A 2023 SEO Glossary for Beginners They Won’t Hate

Search engine optimization can be an intimidating field. There are all sorts of common terms and phrases that everyone uses with the expectation that you’ll know what they mean.

If you’ve been in the industry for a decade, of course you’ll know what a 301 redirect is. But if you’re just starting out, the nomenclature can be overwhelming.

Don’t worry, I’m here to help. If you’re new to #seo or just need a refresher on some of the jargon you keep coming across, you’re in the right spot. Below I’ve assembled a handy glossary of the most common words you’ll need to know.

#

301 Redirect – A permanent redirection from one URL to another. It takes users to the new page and lets search engine crawlers know the page has moved.

302 Redirect – A temporary redirection from one webpage to another. This indicates the page will return in the future and has been taken down for maintenance or updates.

404 – This means the page or resource a user requested was not found. It could be an incorrect URL or a deleted resource.

A

Algorithm – A complicated and secret formula Google uses to determine how sites will be ranked in search results. This is subject to regular changes.

Alt text – Also known as alternative text, this is a text description of an image on a page. Helpful with ensuring ADA compliance, it's also used by search engines to determine page content.

Anchor text – The clickable text on a page that indicates a hyperlink. Anchor text is used by search engines to determine what a page’s content is about.

Authority – A measurement of how reliable the content on your website it. Sites with higher authority will be ranked higher than lower authority competitors.

B

Backlinks – These are incoming links from an outside website that point to your page. Backlinks from high-authority sites like universities and respected news outlets indicate to Google that your page has quality content.?

Black-Hat SEO – Like the bad guys in spaghetti westerns, black-hat SEO refers to illegal and unethical SEO strategies and techniques that try to game a search engine’s algorithm and artificially inflate results. If you get caught using these, you’ll likely be punished by Google.

Bounce Rate – This is the percentage of people who visit your website and then leave without taking another action. It can be a bad or a good sign, depending on your page’s content.

C

Cached Page – The version of a page that a search engine has saved from its last visit to your site.

Canonical – Using a canonical html tag (rel=“canonical”), you can indicate to search engines which one of duplicate or similar pages is the “master” page. This main page, known as a “canonical page” becomes the default result that shows up in search results.?

Core Web Vitals – These are metrics Google provides to web owners that show how pages and websites are performing.

Crawl – The process by which search engine bots map and index your website. They follow link to link across the web, both within and outside of websites. The bot’s ability to access the content on your page is known as its crawlability.?

Crawlability – How many pages a search bot can crawl on your website, as well as how fast it can perform indexing.

D

Domain – All webpages on your site, i.e., all those falling under your main URL (ex. www.Evisio.co)?

Dwell Time – How long a visitor is staying on your website.

E

Evergreen Content – Content that will never become out of date.

External Links – A link from your website to another website outside of your domain.

F

Featured Snippet – A prominently featured piece of text Google puts at the top of search results in an attempt to provide a quick answer to a user’s query.

G

Google Analytics – A set of digital marketing tools Google provides to information and insights it has gathered about your website and/or app.?

Google Business Profile – A digital business listing that helps businesses show up on Maps and local search results.

Google Search Console – A free Google tool used to monitor and troubleshoot how your website appears in search results.

Google Search Essentials – Formerly known as Google Webmaster Guidelines, this is a list of best-practices and guidelines for performing SEO.

H

H1 tag – An HTML tag that indicates the main headline of your web page. Google bots use this to help determine your page’s content.

Header Tags – H1-H6, these HTML tags are used in descending order to identify headings and subheadings in your copy.

HTTP/HTTPS – HyperText Transfer Protocol and HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure, these are the processes used to transfer information from a website server to a browser.?

I

Indexability – A term used to describe how easy it is for a search engine to analyze your website and store that information in its database.

K

Keyword – The specific words or phrases people use in search engines to find information.

Keyword Density – How frequently a keyword is used on a webpage, ideally around 2%. Too much can result in a penalty for keyword stuffing.

Keyword Difficulty – How hard it is to rank for a particular word or phrase.

L

Link Building – Efforts by a webmaster to encourage backlinks from other websites.

Link Exchange – A reciprocal agreement between sites to link to one another.

Local Business Schema – A type of structured data included in your website’s code to help businesses rank higher in local searches.?

Long-tail Keywords – Highly specific keywords that usually have lower traffic than broader words and phrases.

M

Meta Description – An HTML tag used to provide the information about your website that will show up in search results.

Mobile-First Indexing – A term used to refer to Google’s policy of using mobile sites for ranking and indexing, instead of desktop sites. This became a policy for all sites in 2020.

N

Nofollow tags – A piece of code that tells search engine bots not to include a link in its rankings, for example a widget page.

Noindex tags – A piece of code that instructs bots not to include a page in search indexes. This is used on things like thank you pages, logins and internal pages.

O

Off-page SEO – Anything you do outside of your domain to improve search rankings.

On-page SEO – Any SEO efforts you perform within your domain.

Organic Traffic – Visitors to your website who clicked on you via search results or another unpaid link.

P

Page Speed – A measurement of how quickly your webpage loads.

PPC – Pay-per-click advertising, you pay each time someone clicks on your ad.?

Q

Query – The word(s) or phrase users type into the search bar.

R

Robots.txt – A file on your website that tells search engine crawlers which pages it can and cannot visit on your site.?

S

Schema markup – Code that can be understood by multiple search engines, allowing them to better understand your content.

Search Engine Results Page (SERP) – The page of links a search engine shows users after a query.

Search Intent – What the user is actually looking for. Google’s goal is to provide the best answer possible to search intent.?

Search Volume – How many queries are being performed monthly for a particular keyword.?

Secondary Keywords – Words and phrases related to the main one you are targeting.

Seed Keywords – The main keyword you use as a starting point for generating secondary keywords.?

Sitemap – An XML file that lists all the pages on a website.?

T

Technical SEO – Website and server optimizations performed to help your website rank higher in search results.

Title Tags – An HTML tag that indicates the title of your web page. Google bots use this to help determine your page’s content

U

URL – Uniform Resource Locator, this is another name for a web address.

V

Voice Search – The use of voice-to-text services like Alexa or Siri to perform a search.?

W

White-Hat SEO – Ethical, legal and Google-approved SEO strategies and tactics.

SEO Made Easy

This is just a small sampling of some of the more common terms you’ll encounter in the huge vocabulary of search engine optimization.

Depending on your needs and level of expertise, you may come across a whole range of highly specific terms, including things like 2xxx status codes, cloaking and image compression rate. At times it can feel like a foreign language, even to people who have been doing it for years.

Luckily, there’s a better way to improve your search ranking: evisio seo software .

A tool designed to be used by people at all SEO levels, from complete beginners to established agencies, it scans your site and provides you with step-by-step instructions that will help you rank higher.

Best of all, it’s completely intuitive to use. If you’ve made it to this post, you’re tech-savvy enough to use Evisio.?

But don’t take my word for it – see it for yourself. Contact me for a free trial.

#seotips #learnseo #evisionewsletter