what to do next, like 'Call Now', 'Book Free Consult', or 'Get Quote'.

Above the fold

The part of your website a visitor sees before scrolling — the most valuable real estate on any page.

Web hosting

The service that stores your website files on a server so people can visit your site 24/7.

CDN (Content Delivery Network)

A network of servers worldwide that delivers your website from the location closest to each visitor.

SSL certificate

The technology that encrypts your website connection and turns the address bar into the secure padlock with https://.

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)

The international standard for making websites usable by people with disabilities — vision, hearing, motor, and cognitive.