SEO Glossary: Terms in Internet Marketing

Whether you are new to the world of SEO optimization or internet marketing in general, all the terms and phrases (SEO Glossary) you come across in various guides, blogs, and sites, are enough to ask yourself: "What does all this mean"?

That’s why this SEO Glossary was created to help you better understand terms, marketing phrases, and certain abbreviations you’ll come across on your internet marketing journey.

In addition to terms related to SEO, I will not explain SEO tricks and techniques in this post because I believe that understanding SEO Glossary is the first step in learning site optimization.

SEO Glossary

SEO - (Search Engine Optimization) is a set of techniques, methods, or strategies which help to improve the ranking of websites in search engines such as Google.

Greater visibility of the site in the search results brings the site "organic" visits. Basic SEO techniques are: creating titles and descriptions for pages, starting a blog, optimizing images, and much more. Good SEO helps to improve the visibility of the site in all search engines.

I recommend that you read: What is SEO, and why do you need it?

SERP - a search results page that appears when a user enters a keyword or phrase in the search box and clicks the search button.

Off-page-SEO - is one of the main elements of optimization and represents "off-page" optimization, which consists of all the techniques you apply outside of our site to improve ranking. The basis of the Off-page SEO technique is link building, where third parties are involved.

On-page SEO - is a set of techniques applied to a website to improve its ranking. These include faster site loading, improved titles and descriptions, link structures, relevant keywords, social media promotion, email marketing, and more. 

I recommend that you read: On-Page SEO Checklist - Optimize your Website

SEM (Search Engine Marketing) - is search engine marketing and relies on the promotion of products and services. This is a type of internet marketing that uses paid advertising to increase visibility in search results and in addition it uses site optimization to be at the top of the results.

Search Engine - means a search engine, such as Google.com. Search engines are software programs whose main task is to search the Internet for a specific keyword or phrase. To do this, they use personal algorithms to determine the most relevant sites that would first appear in search results.

Algorithm - is essentially a set of defined rules that solve tasks in an automated way. Search engines use algorithms to detect and rank pages.

Google's algorithm includes over 200 signals or "rules" to which relies when deciding on websites.

Spider (Crawler, Bot, Robot) - a search engine spider is a special piece of software that searches the Internet, searches for new sites and blogs, checks for them, and sends data to search engines so that they can index and rank these pages.

This results in a massive database or index of all the websites that are listed and used in the posting of search results. Googlebot is the main search bot used by Google and is responsible for listing and indexing all Google search results pages.

Indexing - is the process applied by search engines when they come across a new or updated website. Data is stored and sorted after the census to make it easier to find information.

When the page is "not indexed," it will not rank. To determine how many pages are indexed on your site, enter: site:https://www.yourdomain.com

I recommend that you read: How to Get Google to Index Your Blogger Site Faster

Rank - is an indicator used by Google to assess the importance of the site on the Internet and is a kind of formula. Numbers from 0-to 10 show, among other things, how good your SEO optimization is.

In technical terms, the term "Toolbar Page Rank" is used. This Google's assessment of page relevancy is variable.

It is not entirely clear to anyone what the factors for Google Rank are, but it is believed that one of the main factors is the number of backlinks that the site has, as well as the Page Rank of sites that link to it.

Sites with the highest rank are usually popular on the Internet, such as Google.com PR 10, Yahoo's PR 9, and Facebook's PR 9.

Panda algorithm - refers to one part of Google's algorithm where in 2011 corrections were made to reduce the creation of content that has no value for users and is optimized with keywords that rank in search engines. This algorithm focuses on content quality.

Penguin Algorithm - This contains a series of Google algorithms aimed at improving search results. Since 2012, it identifies sites that appear in search only based on links (purchased or exchanged).

Pigeon - is another updated Google algorithm from 2014 that focuses on local search results, emphasizing location.

Sandbox, supplemental index - this is a special Google index where newly discovered pages are stored until it decides that they appear in the main index - in the results you see when you search on Google.

Robot.txt - is a text file that informs search engines which pages and resources from your site to list and which to ignore.

Custom Robot.txt Generator

You can allow or disable search engines on your site, in the robot.txt file, to index resources (for example, some blog pages to prevent duplicate content, etc.).

I recommend that you read: ROBOT.TXT: Optimize Blogger for Crawlers and indexing

Keywords - There are many definitions of keywords. One of them is that keywords are individual words or phrases that have, a certain SEO meaning for a certain page or site.

Choosing the right keywords for your site is essential to get more organic traffic from your target audience. My guide will help you with this: How to do keyword research for SEO?

How to research keywords?

For example, if I am writing an article about choosing the best office chair, my main keyword would be, "the best office chair." That's the keyword I want people to use to find my article when they type "best office chairs" into Google.

Keyword density - Keyword density is a number that indicates how often a particular word or phrase appears in a piece of text. You can calculate the density when you divide the number of occurrences of words by the total number of words that the text has and multiply the result by 100.

Keyword density helps you rank your website better. This term is not an accurate measure of the uniqueness and quality of content. I think that keywords should focus on quality, not quantity.

Keyword stuffing - is a term that means filling keywords. It is the practice of very frequent use of certain words and phrases in the text all to rank the page as well as possible.

Often the words are in groups or out of context to the extent that the text no longer looks natural. This can result in a negative user experience. The practice works, but it won't help you much because you can be punished.

LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) - these are the keywords that stand next to the main keyword and better describe and support it. They consist of two or more words in a phrase. When a search engine finds LSI words (long keywords) in your content, your page's ranking for the main keyword may increase.

For example, if the main keyword is "WordPress theme" and you use it a lot in the article, then it is advisable to use some LSI keywords, such as: "quality," "custom," "optimized," etc.

Finding LSI keywords is also a kind of verification that the text is original and is not just a random filling of keywords but words that would be used in live conversations. They rank better than common general keywords that are competitive, such as WordPress.

Link building - is one of the most popular SEO terms and is considered an important element of SEO strategy. It represents the process of building quality inbound and backlinks to your website.

If you have a guest article on a blog with a link that leads to your page, then you are working on building links. This is one of the factors that affect the positioning in the SERP.

I recommend that you read: What are internal and external links, and why are they important?

Linkbait - is content that is specially published to increase traffic to the site by targeting a large audience, as well as to attract many links.

Linkbait content consists not only of text, but also videos, images, audio
records, and graphics. This kind of content is not easy to create, and it should be: high quality, something that is funny, witty, and something very valuable, and free.

Link farm - is a term used for a network of interconnected websites to improve Page Rank and position in searches. For example, you create five websites and host them on different servers. Then connect the first with the other four, the second with the other four, and so on.

I advise you not to do this because it is illegal, spam SEO techniques, so your site will be penalized. It is a completely different story when it comes to a powerful network of a hundred sites, not just 5.

Anchor text - is the text that contains a link, which can be clicked to take you to a linked, relevant website inside or outside the site. Mostly this kind of text appears in blue and is underlined. You can adjust the color of the anchor text within the theme.

If the anchor text is a keyword, it can help search engine optimization. General words that are not relevant to the page they are referring to should be avoided (here, more, etc.).

Alt text/alt tag/text attribute - this term is an abbreviation for an alternative text that provides search engines with information about your images. Search engines like Google do not see images as we see them, so we need text that helps them understand what is in the images and the graphics.

When you add alt text, your images can then be found in Google Images Search, which allows you to get more visitors to your site. Alt text has a certain SEO value because it provides information to search engines that the images on your page correspond to the content.

Alt-text is in HTML code to describe the image. The first goal of its use is accessibility. For example, visually impaired people who use a screen reader will read alt text and understand what it is about.

Sitemap - is a file that contains all the URLs of one site. It is available to search engines and users. You can see your sitemap by adding sitemap.xml to your domain: www.yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml

Sitemaps can bring search engines to pages much faster and help users gain insight into all the content (pages, posts, archives, etc.) available on your site or blog. This helps the pages to be indexed and ranked better.

PPC (Pay-Per-Click) - This means that someone who advertises will pay the owner of a particular site or platform every time any user clicks on the ad.

PPC marketing method that brings visitors to the site of the platform owner and advertiser and brings sales potential to the advertiser. An example of this type of advertising is Google Ads (AdWords).

Google Ads (AdWords) - is a platform developed by Google and provides online advertising services. Allows users to pay for ads to appear on Google search results for a specific keyword.

It also offers a handy Google Keyword Planner tool to help you explore how popular your words are based, on average monthly searches for a given word.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) - is an abbreviation for the web address of a resource on the Internet. The address can refer to a media file, web page, video, or anything else hosted on the server.

For example, the URL of my site: https://www.seobloggertips.com

The words that make up a URL can play an important role in SEO as they point search engines to the content and importance of a website.

Canonical URL - is an element that owners' sites provide the ability to decide which of the pages with the same URL will be displayed in search engines to avoid the problem of duplicated content.

The thing is: if you have multiple versions of the page with the same content, select a "canonical" one, and target search engines. This is the original page that Google will choose before everyone else. A canonical URL can help keep incoming links from pointing to multiple versions of the same page, but only on one.

The word "canonical" is placed in the main part of the HTML link structure. It's an idea that when a browser sees this tag, it doesn't rank that page but transfers all ranks to the canonical page. In essence, it is very similar to 301 redirections.

Google Search Console - is Google's free service for site owners. The best SEO practice is to check the site using GSC.

After creating an account, you get access to various tools to help you to optimize your site or blog (creating sitemaps, reports about a list of site pages, etc.). You can also get more valuable information, such as position for certain keywords, number of clicks, and the number of views in search results.

Local SEO - is a set of techniques that are undertaken so that your website appears in search results on your geographical territory when someone is looking for something that you offer on your page.

Organic Search - is an organic search tub visit Google, enter a phrase or word, and press the search button.

Organic Search Results - is a search results page. After searching on Google, the results are displayed in two columns. The column on the right shows the paid results (Google Ads ads purchased), while the left shows the organic search result.

Organic Traffic - traffic that comes to your site as a result of unpaid searches. The main goal (SEO) of search engine optimization is to achieve as much organic traffic (free visits) on the site.

301 Redirect - this is a term used to permanently redirect from the URL of one page to another. It is used to maintain site authority, and avoid broken links when changing domain names.

Redirection occurs when you visit a page and then are immediately redirected to a page with a different URL. There are temporary and permanent redirects. Only the search engine makes a difference, while from the user's point of view there is no difference.

Redirect 301 is a permanent redirect that notifies search engines that the page they tried to access has permanently changed its URL.

Black hat SEO - is the term for all "black hat" SEO tactics that are known to be unethical and manipulative. The site owner uses these tactics to rank in the SERP. This includes filling in keywords, etc. If Google detects a site like this, it can de-index the website and ban it forever.

I recommend that you read: What Is Black Hat SEO? Risks and What to Avoid

White hat SEO - is a set of techniques that search engines support. It is necessary to constantly follow SEO guidelines through the Google blog, Google Webmaster Central blog, and other resources with the latest SEO information.

SEO practices are changing, so it happens that techniques that were ok become unethical. There is a thin line, and there is no real list of techniques that make up the "black hat".

Backlinks - is a link found on someone's website which directs readers to your site or blog. Backlinks are one of the most important SEO techniques.

I recommend that you read: Backlink Strategy for SEO to Boost Your Domain Authority

A lot of such links with relevant anchor text from quality websites can be your shortest way to improve positioning in the SERP. These are, in a way, links of trust. A synonym for a backlink is an inbound link.

Bounce Rate - is an indicator of the number of visitors to your site or blog who visit one page and then leave the site. This behavior shows that they left the site quickly.

If the bounce rate is higher, the chances of ranking the site are reduced. Conversely, the lower the bounce rate, the higher the chances of ranking your site. There are some situations where a high bounce rate is good, and that is mostly when a user comes to your site, buys something, and leaves.

Great content and an interesting affordable product offering can keep the bounce rate lower.

Broken Links - is the name for a URL that does not work properly because it points to a page that does not exist or has been moved to another address. Invalid links on your site can adversely affect your site's ranking and cause the Error 404 page.

To avoid this, you need to test the site to find and fix broken links.

Branding Links - is a term for links whose anchor text contains the brand name and directs users to the home page of the site of the said brand.

Deep linking - is a term that means deep connection. Occurs when an anchor link (hyperlink) points to a specific page or image on the site, instead of the home or main page of the site. Such a link is a deep link.

Deep linking has benefits for SEO, especially when it comes to linking pages within your site.

Dofollow link - is any link on your site, which points to another page, and in its HTML record does not have the attribute "nofollow". These links are primarily important for SEO and then everyone else.

Internal Links - are anchor links that are on the same domain, because they point to other pages within the same site or blog. They are used to improve the use of the site by users and allow easier movement between parts and pages of the site.

Duplicate Content - is a term for duplicate content. When you have two separate pages on your site with the same or similar content, then it is duplicate content. Google doesn't do well with sites that use the same or similar content more than once because they can be penalized, which is not good for SEO.

AMP - is a tool that allows blogs to load quickly on mobile devices when they are accessed through Google's search results. Using AMP is one of the great SEO practices.

Meta Descriptions - is a short description of a page, blog, or post that appears in the search results below the title and talks about the content of the page. It is mostly used by search engines, so it does not have to be displayed on your blog.

Google displays a title for each webpage in search results  and description. If the user enters a keyword and the word is in the meta description, then the description will appear in the search results.

When the meta description does not contain a keyword, then Google displays a small amount of content that contains the keyword. In WordPress, the meta description is easily set up with the help of the Yoast plugin.

Meta Keywords - is a list of keywords and phrases used by search engines to determine the content of a website. This technique was used in earlier years. There are now very few search engines used.

Nofollow - is a popular SEO term. Represents an attribute that is placed in the HTML of a link that leads to a specific page (affiliate companies, advertisers, blog comments).

The rel "nofollow" attribute informs search engines that they should not pay attention to such a link and not count it when ranking.

From the user's point of view, the nofollow link is the same as any other link on the site.

Title Tag - is one of the most important SEO elements on your website. Refers to the name of each page that appears in the search results. Headlines provide content information.

Noindex - is a term that tells Google not to index a particular resource or page. This means that you don't want that page to appear in search engines (for example, team member login page, thank you page, etc.).

Negative SEO - is a term for techniques that are used, to negatively affect the ranking of competition in search engines. Google often conducts tests and is successful in detecting such attacks.

Mobile-Friendly Test - is a Google test to see if your site is visible on mobile devices. All you have to do is enter the URL of your site or blog, and you will receive a report as well as improvement tips.

A / B Testing - is a strategy used to measure the success of a marketing campaign. For the campaign, two Landing pages are created that differ in some elements, and visitors are referred separately to each of them. Performance is measured by comparing conversion rates for each page.

Cookie - is a small file with data stored in the browser. It refers to data such as page views, logins, use of shopping carts, use of payment cards, etc.

Whenever you return to the same site, you will not have to re-enter the data, but the cookie will do it for you automatically.

Error 404 - is a term used for a page that a visitor tried to visit, but which was not found.

The reasons for this error can be different:

• the page has been permanently removed
• the URL has been changed, and this has not been done on the server
• Incorrect page URL entered.

Breadcrumbs - is a term for a navigation system that shows the way users came to the website where they are now. This is important for online stores and sites with several categories.

It is a small text path located at the top of the page. Each part of the track can be clicked.

On my site, this path is shown above the title for this article as well looks like this:

Hits - this is a term used to measure the effectiveness of a resource or a campaign. For example, every visitor who comes to your site counts as one hit.

CTR (Click Through Rate) - from the point of view of SEO optimization, this is an indicator of the number of clicks on your site when it appears in search results. Based on this, you can see how effective the titles and descriptions of your pages are. This is also one of the ranking elements.

Cloaking - is a technique that counts as a "black hat" technique because it delivers one type of content to users and another to Google. I do not recommend using this, even when it comes to great benefits and benefits.

CDN (Content Delivery Network) - is a network that delivers site content to users. To deliver content, it uses a network of hosting services to load the site faster than the geographical location of each user.

Content Marketing - is a strategy in internet marketing that refers to the creation and distribution of content. The goal is to build trust and attract visitors and potential buyers. This strategy is very closely related to SEO optimization.

Disallow - is a type of setting which can be implemented within a robot.txt file, to prevent some bots from listing pages. It is often used to avoid the problem of duplicate content. When using, be careful not to block any pages that display resources such as JavaScript and CSS.

Disavow - is a type of action by which you want to let Google know that it ignores certain sites because you do not want to link to them. You must have quality and relevant links on your site that search engines will find.

If you are reviewing links on the site or resolving a Google penalty issue, you will need to prepare a logout file to upload to the Google Search console.

Doorway page - is a term for a page that is designed to attract more SEO visitors. It is usually insufficient and poor-quality content on these pages.

It happens that they have a lot of ads or direct visitors to pages that have nothing to do with what they ranked in search engines.

Engagement - is a fairly widespread and broad term. It mainly refers to the number of activities and/or the time a user spends on a site, page, resource, or application.

Fetch as Google - is a term for a tool found in the Google Search Console, and allows you to check whether your content and resources are displayed to users. Using this tool comes down to simulating a visit to Googlebot to find out how it sees your content.

Google Analytics (GA) - is an analytical tool that belongs to the basic SEO tools. Even if you only use the free version, this is one of the most powerful tools.

Headings - is a term used for the title and for the text from which the title was created, represented by the labels H1, H2, H3, etc. These tags help search engines understand the structure of your content, help users navigate, navigate the page, and encourage them to read further.

They are one of the most important on-page SEO elements. Titles should be relevant, properly arranged, and optimized with keywords.

Rich Cards - are Google search results formats (as of 2017) that are displayed on mobile devices. They aim to increase the number of clicks, the experience with mobile search, and to provide more contextual information.

Root Domain - this is the term for the main URL of your site or blog. For example: /yoursite.com/. The root domain is the main domain on the server, which contains all subdomains and pages.

CMS (Content Marketing System) - is a content management system and is an open-source platform that is used to create, store and publish various types of content.

One platform can be used by multiple users. There is no requirement to know coding and HTML. If you can't decide which platform to choose for your blog. 

I recommend that you read: Blogger vs WordPress - Pros and Cons

Reach - is a term used for the number of people who saw your post. This applies to people who came either by paid or organic search.

503 Errors - indicates HTTP status and occurs mainly when a website's server is unavailable due to maintenance.

CPI (Cost-Per-Impressions) - is a type of advertising where you pay based on impressions, not based on clicks. For example, if CPI = $ 1, that means, the advertiser is paying $ 1 for 1000 impressions.

Link Juice - is a slang term in the SEO industry. It links to link building and represents the amount of value and authority that a link conveys to the website it links to. The term link equity is also used. The more authoritative the page from which the link comes, the better your site will rank in search engines.

White Paper - is an authoritative guide or report that will help readers better solve a problem. It is educational and a great help to readers in making decisions.

I hope that this SEO Glossary will be useful for your internet marketing, share this article with your friends on Facebook, and other social networks, and your thoughts and questions in the comments below this article.

Thanks for taking the time to read.