Our search engine optimization glossary is meant for anyone that wants to learn about everything in search engine optimization and all it entails. You can scroll through our SEO glossary below to understand the top-level meaning of the terms, or click through the links to go to the corresponding article where we have done a deep dive into what the term is, applications, use cases, and more.
Our blog is also a resourceful wealth of knowledge for anyone interested in SEO.
| Algorithm | This is the set of rules followed to determine the ranking of web pages in search results. |
| Alt Text | Is an essential part of making content accessible. When adding images, charts, icons or other graphic elements, alt text should be added to ensure your content will be accessible to all users |
| Anchor Text | Is the visible text of a link. This text tells people and Google something about the page you’re linking to. |
| AdSense | Is an advertising platform that can help you generate revenue by allowing Google to place ads on your website. |
| Above The Fold | The section of your site that first greets users when they land on a page. |
| Article Spinning | Article spinning is a form of “black hat” SEO where thousands of rewritten copies of a piece of content are generated to manipulate search rankings. |
| Authority Linking | Is an indicator of the ranking power a link carries over. |
| Automated Submitting | The process of using tools to automatically complete tasks that help you improve your performance in search engine results pages. |
| Authority (Website) | Is an SEO concept that refers to the overall “strength” of a particular domain. |
| Aging Content | Refers to web content that has become outdated or less relevant over time. |
| Abandoned Domain | Domains that have not been renewed in time by their owner or have even been deliberately terminated. |
| Backlink | A backlink is when one website links to another with an anchor text. |
| Bounce Rate | Defined as the percentage of visitors that leave a webpage without taking an action, such as clicking on a link, filling out a form, or making a purchase. |
| Backlink Audit | the process of analyzing the quality, quantity, and relevance of links pointing to your website. |
| Blog | Is an online journal or informational website run by an individual, group, or corporation that offers regularly updated content about a topic. |
| Backlink Profile | The collection of inbound links pointing to a website, including the quality and quantity of those links. |
| Bots | Automated software programs used by search engines to crawl and index web pages. |
| Black Hat SEO | Unethical SEO practices that violate search engine guidelines to gain higher rankings. |
| Brand Mentions | References to a brand on websites, social media, or other online platforms. |
| Broken Links | Hyperlinks that lead to non-existent or removed web pages, resulting in a 404 error. |
| Baidu | The leading search engine in China, similar to Google in the Western world. |
| Boolean Search Operators | Symbols or words like AND, OR, and NOT used to refine search queries. |
| Bounce Rate | The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page. |
| Canonical URL | The preferred version of a web page that search engines should index and rank. |
| Crawler | A program used by search engines to systematically browse the web and collect information about websites. |
| CTR (Click-Through Rate) | The ratio of users who click on a specific link to the total number of users who view a page or email. |
| Cache Copy | A stored version of a web page that can be quickly retrieved by search engines. |
| Call to Action (CTA) | A prompt on a website that tells the user to take some specified action, such as “Buy Now” or “Sign Up.” |
| Citation Flow | A metric that predicts how influential a URL might be based on how many sites link to it. |
| Cloaking | A deceptive SEO technique where different content is presented to search engine crawlers than to users. |
| Cick-through Rate (CTR) | The ratio of users who click on a specific link to the total number of users who view a page, email, or advertisement. It is a metric used to measure the effectiveness of an online marketing campaign. |
| Content | Any information, such as text, images, videos, or audio, published on a website. |
| Content Gap | Areas or topics not covered by existing content, representing opportunities for new content creation. |
| Content Management System | Software used to create, manage, and modify digital content on a website. |
| Content Marketing | The strategy of creating and distributing valuable content to attract and engage a target audience |
| Cost Per Click | The amount paid by advertisers for each click on their ads. |
| Conversion | The act of a user completing a desired action on a website, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. |
| Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) | The process of improving a website to increase the percentage of visitors who convert. |
| Content Syndication | The process of distributing content to third-party sites to reach a wider audience. |
| Canonical Tags | HTML tags used to specify the canonical URL of a web page to avoid duplicate content issues. |
| Crawl Frequency | How often search engine crawlers visit a website to check for new or updated content. |
| Cost per thousand Impressions (CPTI) | The cost of an advertisement per one thousand views. |
| CSS | A stylesheet language used to describe the presentation of a web page’s HTML. |
| Domain Authority | A metric developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engines. |
| Duplicate Content | Content that appears on multiple web pages, which can confuse search engines and harm rankings. |
| Dead Link | Another term for broken links that lead to non-existent web pages. |
| Directory | A categorized list of links to websites, often used for local SEO. |
| Dofollow Links | Links that pass SEO value from one website to another. |
| Dynamic Website | A website that generates content in real-time based on user interactions or other variables. |
| Engagement Metrics | Data that measures how users interact with a website, such as time on site and pages per session. |
| External Link | A hyperlink that points to a page on a different website. |
| Ego Bait | Content created to flatter or attract the attention of influencers in hopes they will share it. |
| Embed Code | HTML code that allows users to embed content from one site onto another. |
| Evergreen Contentent | Content that remains relevant and valuable over a long period. |
| Featured Snippet | A summary of an answer to a user’s query displayed at the top of Google’s search results. |
| Footer Link | Links placed in the footer section of a web page. |
| Forum | An online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages |
| Flash | A multimedia software platform used for creating animations, web applications, and games. |
| Fast Crawled | Describes a website that is quickly indexed by search engine crawlers. |
| Google Analytics | A web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. |
| Google My Business | A tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence on Google, including search and maps. |
| Google Trends | A website by Google that analyzes the popularity of top search queries in Google Search. |
| Google Algorithm | The complex system used by Google to retrieve data from its search index and deliver the best possible results. |
| Google Authorship | A method of linking content to its author to enhance visibility and credibility. |
| Guest blogging | Writing and publishing articles on someone else’s website to reach a broader audience. |
| Header Tags | HTML elements (H1, H2, H3, etc.) used to define headings and subheadings on a web page. |
| Hyperlink | A clickable link that takes users to another web page or resource. |
| Hreflang | An HTML attribute used to specify the language and geographical targeting of a web page. |
| Home Page | The main page of a website, often serving as a gateway to the site’s other pages. |
| Heat Maps | Visual representations of where users click, move, or scroll on a web page. |
| HTML | The standard language used to create and design web pages. |
| HTTP Status Codes | Codes that indicate the status of a web page request, such as 404 for not found or 200 for success. |
| Hummingbird Update | A significant update to Google’s search algorithm focused on improving search query interpretation |
| Indexing | The process by which search engines organize and store web pages to quickly retrieve them during searches. |
| Internal Link | A hyperlink that points to another page within the same website. |
| IP Address | A unique string of numbers separated by periods that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate. |
| Internal Link | A hyperlink that points to another page within the same website. Internal links are used to establish hierarchy and navigate users between different pages or sections of a website. |
| Infographic | A visual representation of information or data, often used to simplify complex topics. |
| impressions | The number of times a piece of content is displayed, regardless of whether it is clicked. |
| Inbound Links | Links from other websites pointing to your website. |
| Interstitial | A full-page ad that appears before the expected content is displayed. |
| JavaScript | A programming language used to create interactive effects within web browsers. |
| JQuery | A fast, small, and feature-rich JavaScript library. |
| Link Juice | The value or authority passed from one site to another through hyperlinks. |
| JSON-LD | A method of encoding linked data using JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) for easier data sharing. |
| Keyword | A word or phrase that users enter into search engines to find information. |
| Keyword Density | The percentage of times a keyword appears on a page compared to the total number of words. |
| Keyword Equity | The value or effectiveness of a keyword in driving traffic to a website. |
| Keyword Research | The process of finding and analyzing search terms that people enter into search engines. |
| Keyword Popularity | The frequency with which a keyword is searched for within a given period. |
| Keyword Stuffing | The overuse of keywords in content to manipulate search engine rankings. |
| Landing Page | A standalone web page created specifically for a marketing or advertising campaign. |
| Link Building | The process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own. |
| Link Velocity | The rate at which a website gains or loses backlinks over time. |
| Link Neighborhoods | The quality and relevance of sites linking to and from a website. |
| Local citations | Mentions of a local business’s name, address, and phone number on other websites. |
| Long Tail Keywords | Longer, more specific keyword phrases that visitors are more likely to use when they are closer to making a purchase. |
| Local SEO | The process of optimizing a website to rank better for local search queries. |
| Link Spam | Low-quality links placed solely to manipulate search engine rankings. |
| Meta Description | An HTML attribute that provides a brief summary of a web page’s content. |
| Mobile Optimization | The process of ensuring that a website performs well on mobile devices. |
| Marketing Funnel | The stages that a customer goes through from awareness to purchase. |
| Meta Tags | HTML tags that provide metadata about a web page, such as title, description, and keywords. |
| Multimedia | The use of different content forms, such as text, images, audio, and video, on a website. |
| Manual Submission | The process of submitting a website to search engines by hand, rather than relying on automatic indexing. |
| NoFollow Link | A hyperlink that does not pass SEO value to the linked site. |
| NoIndex | A meta tag used to prevent a web page from being indexed by search engines. |
| NAP | Essential business information that should be consistent across the web for local SEO. |
| Naked Link | A URL that is displayed as is, without anchor text. |
| Niche Edits | The process of inserting links into existing content on relevant websites. |
| Organic Search | Search results that are earned through effective SEO, not paid for. |
| Outbound Link | A hyperlink that points to a page on a different website. |
| Off-Page Optimization | SEO practices that occur outside of the website, such as link building and social media marketing. |
| On-Page Optimization | SEO practices applied directly to the web page, such as keyword usage and HTML tags. |
| PageRank | A Google algorithm that ranks web pages based on their importance and authority. |
| Pageviews and Sessions | Metrics that indicate the number of times a page is viewed and the number of individual sessions on a website. |
| Page speed | The time it takes for a web page to load completely. |
| Penalty | A negative impact on a website’s search rankings due to violating search engine guidelines. |
| Page Authority (PA) | A metric developed by Moz that predicts how well a specific page will rank on search engines. |
| Query | A user’s search term or phrase entered into a search engine. |
| Qualified traffic | Visitors who are likely to convert because they match the target audience profile. |
| Ranking Factors | Criteria used by search engines to determine the ranking of web pages. |
| Redirect | A method of forwarding one URL to a different URL. |
| Rank tracking | The process of monitoring how a website’s pages rank in search engine results. |
| Root Domain | The primary domain of a website, without subdomains or subdirectories. |
| Referring domains | Websites that send traffic to your site through backlinks. |
| Resource | Any content, tool, or information provided on a website to help users. |
| RSS Feeds | Web feeds that allow users to access updates to online content in a standardized format. |
| Relevance in SEO | The degree to which content matches the user’s search query. |
| Search Engine Optimization | The practice of optimizing a website to improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results. |
| Sitemap | A file that lists all the pages of a website to help search engines crawl and index the site. |
| Subpage | A web page that is part of a larger website and usually located within a specific section or category. |
| Spider | Another term for a search engine crawler that browses the web to collect data for indexing. |
| SEO keywords | Specific words or phrases targeted in content to attract search engine traffic. |
| Title Tag | An HTML element that specifies the title of a web page, displayed in search engine results and browser tabs. |
| Traffic | The number of visitors to a website. |
| Trust Flow | A metric developed by Majestic that measures the trustworthiness of a website based on its backlinks. |
| Tiered Link Building | A strategy where links are built in multiple layers to improve the authority of the main site. |
| Target Audience | The specific group of people a website or content is intended to reach. |
| URL (Uniform Resource Locator) | The address used to access a web page on the internet. |
| User Experience (UX) | The overall experience and satisfaction a user has when interacting with a website. |
| Unlinked mentions | Instances where a brand or website is mentioned online without a hyperlink. |
| Unnatural Link | Links that are acquired in ways that violate search engine guidelines. |
| Unnatural Link Warning | A notification from a search engine indicating that a site has suspicious or manipulative backlinks. |
| URL Structure | The organization and format of URLs on a website. |
| Voice Search | Technology that allows users to search the web using spoken commands. |
| View-through Conversion | When a user views an ad but does not click on it, yet later completes a conversion on the advertiser’s site. |
| Viewable Impression | An ad impression that is actually viewable by users on their screen |
| Webinar | An online seminar or presentation typically used for marketing or educational purposes. |
| Website Structure | The organization and hierarchy of pages within a website. |
| White Hat SEO | Ethical SEO practices that follow search engine guidelines to improve rankings. |
| XML Sitemap | A file that lists all the URLs on a website in XML format, used to help search engines crawl the site. |
| Yandex | The leading search engine in Russia. |
| YMYL | Pages that could impact a person’s future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety, requiring higher standards of quality. |
| Zero-Click Search | Search results that provide answers directly on the search engine results page, requiring no further clicks. |
| Zero position | The top spot in search engine results, often occupied by featured snippets or direct answers. |