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The SEO glossary will provide you with definitions to many terms and abbreviations used when talking or reading about SEO.
This should help you to understand some of the jargon used in search engine optimisation.
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301 Redirect
This indicates to search engines that the web page in question has permanently moved to a new location and a visitor will automatically be redirected to that new location.
Algorithm
An algorithm is like a complex mathematical equation. Search engines use algorithms to work out how to rank pages within their search results.
Back-link
A backlink is a link from a website that points "back" to your website.
Bounce Rate
The bounce rate of a web page is the percentage of people that visit your page, but then immediately leave without visiting any other pages on your website.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
When paying for advertising online, this is the amount that you need to pay for each click on your advert or link.
Cost Per Thousand (CPM)
This usually relates to impressions when advertising and is the cost of having your advert displayed 1000 times. (M is the Roman numeral for 1000.)
Crawler
A crawler (or robot) is a search engine's program that visits (or crawls) many websites for the purpose of indexing these websites in their database.
Directory
A website dedicated to providing a directory of websites. Many directories are dedicated to a specific topic or niche. Yahoo is an example of a directory.
Doorway Page
A doorway page is a web page that has been specifically set up to capture visitors looking for certain keywords and then redirecting them to another web page.
This is not good practice and search engines may penalise you for this.
Duplicate Content
If two or more web pages contain exactly the same information, then this duplicate content and some search engines can penalise some or all the pages that contain this duplicate content.
It is best to always use your own created original content and never copy directly from another website.
Dynamic Web Page
A web page that is dynamic with content and some or all of the content can automatically change or is automatically generated by a program.
Googlebot
This is Google's crawler program to index websites on the internet for its database.
Hit
This is a measurement unit of the amount of times a server is "hit". Each "hit" represents a single file (or object) being downloaded (including html files, php files, image files, document files, etc.)
It is therefore not a reliable measure of how well your website is doing, because one pageview can result in many hits.
HTML
Hyper Text Markup Language - The language that web pages are written in and that internet browsers can understand.
Keyword / Keyphrase
The keyword or keywords that people enter into search engines to provide search results.
Keyword Density
The percentage of a particular keyword or keyphrase compared with the total amount of text.
Keyword Research
The important process of finding out which keywords or keyphrases to target for SEO.
Keyword Stuffing
When adding so many keywords that it becomes inappropriate. This can get you penalised in many search engines.
Landing Page
This is the page that a visitor lands on after clicking your link on search engine results.
Link
A link (or hyperlink) is an element on a web page that, when clicked on, will lead you to another part of the page or another web page.
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Link Building
This is the process of building up the incoming links to your web page or website.
Link Popularity
The measure of how popular a website or web page is based on the number and quality of links coming in to it.
META Tags
Special HTML tags near the top of the website that are hidden to viewers but are used by search engines. These special tags could include a description of the web page, keywords for the web page, and many more.
Natural Search Results
These are search engine results that do not cost anything to be displayed or clicked on.
Organic Search Results
These are search engine results that do not cost anything to be displayed or clicked on.
PageRank (PR)
This is a value between 0 and 10 that is assigned to each web page by Google's special algorithm and is used to determine how you rank in Google's search results.
The term "PageRank" is named after Larry Page, one of the founders of Google Inc.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
A method of billing for advertising on the internet where you are charged for each click on your advert or link.
Reciprocal Link
A reciprocal link is a link back to a website that is linking to yours. This is also somethimes called an exchange link.
Redirect
To automatically redirect a visitor to another web page or website. A redirect can be put in place using a number of different methods.
Return On Investment (ROI)
The value that you will get back in return, usually after advertising or other investment.
Search Engine
An internet website that offers people the ability to search for things, usually websites.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Search Engine Marketing is generally referred to as the paid advertising on search engines but could also mean any type of marketing on search engines whether paid or free.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Search Engine Optimisation is the process of optimising web pages so that they get the best chance of appearing high for their relevant keywords or keyphrases.
Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
This is the page of results that are displayed after searching for a particular keyword or keyphrase.
Site Map
A section on your website that has links to all your web pages within your website to make it easier for people to find a specific web page.
Social Bookmark
Social bookmarks are bookmarks that you can access via a website and therefore from any computer.
These bookmarks can also be made available to the public and can therefore become links to the website being bookmarked.
Social Media Marketing (SMM)
This is generally referred to marketing on social websites like Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter.
Splash Page
This is an introduction page to a website which usually contains a large image or flash animation. These pages generally have no value to search engines as search engines can only read text and they are usually also annoying to the people visiting your website.
Static Web Page
A web page that is static with content and the content does not change.
Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
A URL is the web address. (The www address of your website.)
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