Web design, SEO and AI search glossary
Plain-English definitions for the words that come up when you build, rank and grow a business website, from Core Web Vitals to answer engine optimization. Each term starts with a one-sentence definition, then why it matters and what people get wrong.
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A to Z
10 terms, each defined in a sentence first.
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- 301 redirectA 301 redirect is a server instruction that permanently sends visitors and search engines from an old URL to a new one, passing most of the old page’s ranking signals along.
- 404 errorA 404 error is the HTTP status a server returns when a requested page doesn’t exist, usually because it was deleted, moved without a redirect or the link was mistyped.
A
- A/B testingA/B testing is a method of comparing two versions of a page or element by showing each to a random share of visitors and measuring which one performs better.
- Above the foldAbove the fold is the part of a web page visible on screen before a visitor scrolls, named after the top half of a folded newspaper.
- Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is Ontario’s 2005 law setting accessibility standards for organizations, including requirements for their public websites.
- AI citationsAn AI citation is a link or named source that an AI assistant or AI search feature shows alongside its answer, pointing to a page it drew from.
- AI crawlersAI crawlers are bots run by AI companies that fetch web pages, either to train models, to build a search index, or to read a page when a user asks about it.
- AI OverviewsAI Overviews are the AI-written summaries Google shows at the top of some search results, generated by its Gemini models and linking out to the web pages used as sources.
- AI searchAI search is any search experience where a language model writes the answer, drawing on live web results, instead of only returning a ranked list of links.
- Alt textAlt text is a short written description attached to an image in HTML, read aloud by screen readers and shown in place of the image when it fails to load.
About this glossary
I do. I’m Nick Lovett, the founder of Tavro, a Calgary web design studio. Each term is written for business owners rather than developers. Where a term touches on law, such as privacy or accessibility, it’s general information rather than legal advice.
Yes. The first sentence of every term is written to stand on its own. A link back to the term’s page is appreciated.
Send me a note through the contact page. I add terms when people ask about them.
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- nick@tavro.ca
- 587-439-9994
- Calgary, Alberta