As a marketer, it’s essential to understand the basics of SEO. Even if you’re not planning on implementing any SEO strategies yourself, it’s helpful to know what they are so that you can better communicate with your team or agency. We’ve put together a glossary of some of the most common SEO terms to help you out. Keep reading to learn more about these essential concepts and how you can apply them to your own marketing strategy. So whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been in the industry for a while, there’s something here for everyone!
2xx status codes
These status codes indicate that the server could successfully process the request.
301 redirect
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect from one URL to another. This is often used when a website has changed its domain name or when pages have been moved to a new location.
404 error
A 404 error occurs when a user tries to access a page that doesn’t exist. This can happen if the URL was typed incorrectly, the page was moved, or the site was taken down altogether.
500 status codes
500 status codes indicate an error on the server side. This means that the website couldn’t process the request for some reason.
Algorithm
A set of rules or formulas is used to solve a problem or calculate something.
Alt text
The text that appears in place of an image if the image can’t be displayed. This text is also used by search engines to understand the content of an image.
Anchor text
The visible, clickable text in a hyperlink.
Backlink
An incoming link from another website to your own.
Black hat SEO
Manipulative and deceptive SEO practices go against Google’s guidelines.
Bounce rate
The percentage of visitors who leave your website after only viewing one page.
Canonical URL
The preferred version of a web page is typically the one that contains the most complete and up-to-date content.
Click-through rate
(CTR) The percentage of people who click on a particular link or ad.
Content
Any form of information that can be consumed on the web, including text, images, videos, etc.
Crawler
A program that visits websites and reads their content in order to index it for search engines.
Directory
A website that includes a list of links to other websites is often organized into categories.
Description tag
An HTML tag that contains a brief description of a web page’s content. This description is used by search engines to understand the page’s content.
Domain name
The unique address of a website tells visitors where to find it on the internet.
Exact match keyword
A keyword or phrase that exactly matches the content on your website.
Faceted navigation
A type of navigation that allows users to filter search results by different criteria.
First mover advantage
The competitive edge that a company has when it’s the first to enter a new market.
Flash
A type of software used to create animations, videos, and other interactive content.
Google My Business
Google My Business is a free listing that businesses can create to appear in Google Maps and Search results.
Guest posting
Creating content for another website in order to build relationships and backlinks.
Homepage
The main page of a website that visitors are typically directed to when they first arrive.
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the code used to create and structure content on the web.
Inbound link
A link from another website to your own.
Index
A database of all the websites and webpages that a search engine has crawled and indexed.
Internal link
A link from one page on your website to another page on your website.
Javascript
A programming language that helps make web pages interactive.
Keyword
A word or phrase that describes the content on your website and is used in search engines to find relevant results.
Keyword density
The number of times a keyword or phrase appears on a web page is divided by the total number of words on the page.
Keyword research
The process of finding and selecting keywords to target for your website.
Landing page
A web page that’s designed to convert visitors into leads or customers.
Link building
The process of creating inbound links to your website.
Meta tag
An HTML tag that includes information about a web page, such as the title, description, and keywords.
Outbound link
A link from your website to another website.
Page authority
A score that predicts how well a page will rank in search engine results.
PageRank
Google’s original algorithm for determining the ranking of web pages in search results.
Paid search
Advertising on search engines through paid listings, such as Google AdWords.
Primary keyword
A keyword or phrase that is the main focus of your website’s content.
Responsive design
A website design that automatically adjusts to look great on any device, from smartphones to tablets to desktop computers.
Robots.txt
A text file that tells web crawlers which pages on your website they can and cannot index.
SEM
Search engine marketing is the process of marketing a website through paid and organic search.
SEO
Search engine optimization is the process of improving the ranking of a website in search engine results.
SERP
The search engine results page is the page that appears when you enter a query into a search engine.
Social media
Websites and apps that allow users to share content and interact with each other, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Spider
Another name for a web crawler.
Title tag
An HTML tag that includes the title of a web page.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator, the unique address of a webpage on the internet.
Web page
A document that’s accessible on the internet, typically consisting of HTML code and images.
White hat SEO
Ethical SEO practices that follow search engine guidelines.
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a type of code used to structure data.
While this is not an exhaustive list of every SEO term out there, it’s a great starting point for anyone who wants to learn more about the basics of search engine optimization. So whether you’re just getting started in your SEO career or are looking to expand your knowledge, make sure to bookmark this page for future reference. And if you have any questions, feel free to reach out or leave a comment below! We’ll be happy to help.
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