The Small Business Owner’s Guide to Marketing Terms (Explained Simply)

Running a small business in London is hard enough without trying to decode marketing jargon. Whether it’s your web designer talking about “bounce rates,” or an agency mentioning “pixels” and “funnels,” it can feel like a different language.

That’s why we’ve created this guide — a plain-English breakdown of the 20 most important marketing and website terms every small business owner should know.

Each section explains:

What the term means (no jargon)
Why it matters to your business
Practical examples

Let’s dive in.

1. Call-to-Action (CTA)

A Call-to-Action (CTA) is the prompt that tells your visitor exactly what to do next. Think of it as a signpost guiding people along their customer journey.

Common CTAs include:

“Book a Free Consultation”
“Call Us Now”
“Get a Quote Today”
“Shop the Collection”

Without a clear CTA, visitors get lost or distracted and leave your site without taking action. With a strong CTA, you remove guesswork and increase conversions.

💡 Example: Imagine a plumbing website in London. If the homepage ends with just information, people might leave. But if there’s a big button saying “Call Now for Emergency Plumbing” — that visitor is far more likely to convert into a customer.

2. Bounce Rate

Your bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your site without clicking anything or moving to another page. A high bounce rate means your site isn’t doing its job.

Why it happens:

Slow speed: Visitors won’t wait if your site takes more than 3 seconds to load.
Poor design: If it looks messy or outdated, people won’t trust it.
Confusing message: If they don’t understand what you do instantly, they’ll go elsewhere.

💡 Example: A bakery in Islington with a modern, mobile-friendly site will keep people scrolling to see menus, pictures, and reviews. But an outdated site with blurry photos will make 70% of visitors bounce.

👉 Tip: Keep bounce rates low by making your website fast, simple, and engaging.

3. Local SEO

Local SEO is how you show up when people nearby search on Google. Think: “café in Clapham” or “hairdresser Fulham.”

Key elements include:

Google Business Profile: Keeping it up to date with hours, photos, and reviews.
Location keywords: Mentioning your area on your website (“Digital Marketing Agency in London”).
Reviews: Google pushes businesses with high ratings to the top.

💡 Example: A local gym in Greenwich that actively collects 5-star reviews and posts updates on its Google Business Profile will show higher than a competitor who hasn’t touched theirs in 2 years.

👉 Tip: If you serve a specific area in London, make sure your site and profiles say so clearly.

4. Sales Funnel

A sales funnel is simply the journey from stranger → lead → customer. Think of it as guiding someone down a set of steps.

Typical funnel stages:

Awareness: They see your ad or find your blog.
Interest: They click through to learn more.
Decision: They consider your services.
Action: They book or buy.

💡 Example: A cleaning service in Battersea might run Google Ads. A customer clicks the ad, lands on a booking page, and sees testimonials. They book a call — that’s the funnel at work.

👉 Tip: Without a funnel, you’re leaving sales up to chance. With one, you lead people toward the sale.

5. Conversion Rate

Your conversion rate measures how many visitors turn into leads or customers.

Formula:
(Number of conversions ÷ Number of visitors) × 100

So if 500 people visit your site and 25 call you, your conversion rate is 5%.

💡 Example: Two cafés in Chelsea both get 1,000 visitors a month. One converts 2% (20 sales), the other 10% (100 sales). The second café earns 5x more — without more traffic.

👉 Tip: Small tweaks (better CTAs, faster speed, testimonials) can significantly improve conversion rates.

6. Landing Page

A landing page is a focused page built for one single goal. Unlike your homepage, it removes distractions and drives action.

💡 Example: A lawyer in Westminster runs ads for “Divorce Lawyer London.” Instead of sending people to the homepage (which has lots of services), the ad leads to a page only about divorce law with one big “Book a Consultation” button.

👉 Tip: Every ad campaign should link to a landing page, not a generic homepage.

7. Pixel (Tracking Code)

A pixel is a small piece of code added to your website. It tracks who visited so you can show them ads later (remarketing).

💡 Example: A visitor browses your online store but doesn’t buy. A week later, they see an Instagram ad reminding them about the product. That’s the pixel at work.

👉 Tip: Without tracking, you lose valuable data. With it, you only spend money on people who already showed interest.

8. A/B Testing

A/B testing means testing two versions of something to see which performs better.

What you can test:

Buttons (Book Now vs. Get a Quote)
Headlines (Fast Plumbing London vs. 24/7 Emergency Plumbers)
Page layouts

💡 Example: An electrician in Hackney runs two Google Ads. One headline says “Electrician Hackney,” the other says “Emergency Electrician Hackney 24/7.” The second one gets 3x more clicks.

👉 Tip: Never assume — test and let data decide.

9. Keyword

A keyword is what people type into Google.

💡 Example: A florist in Shoreditch might target “wedding flowers London” as a keyword.

👉 Tip: Use tools (or hire us) to find the exact phrases people search for — then use them in your site content.

10. Heatmap

A heatmap is a tool that shows where visitors click, scroll, and spend time. It’s like CCTV for your website.

💡 Example: A restaurant in Brixton discovers via heatmap that most people scroll down to menus but ignore the “Book a Table” button. They move the button higher up — bookings increase instantly.

👉 Tip: Heatmaps help you understand real user behaviour.

Final Thoughts

Understanding these terms isn’t about becoming a marketing expert — it’s about making smarter business decisions.

At Market Link, we take care of the complex side of marketing so you can focus on running your business. From web design to SEO to Google Ads, we help small businesses across London get found online and turn clicks into clients.

Ready to get started? Book Your Free Consultation with Market Link