Glossary: Website Conversion

Every key term from the course, in plain English. When a lesson says a word you don't know, it lives here.

The 5-Second Test

Show your page to a stranger for five seconds, take it away, and ask three questions: what does this company do, who is it for, what should I do next. Each correct answer is a point — three points means your above-the-fold works.

The One-Job Rule

Every page gets exactly one job and one primary call to action. A homepage orients and routes, a service page persuades and captures, an about page builds trust. Two jobs means no job.

The Friction Audit

Completing your own conversion action on your phone while counting every field, click, page load, and second it costs. What feels like work to you is a wall to a stranger.

Conversion rate

Completions divided by visitors, usually as a percentage. The one number that measures whether your site works — track it monthly with the same definition every time.

Above the fold

Everything visible without scrolling. On phones it's a small window, so your headline, subhead, proof snippet, and call to action must all survive a five-second glance.

Call to action (CTA)

The one thing you ask the visitor to do: the button, the form, the next step. It needs a verb ("Get my quote"), not a shrug ("Submit", "Click here").

Social proof

Evidence that others trust you: testimonials, results, logos, counts, ratings. Ranked by the evidence hierarchy — specific results with names beat vague claims every time.

Risk reversal

Anything that answers "what if it doesn't work for me": concrete guarantees, trial options, transparent pricing, a visible process. Desire first, safety second.

A/B test

Showing half your visitors version A and half version B, changing exactly one variable, and measuring which converts better. One variable, one lesson, no guessing.

Heatmap

A visual overlay showing where visitors click and hover: red means heavy interaction, blue means ignored. Hunt dead clicks, rage clicks, and CTAs sitting in blue zones.

Scrollmap

A visual showing how far down the page visitors actually get. If most never reach your testimonials, the fix is moving proof up — not writing better testimonials.

Bounce rate

The share of visitors who leave without interacting. A high bounce usually points at relevance or clarity: wrong audience, or the right audience confused in the first screen.

Landing page

A page with one job and one audience, usually reached from an ad, email, or link. No nav distractions, one promise, one call to action — the One-Job Rule at its purest.

Testimonial anatomy

The four parts of a converting testimonial: a real name and photo, the situation, the specific result with numbers, and the before/after contrast. Miss a part and it weakens a rung.

Rage click

Rapid repeated clicking on something that isn't responding — a visitor's frustration made visible on a heatmap. It means something looks clickable or broken, and it's costing you.