Reference · 60+ terms
Local SEO Glossary (UK Edition)
Plain-English definitions of every local SEO, Google Business Profile and Map Pack term you'll come across — written for UK small business owners, not agencies.
A
- Authority Score
- A 0–100 score (from tools like Semrush) estimating a domain's SEO strength based on backlinks, traffic and trust.
B
- Backlink
- A link from another website to yours. High-quality, relevant backlinks are one of the strongest local SEO ranking signals.
- Bounce Rate
- The percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page. Often a sign of slow speed or weak content.
- Breadcrumb
- A navigation trail (e.g. Home > Services > MOT) that helps both users and Google understand your site structure.
C
- Canonical URL
- The 'official' version of a page when duplicates exist. Tells Google which URL to index.
- Citation (NAP)
- A mention of your Name, Address and Phone number on directories like Yell, Thomson Local or Yelp. Consistency boosts local trust.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR)
- The percentage of people who click your listing after seeing it in search results.
- Core Web Vitals
- Google's page-experience metrics: loading speed, interactivity and visual stability. They affect rankings, especially on mobile.
- Crawl
- How Google's bots discover and read your pages. Pages need to be crawlable to be indexed.
D
- DA / Domain Authority
- A third-party score (Moz) predicting how well a domain might rank. Not used by Google directly.
E
- EEAT
- Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust. Google's framework for evaluating content quality, especially in YMYL niches.
F
- Featured Snippet
- An answer box at the top of Google's results. Won by clear, well-structured content that directly answers a query.
G
- GBP / Google Business Profile
- The free Google listing that powers your business's appearance in Google Maps and the local Map Pack. Formerly Google My Business (GMB).
- Geotagging
- Adding location metadata to photos (EXIF GPS data) you upload to your GBP. Helps signal local relevance.
- Google Posts
- Short updates (offers, news, events) you publish directly inside your Google Business Profile.
- Google Search Console (GSC)
- A free Google tool that shows which queries trigger your site, indexing status and technical errors.
H
- H1 / H2 / H3
- HTML heading tags that structure your page. A page should have one H1 and a logical hierarchy below it.
I
- Index (Indexed)
- A page Google has accepted into its searchable database. Only indexed pages can rank.
- Internal Links
- Links from one page on your site to another. They distribute authority and help Google discover content.
K
- Keyword Difficulty (KDI)
- An estimate of how hard it is to rank for a given keyword. Lower KDI = realistic for newer sites.
- KPI
- Key Performance Indicator. For local SEO: calls, direction requests, form fills, bookings — not just rankings.
L
- Landing Page
- A focused page designed for a specific search intent or campaign — usually with one clear CTA.
- Local Pack / Map Pack
- The block of 3 Google Business Profiles shown above the organic results for local queries.
- Long-tail Keyword
- A longer, more specific search phrase (e.g. 'gluten free bakery in Manchester city centre'). Lower volume, higher intent.
M
- Map Pack Ranking
- Where your GBP appears in the top-3 Google Maps results for a query. Heavily influenced by proximity, prominence and relevance.
- Meta Description
- The short summary under your page title in Google results. Doesn't affect rankings directly but drives CTR.
- Mobile-First Indexing
- Google now uses the mobile version of your site as the primary source for ranking — desktop-only sites underperform.
N
- NAP Consistency
- Keeping your Name, Address and Phone number identical everywhere online. Inconsistency confuses Google and hurts trust.
- Negative SEO
- Attempts to hurt a competitor's rankings (e.g. spammy links, fake reviews). Rare for UK SMBs — focus on building your own authority.
- Nofollow
- A link attribute telling Google not to pass authority. Common on user-generated content and sponsored links.
O
- Off-page SEO
- Everything that happens outside your site — backlinks, mentions, citations, PR, reviews.
- On-page SEO
- What you control on the page itself: titles, headings, content, internal links, schema.
- Organic Search
- Unpaid traffic from search engines. Distinct from paid (Google Ads) and direct/social.
P
- Proximity (Map Pack)
- How close the searcher is to your business. The single biggest Map Pack ranking factor — and one you can't change.
- Prominence
- How well-known your business is online — reviews, links, mentions. Map Pack ranking factor you CAN influence.
Q
- Q&A (GBP)
- The questions-and-answers section on your Google Business Profile. Seed it yourself with real FAQs to control the narrative.
R
- Rank Tracking
- Monitoring where your pages and GBP appear in search results over time. Track keywords AND map positions.
- Relevance
- How closely your business matches the searcher's query. Driven by your GBP categories, services and website content.
- Review Velocity
- The rate at which you get new reviews. Steady > sudden bursts. Bursts can look manipulative.
- Rich Result
- An enhanced search result with stars, FAQs, prices or images, powered by schema markup.
- Robots.txt
- A file telling search engines which parts of your site they can or can't crawl.
S
- Schema / Structured Data
- Code (usually JSON-LD) that tells Google what your content is about — LocalBusiness, FAQ, Product, Review, etc.
- SERP
- Search Engine Results Page. The page Google returns for a query, including Map Pack, ads and organic.
- Service Area Business (SAB)
- A GBP type for businesses that travel to customers (plumbers, mobile mechanics). No public storefront required.
- Sitemap
- An XML file listing all your indexable pages, submitted to Google Search Console.
T
- Title Tag
- The HTML title of a page, shown as the headline in Google results. Critical for CTR and on-page SEO.
- Topical Authority
- How comprehensively your site covers a topic. Built by clusters of related content, not single pages.
U
- UTM Parameters
- Tags added to URLs (utm_source, utm_medium) so you can see where traffic came from in your analytics.
V
- Voice Search
- Spoken queries via Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant. Trends toward longer, question-style phrases.
W
- WhatsApp Click-to-Chat
- A wa.me link that opens a WhatsApp conversation. High-converting CTA for UK local businesses.
- White Hat SEO
- Practices aligned with Google's guidelines. The only sustainable approach for local businesses.
Z
- Zero-Click Search
- A search where the user gets the answer directly on the SERP (e.g. opening hours, address) without clicking through.
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