I explained SEO to an 80 year old client with this metaphor

I too find that using real life similes is very efficient for explaining computers to older people. For example my favorite simile to use is to explain how a computer works, typically so an older person can understand why they need more memory for their computer, not a faster processor or bigger hard drive. The illustration goes like this:

A computer is like a person studying at a library. The CPU is a person reading books. The RAM is a table at which they are sitting with their books spread out. The library shelves are the hard drive. The books in the library are their programs and documents.

Using this illustration I then explain swapping to them. Imagine if a person is doing some serious studying and needs to have 20 books open at once to read but their table is only big enough to hold 10 books. As a result they have to get up and put books back on the library shelf, move other books off the shelf onto the table, then put those books back on the shelf to get the first books back off the shelf and onto the table. This slows down the person's studying a lot.

I use this illustration to explain why you need more memory (table space) if your computer is swapping, and why you don't need a new hard drive (shelf space).

This same illustration works for other things as well: A dual core processor is two people reading at the same table. You need a bigger table if you want both people to be able to use the table affectively. If the computer is running out of hard drive space it is like the library shelves are full.

This basic illustration explains a lot about computers in a brief period of time, and I've had numerous people who don't understand how their computer works praise me for it, and say that now they really feel like they understand what is going on.

I like finding simple explanations for complicated things.

I'm increasingly finding that using everyday metaphors is the best way to explain technical concepts to the technically challenged.

Only this morning the VPS platform at our host suffered problems, and the best way that i could find to describe the cause of the downtime was to explain to my client that it was like having a washing machine that was malfunctioning due to problems with the power grid i.e. an engineer had no hope of fixing it even though its the machine in itself that is malfunctioning.

His response was as follows (Edited for confidentiality)...

"...Ok thanks. So I guess we wait for them to diagnose and fix…?

Just out of interest, in the meantime (given your analogy), does the Host expect us to continue wearing our dirty panties (etc) because we couldn’t wash them or do they pay for us to get them washed elsewhere ie do they compensate us (financially or otherwise) for this disruption / additional time being spent? ..."

I've always used real estate to explain my web business. Americans are (still, somehow) obsessed with real estate, so it goes over well.

Domain Names are land.

Websites/Apps that site on top of a domain name are houses.

A great house on a good piece of land in the nice part of town is what I try to own.

Sometimes I just buy the land and build my own house.

Sometimes I buy a really crappy house in a nice part of town and fix it up.

That's a simile, not a metaphor!

The acronym itself explains it just fine. Quit trying to muddy the waters.

Much clearer: "We are trying to make it easier for Google to find your website."

I've always found people get it very well when I explain it like this:

Me: "You know when you search on Google for stuff?" Them: "Yeah" Me: "And there's a list of things to click on? You usually look at the top ones first, right?" Them: "Yeah" Me: "I put your website on the top so people looking for what you sell will see your website first" Them: "Wow, that sounds great"