SEO Glossary: 200+ Terms and Definitions
The SEO world is full of industry-specific jargon. Here’s a quick overview of some of the most common SEO terms and expressions.
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SEO Terms and Definitions
This SEO glossary is a work in progress. As we create new guides and posts, we’ll build this out. Have a term you would like to add? Please suggest it in the comments.
1. SEO Basics
- Black Hat SEO
Unethical SEO practices aimed at manipulating search engine rankings, often leading to penalties. - Citation Flow
A metric indicating the influence of a website based on the quantity of backlinks. - Competitor Analysis
The process of evaluating competitors’ strategies to identify strengths and weaknesses. - Domain Authority (DA)
A metric predicting a website’s ability to rank in search engines based on its link profile. - Gray Hat SEO
SEO practices that fall between ethical (white hat) and unethical (black hat) techniques. - Organic Search
Traffic generated from unpaid search engine results. - Page Authority (PA)
A score predicting how well a specific page will rank on search engine results pages (SERPs). - Paid Search
Traffic generated through paid advertisements on search engines, such as Google Ads. - RankBrain
Google’s machine-learning AI system that helps process and rank search queries. - SERP
Search Engine Results Page. You’ll see this page after entering a search term in Google, Yahoo, Bing, or another search engine. - Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The practice of optimizing web content to improve visibility in organic search engine results.Also, a search engine optimizer (person). As in, “I’m an SEO who does SEO”. - SEO Audit
A comprehensive analysis of a website’s SEO health and performance. These can focus on technical SEO, on-page (content), and off-page (backlinks and mentions). Here’s what is included in a complete SEO site audit. - Trust Flow
A metric that evaluates the quality of a website’s backlinks based on their trustworthiness. - White Hat SEO
Ethical SEO practices that follow search engine guidelines to improve rankings.
2. Keyword Optimization
- Keyword Cannibalization
When multiple pages on a website target the same keyword, leading to competition between them. - Keyword Density
The percentage of times a keyword appears on a page relative to the total word count. - Keyword Mapping
The process of assigning keywords to specific pages on a website to improve SEO. - Keyword Research
The process of identifying relevant keywords that users search for in search engines. - Keyword Stuffing
Overloading a webpage with keywords to manipulate search rankings, which is considered spammy. - Keywords
Words or phrases that users enter into search engines to find relevant content. - Long-Tail Keywords
Specific, multi-word phrases with lower search volume but higher conversion rates. This can include writing granular posts. - LSI Keywords (Latent Semantic Indexing)
Contextually related terms that search engines use to understand content relevance. - Negative Keywords
Keywords that prevent your ads from appearing for irrelevant search queries in paid search campaigns. - Primary Keyword
The main keyword targeted by a webpage or piece of content. - Search Query
The exact word or phrase entered by a user into a search engine. - Secondary Keyword
Additional keywords that support the primary keyword to broaden content relevance. - Seed Keywords
Broad terms used as the starting point for keyword research. - Semantic Search
Search technology that aims to understand the context and intent behind user queries. - Short-Tail Keywords
Broad, general keywords with high search volume but more competition.
3. On-Page SEO Elements
- Alt Text
Descriptive text for images, helping search engines understand image content and improving accessibility. - Anchor Text
The clickable text in a hyperlink, which should be relevant to the linked page’s content. - Content Optimization
The process of improving content to rank higher in search engines and better meet user intent. - Content Silos
A method of organizing website content into categories for better search engine understanding and ranking. - Featured Snippets
Short, selected search results that appear at the top of Google’s SERP, providing a quick answer to a query. - H1 Tag
The main heading of a webpage, used to define the primary topic of the content. - H2 Tag
Subheadings used to organize content within a webpage, helping with readability and SEO. - Heading Tags
HTML elements (H1, H2, etc.) that define headings and subheadings, helping structure content for SEO. - Image Optimization
Techniques to improve image loading speed and SEO, including compression and using appropriate alt text. - Meta Description
A brief summary of a webpage’s content, displayed under the title in search engine results. - Meta Tags
HTML tags that provide metadata about a webpage, influencing search engine indexing and display. - Meta Title
The title of a webpage, displayed on the browser tab and in search engine results, crucial for SEO. - People Also Ask (PAA)
A Google SERP feature showing related questions to the user’s query, often in a collapsible format. - Rich Snippets
Enhanced search results that display additional information like reviews, ratings, or images. - Schema Markup
Code that helps search engines understand the context of your content, leading to rich snippets. - Structured Data
Organized data that helps search engines understand content, often implemented through schema markup. - URL Structure
The format of a webpage’s URL, which should be simple, descriptive, and include relevant keywords. - XML Sitemap
A file that lists a website’s pages, helping search engines crawl and index the site more effectively.
4. Technical SEO
- 301 Redirect
A permanent redirect from one URL to another, preserving link equity in SEO. - 302 Redirect
A temporary redirect from one URL to another, not passing on link equity. - 404 Error
An HTTP status code indicating that a webpage cannot be found, leading to a broken link. - AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)
A technology designed to load web pages quickly on mobile devices, improving mobile SEO. - Breadcrumbs
A navigation aid showing the user’s path within a website, improving user experience and SEO. - Canonical URL
The preferred version of a webpage that should be indexed by search engines, preventing duplicate content issues. - Canonicalization
The process of selecting the best URL when multiple options exist for the same content. - Crawl Budget
The number of pages a search engine will crawl on your site within a given timeframe. - Crawlability
The ease with which search engine crawlers can access and index a website’s content. - Core Web Vitals
Google’s key performance metrics that assess a website’s user experience, including loading speed, interactivity, and stability. - Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
A Core Web Vital metric that measures unexpected layout shifts during page load. - Duplicate Content
Content that appears in more than one place on the internet, potentially harming SEO rankings. - First Input Delay (FID)
A Core Web Vital metric measuring the time from when a user first interacts with a page to when the browser responds. - HTML Sitemap
A user-facing page that lists all the accessible pages on a website, aiding navigation and SEO. - HTTPS
A secure version of HTTP, essential for website security and a ranking factor in SEO. - Indexability
The ability of a search engine to include a webpage in its index, making it eligible to appear in search results. - JavaScript SEO
The practice of optimizing JavaScript-based websites for search engines, ensuring content is crawlable and indexable. - Lazy Loading
A technique that defers loading of non-critical resources (like images) until they are needed, improving page speed. - Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
A Core Web Vital metric measuring the time it takes for the largest content element to appear on the screen. - Mobile-First Indexing
Google’s approach of using the mobile version of a website for indexing and ranking. - Pagination
The practice of breaking up content across multiple pages, which must be properly managed for SEO. - PageSpeed Insights
A Google tool that provides insights and recommendations for improving website speed and performance. - Responsive Design
A web design approach that ensures a website looks and functions well on all device sizes. - Robots.txt
A file that tells search engine crawlers which pages or sections of a site should not be crawled. - Server Response Time
The time it takes for a server to respond to a request from a browser, affecting page speed. - Site Architecture
The structure and organization of a website’s content, influencing how easily search engines can crawl it. - Spider
A search engine bot that crawls the web to index content for search engine results. - Time to First Byte (TTFB)
A metric that measures the time from a user’s request to the first byte of data received by the browser. - User-Agent
A string of text that identifies the browser and operating system to a web server, used by search engine bots. - Web Crawlers
Automated programs that browse the web to collect information for search engine indexing.
5. Link Building & Off-Page SEO
- Backlink
An incoming link from one website to another, considered valuable for SEO. - Broken Link Building
The practice of finding and fixing broken links on other websites by offering your content as a replacement. - DoFollow Links
Links that pass SEO value (link equity) from one website to another. - Domain Rating
A metric that measures the overall strength of a website’s backlink profile. - External Linking
Links on your website that point to other websites, helping to provide additional context for users. - Guest Blogging
Writing and publishing content on another website to build backlinks and increase visibility. - Influencer Outreach
The process of building relationships with influencers to gain backlinks and promote content. - Internal Linking
Links within your website that connect different pages, helping to distribute link equity and improve navigation. - Link Building
The process of acquiring backlinks from other websites to improve your site’s authority and rankings. - Link Equity
The SEO value passed from one page to another via hyperlinks. - Link Juice
A colloquial term for the SEO value that a backlink passes to another website. - Link Profile
The overall collection of backlinks pointing to a website, influencing its search rankings. - Link Velocity
The speed at which a website gains or loses backlinks over time. - Local Backlinks
Backlinks from local websites or directories, important for local SEO. - NoFollow Links
Links that do not pass SEO value, typically used for sponsored or non-endorsed links. - Referral Traffic
Visitors who come to your website through external links from other sites, rather than search engines.
6. User Experience (UX) & Behavior Metrics
- A/B Testing
The practice of comparing two versions of a webpage to see which performs better in terms of user behavior. - Behavioral Targeting
Using data about users’ online behavior to deliver relevant content or ads. - Bounce Rate
The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page, indicating user engagement levels. - Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The percentage of users who click on a link compared to the total number who view it. - Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
The process of improving the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase. - Dwell Time
The amount of time a user spends on a webpage before returning to the search results. - Engagement Rate
A metric that measures how much users interact with your content, such as through comments, shares, or likes. - Heatmaps
Visual representations of where users click, scroll, and move on a webpage, helping to understand user behavior. - Pageviews
The total number of times a webpage is viewed, often used to measure content popularity. - Pogo-sticking
When a user quickly returns to the search results after clicking on a search result, indicating dissatisfaction with the content. - Scroll Depth
A metric that shows how far users scroll down a webpage, indicating content engagement. - Session Duration
The total time a user spends on your website during a single visit. - Sessions
A group of user interactions with your website that take place within a given timeframe. - Time on Page
The average amount of time users spend on a particular webpage. - Unique Visitors
The number of distinct individuals who visit your website over a certain period of time. - User Experience (UX)
The overall experience and satisfaction a user has when interacting with a website or digital product. - User Intent
The underlying goal or purpose behind a user’s search query, crucial for optimizing content and keyword targeting.
7. Content Strategy & Management
- Blog Optimization
The process of improving blog content for better search engine rankings and user engagement. Here are 6 steps to editing for SEO. - Content Clusters
A content strategy that involves grouping related content around a central pillar topic to improve SEO. This can help determine what to write about. - Content Decay
The gradual decline in the performance of older content, which may require updates or refreshes. - Content Freshness
A factor in search engine rankings that prioritizes newer or recently updated content. - Content Gap Analysis
The process of identifying content opportunities by analyzing what competitors cover that you don’t. - Content-Length
The total number of words in a piece of content, which can impact SEO and user engagement. - Content Management System (CMS)
Software that allows users to create, manage, and modify content on a website without needing technical knowledge. WordPress is the most popular CMS, followed by Wix, Squarespace, Drupal, and Joomla. - Content Marketing
The strategy of creating and distributing valuable content to attract and engage a target audience. - Content Pruning
The process of removing low-performing or outdated content to improve overall site quality and rankings. - Content Syndication
Republishing content on third-party sites to reach a broader audience and generate backlinks. - Duplicate Content
Content that is identical or very similar to content on another page, which can lead to SEO penalties. - Evergreen Content
Content that remains relevant and valuable over time, requiring minimal updates. - Helpful Content
A term that Google began using in 2023 to refer to content that wants to rank. Based on the current state of search, Google has a different definition of “helpful” than most humans on the planet. - Pillar Pages
Comprehensive pages that serve as the central hub for a content cluster, covering a broad topic in-depth. - SEO Copywriting
Writing content that is optimized for search engines while being valuable and engaging for readers. Here are blog writing best practices. - Thin Content
Content that provides little or no value to users, often penalized by search engines. - Topic Clusters
A content strategy where related content is grouped around a central topic to boost SEO. - User-Generated Content (UGC)
Content created by users rather than brands, often used to build community and trust. - Video SEO
The process of optimizing video content to improve its visibility in search engine results. - Voice Search Optimization
The process of optimizing content to rank well in voice search queries, often focusing on natural language.
8. Local SEO
- Geotagging
The process of adding geographic metadata to content, such as photos, to improve local SEO. - Google Maps Optimization
The practice of optimizing a business’s presence on Google Maps to improve local search visibility. - Google Business Profile (GBP)
A free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google, crucial for local SEO. Previously known as Google My Business. Your Google Business Profile needs to be managed and optimized for best results. - Local Backlinks
Backlinks from local businesses or directories that boost a website’s local SEO performance. - Local Citations
Online mentions of a business’s name, address, and phone number, important for local SEO. - Local Listings
Business information listed on local directories and search engines, enhancing visibility in local searches. - Local Pack
A set of three local business listings that appear at the top of Google’s search results for local queries. - Local Reviews
Real reviews from real customers are an important ranking factor. And they can increase conversion rates. Learn how to collect more with our custom Local Reviews tool. - Local SEO
The process of optimizing a website to attract more traffic from local searches. Learn more about local SEO. - Local SEO Audit
A local SEO audit analyzes all the factors affecting your local SEO ranking. These include your local listings, Google Business Profile, On-Site SEO, Reputation Manager, Rank Tracker, social channels, and links. - Location-Based Keywords
Keywords that include specific geographic locations, used to target local search queries. - NAP (Name, Address, Phone)
The consistency of a business’s name, address, and phone number across the web, vital for local SEO.
9. Analytics & Reporting
- Bing Webmaster Tools
A toolset offered by Bing for website owners to monitor and optimize their site’s presence on Bing search results. - Branded Keywords
Keywords that include a specific brand name, used to target searches directly related to the brand. - Click-Through Data
Information on how often users click on links in search results, important for assessing SEO performance. - Data Studio
A Google tool that allows users to create customizable reports and dashboards using data from various sources. - Direct Traffic
Visitors who arrive at a website by typing the URL directly into their browser, bypassing search engines. - Google Analytics
A web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic, providing insights into user behavior and SEO performance. - Google Search Console
A free tool that helps website owners monitor and maintain their site’s presence in Google search results. - Impressions
The number of times a webpage or ad is shown to users, important for measuring visibility. - Non-Branded Keywords
Keywords that do not include a brand name, targeting more generic or broader searches. - Organic Traffic
Traffic that comes to a website from unpaid search results, considered a key indicator of SEO success. - Rank Tracking
The process of monitoring a website’s position in search engine results pages for targeted keywords. - Referral Traffic
Visitors who arrive at a website through a link on another website, rather than through search engines. - Search Intent
The purpose behind a user’s search query, critical for optimizing content to match user needs. - Search Performance
A measure of how well a website is performing in search engine results, including rankings, traffic, and conversions. - Search Visibility
A metric that indicates how often a website appears in search engine results across all relevant queries. - Search Volume
The average number of searches for a specific keyword over a given period, important for keyword targeting. - Traffic Analysis
The study of website traffic to understand user behavior, sources, and effectiveness of SEO strategies. - Traffic Sources
The various channels through which visitors arrive at a website, including search engines, referrals, and direct traffic.
10. Tools & Platforms
- Ahrefs
A powerful SEO toolset used for backlink analysis, keyword research, and competitor analysis. - Answer the Public
A keyword research tool that generates questions and phrases based on popular search queries. - Bing Webmaster Tools
A tool provided by Bing to help webmasters manage their site’s presence in Bing search results. - Google Keyword Planner
A tool within Google Ads that helps users find keyword ideas and analyze keyword competition. - Google PageSpeed Insights
A tool that analyzes webpage speed and provides recommendations for improving load times. - Google Search Console
A free tool that helps website owners monitor and troubleshoot their site’s presence in Google search results. - GTmetrix
A tool for analyzing and optimizing website speed and performance, providing detailed reports. - Keyword Difficulty
A metric that indicates how difficult it would be to rank for a specific keyword, based on competition. - Keyword Tool
A keyword research tool that generates keyword ideas from various search engines. - Majestic
An SEO tool known for its backlink analysis capabilities and metrics like Trust Flow and Citation Flow. - Moz
An SEO toolset that offers features like keyword research, link analysis, and site audits. - Screaming Frog
A website crawler tool used to audit websites for SEO issues such as broken links, duplicate content, and more. - SEMrush
An all-in-one marketing toolkit used for keyword research, competitor analysis, and SEO audits. - SEOquake
A browser extension that provides SEO metrics for webpages, including keyword density and backlinks. - Ubersuggest
An SEO tool that offers keyword research, site audits, and backlink analysis, popular for its user-friendly interface. - Yoast SEO
A popular WordPress plugin that helps optimize website content for SEO, offering features like XML sitemaps and meta tag editing.
Here are our favorite SEO tools, including free and paid.
11. Advanced SEO Strategies
- Algorithm Updates
Changes made by search engines to their algorithms, affecting how websites are ranked in search results. - BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers)
A Google algorithm that helps better understand the context and nuance of search queries. - Competitive Link Analysis
The process of analyzing competitors’ backlinks to identify opportunities for your own link-building efforts. - Competitor Benchmarking
Comparing your website’s SEO performance to that of competitors to identify areas for improvement. - Content Pruning
The practice of removing or consolidating low-performing content to improve overall site quality and rankings. - Content Syndication
Republishing content on third-party platforms to reach a broader audience and generate backlinks. - Disavow Tool
A Google tool that allows webmasters to tell Google to ignore certain backlinks that may be harmful to their site’s SEO. - E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)
Criteria used by Google to assess the quality of content, particularly important for YMYL pages. - Enterprise SEO
SEO strategies tailored for large organizations with complex websites and a need for scalable solutions. - Google Penalties
Also commonly called a Manual Action. Penalties imposed by Google for violating its webmaster guidelines, leading to a drop in rankings or deindexing. This is an action taken by Google quality raters (humans) for not following Google’s quality guidelines. You’ll be notified of a manual action inside the Google Search Console. This is distinct from a Google Update, which doesn’t target a specific site but rather a general problem. - Google Update
Also commonly called a Google Core Update. This refers to a change to the ranking algorithm used by Google. You’ll commonly hear about it when someone gets “squashed by a Google update.” But sometimes forums and groups will have a few publishers sharing their boosts from a Google core update. Here are the recent Google algorithm updates. - Image SEO
The process of optimizing images on a website to improve their visibility in search engines and load times. - International SEO
The practice of optimizing a website to rank well in search engines across different countries and languages. - JavaScript SEO
Techniques used to ensure that JavaScript-based websites are crawlable and indexable by search engines. - Mobile SEO
The practice of optimizing a website for mobile devices, focusing on speed, usability, and mobile-friendly content. - Multilingual SEO
The process of optimizing a website to rank well in multiple languages and regions. - Negative SEO
Malicious activities aimed at damaging a competitor’s website rankings, such as building spammy backlinks. - PBN (Private Blog Network)
A network of websites used to build backlinks to a central site, considered a risky and often black hat tactic. An organized link farm. Creating thin content sites on expired domains with the sole purpose of creating backlinks to the primary site. While still in use, their popularity has waned. If done incorrectly, the whole network is at risk of being deindexed by Google. A black hat SEO technique and against Google’s terms of service. - Penalties
Punishments imposed by search engines for violating their guidelines, often resulting in reduced rankings. - Relevance
The degree to which content matches a user’s search query, a critical factor in SEO. - SEO Forecasting
The practice of predicting the future impact of SEO changes based on historical data and trends. - SEO Roadmap
A strategic plan that outlines the steps and timeline for implementing SEO improvements. - Site Migrations
The process of moving a website from one domain or platform to another, which must be managed carefully to avoid SEO issues. - Video SEO
The practice of optimizing video content to improve its visibility in search engine results. - Voice Search Optimization
The process of optimizing content to rank well in voice search queries, often focusing on natural language. - YMYL (Your Money, Your Life)
Pages that impact users’ health, finances, or safety, requiring higher standards of trustworthiness and expertise.
Have a term you would like to add? Please suggest it in the comments.
