Whether you are new to SEO or looking to refine your understanding, knowing the correct terminology is critical to making informed decisions. However, SEO can be notoriously confusing, with so many technical jargon and terms. It’s easy to feel lost without a clear understanding of these terms.
Fortunately, we got you covered. Here are 185 terms that you need to know about SEO:
185 SEO Terms You Need To Know
123
10x Content: Content at least ten times better than the current top-ranking result for the target keyword.
301 Redirect: A permanent redirect that sends search engines and users to a new URL while keeping the page’s ranking benefits.
302 Redirect: A temporary redirect indicating a page or resource has been moved but will return to its original location.
304 Not Modified: A server response code that informs the browser the requested resource hasn’t changed, allowing it to use the cached version.
404 Error: A status code indicating the requested page or resource could not be found.
410 Gone: A status code meaning the requested resource is permanently unavailable and will not return.
A
A/B Testing: A strategy used to test two types of web pages to see which performs better.
Algorithm: The rules search engines follow to decide how pages appear in search results.
Alt Text: Descriptive text added to images for search engine crawlability.
AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages): A Google-backed project aimed at speeding up webpage load times on mobile devices.
Anchor Links: Links that navigate to a specific section within the same webpage.
Anchor Text: Clickable text on a hyperlink that signals the linked page’s relevance to search engines.
Authority: A measure of a website’s credibility and trustworthiness based on content quality and backlinks.
Auto-Generated Content: Content created by algorithms or bots is often discouraged in SEO due to lack of quality.
B
B2B SEO: SEO strategies targeted at businesses selling to other companies.
B2C SEO: SEO strategies targeted at businesses selling directly to consumers.
Backlinks: Outbound links pointing to your site, helping to boost credibility and rankings.
Black Hat SEO: Unethical SEO practices used to achieve quick rankings.
Bounce Rate: Visitors who leave a website without interacting with the page.
Brand Authority: The level of trust and recognition a brand has earned as an expert in its industry.
Breadcrumbs: A navigational aid showing users where they are on a website, improving usability and structure.
Breadcrumb Schema: Structured data that enhances breadcrumb navigation in search results.
Broken Links: Links that lead to non-existent pages that negatively impact user experience and SEO.
C
Canonical Tag: An HTML tag that tells search engines which page to prioritise to avoid duplicate content issues.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): The metric used to calculate the number of people who click on the link after seeing it.
Cloaking: A black-hat SEO tactic where different content is shown to users and search engines, often penalised by search engines.
Content Gap Analysis: Identifying missing content opportunities on a website compared to competitors.
Content Freshness: The relevance of newly created or updated content in search engine rankings.
Content Marketing: A strategy focused on creating relevant content to attract a target audience.
Core Web Vitals: Google’s set of metrics that measure website speed, responsiveness, and visual stability.
Crawl Budget: The amount of pages a search engine bot crawls on your site within a specific time frame.
D
Data-Driven SEO: Optimising strategies based on analytics and measurable data insights.
Deep Links: Links point to specific content within a website rather than the homepage.
Disavow Tool: A Google Search Console feature that allows web admins to reject unwanted backlinks.
Domain Authority: A score predicting a website’s likelihood of ranking in search engine results.
Duplicate Content: Identical or similar content on different pages that can confuse search engines and hurt rankings.
Duplicate Meta Descriptions: Multiple pages with the same meta descriptions can dilute SEO performance.
Dwell Time: Time spent on a webpage before going back to search results.
E
E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness): Key factors search engines evaluate to assess content quality and relevance.
E-commerce SEO: Optimisation strategies specific to online stores and product pages.
Editorial Links: Links naturally placed within the content by other websites due to their value and relevance.
Entity-Based SEO: Focusing on the meaning behind words (entities) to improve relevance in search.
Evergreen Content: Content that continues to remain valuable over a long period without frequent updates.
Exit Rate: The metric used to calculate visitors who leave a website after visiting other pages.
External Links: Links on your website pointing to other websites are often used to provide additional information.
F
Faceted Navigation: A navigation system that allows users to filter content based on attributes commonly used in e-commerce.
Featured Videos: Video snippets displayed in search results as featured content.
Featured Snippets: Highlighted search results that answer a query directly, often appearing above regular search results.
Follow Links: Links that pass on ranking value (or “link juice”) to the destination page.
Footer Links: These are links located in the footer of a webpage, often for navigation or SEO purposes.
Freshness Algorithm: A Google algorithm update prioritising recently published or updated content.
Fresh Content: Recently updated or newly created content that signals relevance to search engines.
G
Geo-Targeting: Optimising content to appeal to users in a specific geographical location.
Google Alerts: A tool for monitoring mentions of specific keywords or topics online.
Google Analytics: A powerful tool from Google that tracks website traffic and user behaviour.
Google Business Profile: A tool used to manage a business’s online presence in local search and Google Maps.
Google Search Console: A standard tool to monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot a website’s presence in search results.
Google Trends: A metric used to show search queries popularity.
Guest Blogging: Writing content for other websites to gain backlinks and reach a wider audience.
H
Header Tags: HTML tags (e.g., H1, H2) are used to structure content and indicate its importance to search engines.
Heatmap Analytics: Tools that visually represent user behaviour on a webpage, such as clicks or scrolls.
Hidden Text: Text hidden from users but visible to search engines, often used in black hat SEO.
Hreflang Attribute: A tag that specifies the language and region for a webpage, useful for international SEO.
HTML Sitemap: A webpage listing all the important pages on a site, helping users and search engines navigate.
HTML Sitemap: A webpage listing all the important pages on a site, helping users and search engines navigate.
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure): A secure version of HTTP, critical for website security and SEO.
I
Image Optimisation: Techniques to improve image loading speed and metadata for better SEO and user experience.
Inbound Marketing: A strategy to attract users through valuable content and organic traffic.
Index Bloat: A situation where search engines index unnecessary pages, diluting overall SEO performance.
Indexed Pages: Pages stored by search engines to make them qualified to appear in search results.
Internal Links: Links that connect pages within the same website, helping with navigation and SEO.
Interactive Content: Content that engages users by requiring active participation, such as quizzes or calculators.
IP Address: A string of numbers identifying a device or domain on the internet.
J
JavaScript Frameworks: Tools like Angular or React require particular SEO optimisation.
JavaScript Lazy Loading: A method to load page elements only when they appear on the screen.
JavaScript SEO: Optimising JavaScript-heavy websites to ensure search engines can crawl and index them properly.
Jump Links: Links that move users directly to a specific part of the page.
JSON Feed: A data format similar to XML, often used for APIs.
JSON-LD: Used to add structured data to webpages for easier display of rich snippets.
K
Keyword Cannibalisation: When multiple pages target the same keyword, competing with each other in search rankings.
Keyword Density: How often a keyword appears in content compared to the total word count.
Knowledge Graph: Google’s database that powers rich snippets and provides contextual information in search results.
Keyword Mapping: Assigning specific keywords to individual pages to improve relevance and organisation.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator): Measurable values that indicate the success of an SEO strategy.
Keyword Research: The process of identifying popular search terms that users seek to guide content creation.
Keyword Stuffing: Overloading keywords in content to manipulate rankings.
L
Landing Page: Page is designed to convert visitors and customers into leads after clicking on the website.
Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI): A method search engines use to contextualise the relationship between words and context.
Link Building: The process of using backlinks to improve a website’s authority and rankings.
Link Equity: The value passed from one page to another through hyperlinks.
Local Pack: The section of local business results that shows up at the top rank of search results.
Log File Analysis: Examining server logs to understand how search engines crawl websites.
Long-Tail Keywords: Specific keyword phrases that target niche audiences and have lower competition.
M
Manual Action: A penalty applied by Google for violating its webmaster guidelines.
Meta Description: A short snippet summarising a page’s content, displayed in search results to encourage clicks.
Metadata: Information about a webpage that aids search engines in understanding its content.
Micro-Moments: Consumer behaviour where immediate decisions are made, such as “I want to buy” or “I need to know.”
Mobile-First Indexing: Google’s practice of prioritising mobile versions of websites when determining rankings.
MozBar: A browser extension by Moz that provides SEO metrics like domain authority and backlink data.
Multilingual SEO: Optimising content for different languages to attract global audiences.
N
NAP Consistency: Ensuring that a business’s Name, Address, and Phone number are universally consistent across all online platforms.
Natural Links: Links gained organically without any effort or solicitation.
Navigation Depth: The number of clicks required to reach a page from the homepage.
Negative SEO: Unethical tactics aimed at damaging a competitor’s search rankings.
Negative Keywords: Keywords that prevent ads from showing for irrelevant searches in PPC campaigns.
NoFollow Attribute: A tag added to links to signal that search engines should not pass ranking credit to the linked page.
NoIndex Tag: A meta tag that prevents search engines from indexing a specific webpage.
O
On-Page SEO: The practice of optimising individual pages to rank higher in search results, including content and HTML elements.
Open Graph Tags: Metadata added to websites to improve how content appears on social media platforms.
Optimised Content: Strategically crafted content to rank well in search results.
Organic Listings: Results that appear in search engines naturally, without paid ads.
Organic Traffic: The number of visitors that enter a website through unpaid search engine results.
Outbound Links: Your website links that point to other websites often used to provide additional resources.
Outreach: Contacting other websites to build relationships and gain backlinks.
P
Page Authority: A score used to predict how well a specific page will rank in search results.
PageRank: Google’s original algorithm for ranking webpages based on backlinks.
Page Speed: How quickly a webpage loads, which is a factor in user experience and SEO rankings.
Personalised Search: Search results tailored to an individual based on past activity or preferences.
Plagiarism Checkers: These are tools that ensure content originality and are critical for avoiding duplicate content penalties.
Pogo-Sticking: When users click on a search result but quickly return to the search page.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click): Paid advertising where advertisers pay for every time their ads are clicked.
Q
Quality Backlinks: High-authority, relevant links pointing to your website that improve rankings.
Quality Content: High-value content that meets user needs and aligns with search engine guidelines.
Query Intent: The reason behind a user’s search query for informational, navigational, or transactional purposes.
Query Matching: Aligning a search query with relevant search results.
Quora Marketing: Using Quora to answer questions and drive traffic to your site while building authority.
Quality Score: A score used in paid advertising platforms, like Google Ads, to rate the relevance and quality of keywords and ads.
Quick Wins: SEO strategies that deliver fast results with minimal effort, such as fixing broken links or improving meta tags.
R
RankBrain: A component of Google’s algorithm used to understand search queries and provide better results.
Rank Tracking: Monitoring keyword rankings over time to assess SEO performance.
Reciprocal Links: Links exchanged between two websites are often considered less effective for SEO.
Redirects: Methods for forwarding users and search engines from one URL to another, such as 301 and 302 redirects.
Rich Snippets: Enhanced search results that include extra information like ratings, images, or prices.
Robots Meta Tag: Tags controlling search engines’ crawling and indexing of a specific webpage.
Robots.txt: A file that instructs search engine crawlers about which pages to index or avoid.
S
Schema Markup: Code added to webpages to help search engines understand content and display enhanced search results.
Search Intent: The purpose behind a user’s search query, such as informational, navigational, or transactional.
Search Volume: The number of searches a keyword receives in a given timeframe, typically monthly.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation): The practice of optimising a website to improve its visibility in search engine results, aiming to increase organic traffic.
SEO Audit: A comprehensive review of a website used to identify SEO issues and seeking areas for improvement.
SERP (Search Engine Results Page): Pages used to display in response to a user query.
Server-Side Rendering (SSR): A technique that renders content on the server to improve search engine crawling.
Site Speed: The time it takes for a website to fully load, which impacts both user experience and rankings.
T
Taxonomy SEO: Organising website content into categories and tags for better user navigation and search visibility.
Thin Content: Pages with little to no valuable content, often penalised by search engines.
Time on Page: A metric that measures how long users stay on a specific page before leaving.
Title Tag: An HTML element that specifies the title of a webpage and is shown in search engine results.
Topical Authority: Demonstrating expertise in a particular subject area through comprehensive content and consistent updates.
Traffic: The number of users visiting a website, which can be organic, paid, or direct.
Trust Flow: A metric that gauges the website’s trustworthiness based on the backlink quality.
U
Unique Visitors: The number of users visiting a site over a specific period.
Unnatural Links: Algorithms often penalise links that violate search engine guidelines.
URL Canonicalisation: Consolidating duplicate URLs to a single preferred version for better SEO.
URL Structure: Organising a website’s URLs to make them clear, user-friendly, and optimised for SEO.
User Intent: Understanding what users want to achieve when they perform a search query.
User-Generated Content (UGC): Content created by users, such as reviews, comments, and social media posts, that can enhance SEO.
UX (User Experience): A user’s overall experience when interacting with a website, including ease of use and design.
V
Vanity Metrics: Metrics that look impressive but don’t necessarily reflect meaningful SEO progress, like page views without conversions.
Vertical Search: Search engines focus on specific categories, such as images, videos, or local listings.
Video SEO: Optimising videos to rank in search results, often using metadata and transcripts.
Viewport Meta Tag: A tag that ensures webpages display properly on all device sizes, especially mobile.
Visibility: The extent to which a website or page appears in search engine results, influencing traffic potential.
Visual Search: A search method that uses images instead of text, gaining importance in e-commerce SEO.
Voice Search: A search performed using spoken commands instead of typing, growing in importance due to smart devices.
W
Website Architecture: The structure and layout of a website’s pages and links are critical for SEO and usability.
Web Crawlers: Automated programs search engines use to explore and index webpages.
Webmaster Guidelines: Rules provided by search engines like Google to help web admins improve site rankings ethically.
Web Vitals: Metrics that measure a website’s speed, responsiveness, and stability to improve user experience.
White Hat SEO: Ethical SEO practices that follow search engine guidelines to improve rankings.
Widget Links: Links embedded within widgets should be used cautiously to avoid penalties.
Word Count: The total number of words in a piece of content, often considered in SEO to determine depth and relevance.
X
X-Default Hreflang: A hreflang attribute value used to indicate the default language or region for users who don’t match other specified options.
XML Feed: A data format that provides structured information to other systems, such as news aggregators or search engines.
XML Sitemap: A file that outlines a website’s key pages to help search engines find and index them easily.
XPath: A method used to pinpoint specific elements in XML documents, often helpful for SEO tools.
XSS (Cross-Site Scripting): A security flaw that can harm a website’s trust and affect its SEO.
Y
Yellow Pages SEO: The process of improving business listings on directories to boost local search visibility.
YMYL (Your Money or Your Life): Pages that require high standards of expertise, authority, and trustworthiness because they impact a person’s health, finances, or well-being.
YouTube SEO: Optimising videos to rank higher in YouTube’s search results and gain more visibility.
Yoast SEO: A popular WordPress plugin that helps optimise websites for search engines.
Z
Zero-Based Keyword Strategy: A method of building keyword strategies from scratch without relying on past data.
Zero-Click Searches: Queries answered directly on the SERP, where users don’t click on a result.
Zombie Pages: Low-performing pages that contribute little value to a website’s traffic or rankings.
Zone File: A file containing data about a domain’s DNS settings is important for technical SEO.
Zoomable Images: High-resolution images that allow users to zoom in for details, enhancing e-commerce usability and SEO.
Conclusion On SEO Glossary Of Terms
Yes, it’s quite a lengthy list. SEO is complex and ever-evolving, and with so much terminology and jargon, it can get confusing and overwhelming for businesses to understand.
So, why not leave it to the professionals? Best SEO has a proven track record of helping our clients reach the top rank of Google’s results page within 90 days. Whether you are a small mom-and-pop shop or a large enterprise, we are dedicated to delivering tangible results to our clients.
Get your free 30-minute strategy session with us today to know how we can help you close more sales than you can imagine!
Frequently Asked Questions About SEO Glossary Of Terms
How Does Mobile-First Indexing Affect My Website?
With mobile-first indexing, Google primarily uses your site’s mobile version for ranking and indexing, making mobile optimisation essential.
When Should I Use Canonical Tags?
Use canonical tags when you have duplicate or similar content on multiple pages to indicate the preferred version for search engines.
What Are Core Web Vitals In SEO?
Core Web Vitals measure website speed, responsiveness, and visual stability, which are crucial for user experience and rankings.
Is HTTPS Necessary For SEO?
Yes. HTTPS is a ranking factor that ensures data security for users, improving trust and engagement.
Are Meta Descriptions Still Important For SEO?
While meta descriptions don’t directly impact rankings, they can improve click-through rates by providing a compelling summary in search results.
What Is Schema Markup In SEO?
Schema markup is structured data added to your website’s HTML to help search engines understand your content and display rich results.