Basic SEO Terms
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- The process of optimizing a website to improve its rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs).
- SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
- The page displayed by search engines in response to a query.
- Organic Search
- Search results that aren’t paid for; they appear naturally in search engine listings.
- Keyword
- A specific word or phrase that users enter into a search engine.
- Query
- The term a user types into a search engine to find information.
- Keyword Density
- The number of times a keyword appears on a page, compared to the total word count.
- Keyword Stuffing
- The overuse of keywords on a page, which can lead to penalties.
- PageRank
- A score (developed by Google) that indicates the authority of a webpage based on links.
- Bounce Rate
- The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page.
- Dwell Time
- The amount of time a visitor spends on a page before returning to the SERP.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR)
- The ratio of users who click on a specific link to the number of total users who view a page.
Technical SEO Terms
- Crawl
- The process by which search engines scan the web to index content.
- Indexing
- Adding a webpage’s content to a search engine’s database.
- Crawler/Bot/Spider
- Automated programs used by search engines to 'crawl' or scan content.
- XML Sitemap
- A file that helps search engines understand the structure of a website.
- Robots.txt
- A file that gives instructions to web crawlers on which pages to crawl and index.
- Canonical Tag
- A tag used to indicate the preferred version of a webpage, avoiding duplicate content issues.
- Structured Data
- Code added to a page to help search engines understand the content’s context.
- Schema Markup
- A specific type of structured data to help with rich results.
- Alt Text (Alternative Text)
- A description added to images for accessibility and SEO.
- Meta Tags
- Information in the HTML of a webpage that provides metadata about the page.
- Meta Description
- A short description of a webpage, shown in SERPs under the page title.
- Title Tag
- The title of a webpage as displayed in SERPs and browser tabs.
- HTTPS
- Secure version of HTTP, which encrypts data between the browser and the server.
- 301 Redirect
- A permanent redirect from one URL to another.
- 302 Redirect
- A temporary redirect from one URL to another.
- 404 Error
- An error indicating a page could not be found.
- Canonical URL
- The preferred URL of a webpage when there are duplicate or similar pages.
- Lazy Loading
- A method to delay loading certain resources (like images) until they’re needed.
- AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)
- A framework developed by Google to make pages load faster on mobile.
- Page Speed
- The amount of time it takes for a page to load.
- Mobile-First Indexing
- Google’s approach to using the mobile version of content for indexing and ranking.
- Duplicate Content
- Content that appears in more than one place on the internet.
- Breadcrumb Navigation
- A navigation aid showing the user’s location on a site.
- Cache
- Storage of webpage data for faster loading in future visits.
On-Page SEO Terms
- On-Page SEO
- SEO practices applied directly to the webpage to improve rankings.
- Content Optimization
- Adjusting content to be more relevant and readable for both search engines and users.
- Heading Tags (H1, H2, etc.)
- HTML tags used to structure content by importance.
- Internal Linking
- Linking from one page to another within the same website.
- Outbound Link
- A link pointing from your website to an external site.
- Anchor Text
- The clickable text in a hyperlink, ideally containing keywords relevant to the linked page.
- LSI Keywords (Latent Semantic Indexing)
- Keywords related to the main topic or keyword.
- Readability
- The ease with which text can be read and understood.
Off-Page SEO Terms
- Off-Page SEO
- SEO strategies performed outside of the website to improve rankings.
- Backlink
- An incoming link from another website to yours, critical for SEO.
- Link Building
- The process of acquiring backlinks.
- Link Equity
- The value or authority passed from one page to another through a backlink.
- Guest Blogging
- Writing articles for other websites to gain backlinks.
- Nofollow Link
- A link attribute that tells search engines not to pass authority to the linked page.
- DoFollow Link
- A link that passes authority to the linked website.
- Link Juice
- The SEO value passed from one page to another through hyperlinks.
- Citation
- A reference to a business’s name, address, and phone number on another site.
- Social Signals
- Engagement metrics (likes, shares) from social media that can influence rankings.
Content SEO Terms
- Content Marketing
- Creating valuable content to attract and engage an audience.
- Cornerstone Content
- High-quality, authoritative content that’s essential to a site.
- Evergreen Content
- Content that stays relevant and valuable over time.
- User Intent
- The purpose behind a user’s search query.
- Thin Content
- Content with little or no value to users, often penalized by search engines.
- Duplicate Content
- Content that appears in multiple locations, which can confuse search engines.
- Content Freshness
- The frequency of content updates or new content additions.
Local SEO Terms
- Local SEO
- Optimization focused on improving rankings in a local area.
- Google My Business (GMB)
- A tool to manage your online presence on Google, essential for local SEO.
- NAP (Name, Address, Phone)
- Essential business information for local SEO.
- Local Pack
- A set of local business listings shown in SERPs for location-based queries.
- Citation
- A mention of your business's NAP information on other sites, important for local SEO.
Analytics and Metrics Terms
- Conversion Rate
- The percentage of users who take a desired action on a page.
- Goal
- A completed user action on a website, often tracked through analytics tools.
- Bounce Rate
- Percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page.
- Session
- A single visit to a website, regardless of the number of pages viewed.
- Traffic
- The number of visitors to a website.
- Traffic Sources
- The origins of visitors, such as organic, direct, referral, or paid.
- Time on Page
- The average amount of time users spend on a specific page.
Advanced SEO Terms
- LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing)
- A technique for search engines to understand words in context.
- TF-IDF (Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency)
- A metric used to determine the relevance of a word to a document.
- Natural Language Processing (NLP)
- The use of AI to understand and interpret human language in search.
- E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)
- Criteria Google uses to evaluate the quality of content.
- User Experience (UX)
- How users interact with a website, impacting SEO.
- Knowledge Graph
- A Google database used to enhance SERPs with structured information.
Common SEO Tools
- Google Search Console
- A free tool to monitor and maintain site presence in Google SERPs.
- Google Analytics
- A tool to track and analyze website traffic.
- Google Keyword Planner
- A tool for researching keywords.
- SEMrush
- A tool for tracking keyword rankings, competitors, and site audits.
- Ahrefs
- A tool for backlink analysis and keyword research.
- Yoast SEO
- A popular WordPress plugin for on-page SEO optimization.
- Moz
- A tool for SEO analysis and tracking.
- Screaming Frog
- A crawler tool used to audit technical SEO on a website.
- Majestic
- A tool focused on link-building metrics and analysis.