The sideline dictionary
The Playbook Terms
Keep this A–Z glossary open while you work. Find a new word, read the plain-English meaning and get back to the drill.
A
- A/B test
- An experiment that compares two versions by changing one element and tracking the same outcome.
- Above the fold
- The part of a page visible before you scroll. It changes with the screen size.
- Affiliate
- A person or business paid under a program for a qualifying referral.
- Affiliate disclosure
- A plain explanation that you can earn a commission or receive another benefit from a recommendation.
- Affiliate link
- A referral link that identifies the person or business that sent the visitor.
- Audience
- The people your business is trying to help or reach.
- Automation
- A rule that runs a task when something happens, such as sending a welcome email after confirmation.
- Autoresponder
- A tool or setting that sends a series of emails automatically.
B
- Bounce
- An email that the receiving system rejects or cannot deliver.
- Bridge page
- A page that explains a recommendation before sending the reader to an outside offer.
- Broadcast
- A one-time email you send to a selected list or group.
C
- Call to action
- An instruction that asks the reader to take a specific next step.
- Capture page
- A web page with a form that collects email sign-ups.
- Churn
- The rate at which customers or subscribers leave during a period.
- Click rate
- The share of a defined group that clicked. Check which group the tool uses.
- Commission
- A payment for a qualifying sale or action under a referral program.
- Confirmation email
- An email that asks someone to verify they wanted to join a list.
- Consent
- A person’s permission to receive the messages or services you describe.
- Conversion
- The action a page or message is intended to produce, such as a confirmed sign-up.
- Conversion rate
- The share of a defined group that completes the intended action.
- Cookie
- A small piece of data stored by a browser for a website.
- Copy
- Words written for a page, email, ad or other piece of communication.
- Credit ads
- Ads paid for with credits earned or allocated inside a particular network.
D
- Deliverability
- Whether sent email reaches recipients and where it lands.
- Domain
- The readable address of a website, such as bestcoachingever.com.
- Double opt-in
- A sign-up process that asks the subscriber to confirm by email.
E
- Email list
- A collection of email contacts managed by an email service.
- Evergreen
- Material designed to stay useful over time with occasional updates.
F
- Faceless video
- A video that teaches with screen recording, hands, footage or graphics while the presenter remains off camera.
- Funnel
- The route someone can take from finding you to taking a later action, such as subscribing or buying.
H
- Hosting
- A service that makes your website files or application available online.
I
- Impression
- One recorded display of a piece of content or an ad.
- Internal link
- A link from one page of a site to another page on the same site.
K
- Keyword
- A word or phrase that describes what someone is looking for.
L
- Landing page
- A page a visitor arrives at after clicking a link. It often serves one main goal.
- Lead
- Someone who has shown interest in what you offer.
- Lead magnet
- A free resource offered to someone who chooses to join your email list.
- License
- Written terms that say how a product, file or other work can be used.
- Link tracker
- A tool that records visits through a link and may help identify where those visits came from.
- List hygiene
- The routine of keeping email addresses, permissions and removals accurate.
M
- Master resell rights
- A license that may let you sell a product and pass resale rights to buyers. Read the exact terms.
- Meta description
- A short page summary in HTML that search engines may use in a result.
N
- Niche
- A focused group of people or a narrow topic a business serves.
O
- Offer
- What someone gets, who it suits and under what conditions.
- Open rate
- The reported share of emails opened. Privacy tools can make it an imprecise measure.
- Opt-in
- An action that gives permission, often by submitting a sign-up form.
- Organic traffic
- Visits from sources such as search or shared content without paying for the individual placement.
P
- Page builder
- A tool for making a web page by arranging blocks or editing a template.
- Permission-based email
- Messages you send to people who agreed to receive them.
- PLR
- Private label rights. A license that may allow editing or rebranding under its written terms.
- Prompt
- An instruction or question you give an AI tool, often with context and a requested output.
R
- Referral
- A visit or customer introduced by someone else.
- Resell rights
- Written permission to sell a product. Check whether editing or passing on rights is allowed.
S
- Search intent
- The task someone is trying to complete when they search for a phrase.
- Segment
- A subset of a list selected by a rule, such as the resource someone requested.
- SEO
- Search engine optimization. Work that helps people and search engines find and understand a website.
- Sign-up rate
- The share of visits or people that submit a sign-up form. Confirmation is a separate step.
- Solo ad
- A paid placement in which another person emails your offer to their audience.
- Split test
- Another name for an A/B test comparing two versions.
- Subscriber
- Someone who agreed to receive emails from a list.
T
- Thank-you page
- The page shown after an action, often with instructions for what happens next.
- Thumbnail
- The small preview image for a video or piece of content.
- Time blocking
- Reserving a specific period on a calendar for a clearly defined job.
- Traffic
- Visits to a page or website.
- Tracking link
- A link labeled or routed so you can distinguish where its visits came from.
U
- Unique visitor
- A reporting tool’s estimate of distinct visitors during a given period.
- Unsubscribe
- The action that removes someone from future sends to an email list.
- UTM parameters
- Extra labels added to a URL to identify a link’s source, campaign or placement in reporting.
V
- Value proposition
- A plain statement of who an offer helps and what it helps them do.
W
- Welcome sequence
- The first emails a subscriber receives after joining a list.
- WordPress
- Software for creating and managing website pages and posts.