Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Terminology Explained
Search Engine Optimization can seem a bewildering subject to some because of all the jargon involved. At SEO Consult Australia, we have come up with a list of some of the more commonly used terms in the Search Engine Optimization Industry and how they may or may not be applicable to you and your SEO Campaign.
.htaccess
Useful for Search Engine Optimization practitioners, this mod rewrite file is applied to the root folder to allow redirection on an apache server.
301 Redirect
This is a Search Engine Optimization tool which permanently forwards a website to another page. The SEO benefit here is that any authority from the old site is passed on too.
Algorithm
In the context of Search Engine Optimization, an algorithm is what the search engines use to decide how to rank websites. Every search engine has different algorithms and no SEO agency knows the exact details of what each one involves. Algorithms are tweaked and changed by search engines regularly to stay one step ahead of those who practice ‘black hat’ Search Engine Optimization to try and manipulate search results.
Analytics
Web analytics are a way to measure, collate and report the data about a website. For SEO purposes, analytics can be used to see how many users come to the site through search engines, which pages they land on, how long they stay, whether they buy anything etc. Search Engine Optimization campaigns can be adjusted as you go along on the basis of analytics as it show what areas are working and what needs more attention.
Anchor Text
This is the text in a hyperlink which is visible to internet users. The Search Engine Optimization benefit is that search engines like anchor text which is relevant to the linked page as it makes it easier for them to provide relevant search results.
Authority
Although it has many different meanings in relation to SEO, ‘authority’ is always a positive thing. The authority that a search engine gives a website enables it to decide how to rank it. Authority is established by judging many different aspects such as domain age, relevance, quality of content, the industry standing of a company, existing search engine results and many more. Search Engine Optimization aims to build the authority attributed to sites by using the various SEO techniques.
Backlink
Also known on the Search Engine Optimization industry as inbound links, backlinks are links from another website to yours. The only backlinks of real benefit to SEO are one-way links, so there is no link back from your website to the external one. The more authority and relevance to the theme of your website that the other site has, the greater Search Engine Optimization value the backlink has. This is part of off page SEO strategy.
Black Hat SEO
The unethical methods used in Search Engine Optimization to try and manipulate rankings. Search engine will penalise websites found to using black hat SEO techniques by dropping from results listings, removing PageRank and sometimes blacklisting completely. SEO Consult Australia uses only ethical Search Engine Optimization techniques.
Blog
Short for web log, blogs are useful to SEO campaigns because the regular fresh content added to websites encourages regular crawling and indexing by search engines. If good quality and useful as industry resource, blogs can also help you gain more authority and result in higher rankings and better Search Engine Optimization results.
Canonicalisation
Refers to URL structure of a website where there is more than one way of getting to the content e.g. both with and without the www. part of the address. This issue is harmful to SEO because it can be considered duplicate content and as part of a Search Engine Optimization campaign, a 301 redirect needed to be implemented on all but one entrance.
CMS
Stands for Content Management System, which is the admin section of a website. Some CMS’ are easier to perform comprehensive Search Engine Optimization adjustments to than others.
Content / Copy
Refers to the text content or copy on a web page. High quality content written with SEO in mind is key to the on page strategy of an effective Search Engine Optimization campaign.
Conversion
Refers to a human internet user who lands on your site through search engine results and ‘converts’ into a customer. The aim of a successful SEO campaign is to increase conversions through attracting the right traffic to your website through use of carefully chosen Search Engine Optimization keywords.
Directories
These are websites which list industry catagorised services and as part of an SEO campaign, your website will be submitted to them. The directories which usually carry the most Search Engine Optimization benefit are industry specific and you pay to submit to, although many free directories also exist.
DMOZ
This is an open source directory reviewed by humans rather than automated software. Google uses DMOZ information to gauge the authority of a site so can have a definitive impact on any Search Engine Optimization campaign and only sites which offer value to users will be allowed entry.
Domain Age
Refers to the date that a web page first became available for indexing by search engines. Older domains usually have a head start in SEO because search engines view them as more stable and therefore attribute more authority to them.
Duplicate Content
Refers to blocks of text content which are the same, either on one domain or across several. In Search Engine Optimization terms, websites found duplicating content can be penalised by search engines. This can also include content where the SEO keywords are swapped but nothing else is changed from other sections of content.
Ethical SEO
Ethical Search Engine Optimization describes SEO practices which do not aim to trick search engines or manipulate ranking results. Ethical Search Engine Optimization aims to give a true representation of the website to search engines to achieve more relevant search results.
HTML Sitemap
This is a page on your website which lists all pages and shows the structure. Every page is linked from the sitemap which enables human users and search engines easy access to all parts of the site added Search Engine Optimization benefit.
Inbound Link
Also known as backlinks, inbound links are links from an external website (not on the same domain as yours). The most Search Engine Optimization value is for one-way links from relevant and authoritative sites. Building links is part of an off page Search Engine Optimization link building strategy.
Indexed
A webpage being indexed by a search engine is what happens once it has been crawled or spidered by a search engine bot. Indexing allows the search engine to decide what position to rank a website. A good SEO campaign will encourage regular indexing of a website by frequently adding new Search Engine Optimization targeted content, e.g. blogs.
Internal Linking
Refers to the SEO technique of linking pages on your website to other relevant pages within your website. This benefits users and search engines as they can find themed content easily, so is useful in any full site Search Engine Optimization campaign.
Keywords
These are the search terms that you target through your Search Engine Optimization campaign. They are what a user will type into a search engine to find your products or services. Careful keyword choice is vital to the effectiveness of any Search Engine Optimization efforts because poor choices will mean time and money wasted and can send your SEO campaign in the wrong direction.
Keyword Density
In terms of Search Engine Optimisation, keyword density refers to the % of the total text content on a page which is made up of your keyword (s). Too high a number of occurrences of your SEO keyword and you risk a search engine penalty for keyword stuffing.
Landing Page
This refers to the page which a user enters a website on. If a user searches for one of your products by name, your optimised product page rather than homepage will probably appear in search engine results. For SEO purposes, you can target a specific landing page geographically as well as for products, as part of your wider Search Engine Optimisation campaign
Link Bait
Refers to anything on a website which encourages other websites to link to it. Often utilised in Search Engine Optimisation campaigns through social media, blogs and comments to encourage high quality links to boost the off page Search Engine Optimisation link building.
Link Juice
In regard to Search Engine Optimisation, this refers to the authority which a link from one website to another passes along in the eyes of a search engine. The more relevant and higher in authority the site linking to yours is, the more SEO benefit you gain. A website considered to be high quality will pass on more Search Engine Optimisation link juice than half a dozen irrelevant site links will.
Link Popularity
Link popularity is the total number of external websites which link to yours. In effective Search Engine Optimisation then quality counts more than quantity, so well ranking websites linking to yours have far more SEO benefit.
Long Tail
This is a Search Engine Optimisation strategy which uses longer and more specific keywords to attract a certain type of visitor. This SEO tool can be used to target geographic areas or exact product numbers for example and can result in an excellent Search Engine Optimisation conversion rate.
Meta Tags
These are elements which give metadata to search engines about a webpage. For SEO purposes they describe your website and that information appears in search engine results listings. Meta Tags are not as meaningful in Search Engine Optimisation as they once were but still have some SEO benefit.
Natural SEO / Organic SEO
Search engine results which aren’t ’sponsored’ or paid for. Search Engine Optimisation is about improving your organic search results.
PageRank
Google PageRank is a formula used by Google to assign websites with a value (rank) and effective Search Engine Optimisation can see a site’s PageRank rise over a period of months and years.
Sandbox
Possibly an SEO myth, the Google Sandbox is a place where websites with brand new domains are said to be placed for up to the first 12 months after launch. This means they get no search results virtually regardless of Search Engine Optimisation efforts.
SEM – Search Engine Marketing
Internet marketing which targets all areas of search. This includes Search Engine Optimisation and PPC (pay per click) marketing.
SERPs
Stands for Search Engine Results Pages. The aim of Search Engine Optimisation is to get a website to move up the results listings for their chosen search terms. Successful SEO is getting a website to the first page of results, or even position 1.
Social Bookmarking
A way for users to store and share web content which interests them. For SEO purposes, allowing your blogs for example, to be bookmarked on sites such as Digg and Delicious can help your site visibility and build links to aid in overall Search Engine Optimisation.
Spam
In terms of SEO, spam refers to spam websites which try to deceive users into clicking on adverts.
Spamdexing
Using unethical or black hat Search Engine Optimisation techniques in order to mislead search engines and users. Often found irrelevant keyword spamming, websites using these poor Search Engine Optimisation methods may suffer penalties.
Spider
A name for a search engine bot which crawls web pages before indexing. Search Engine Optimisation aims to encourage spiders back regularly by introducing fresh content to websites often.
Title Tag
The title tag of a web page is what you see in the top right of your browser window. As part of your Search Engine Optimisation strategy, title tags should contain your most important keywords for maximum SEO benefit.
Traffic
The term to describe the visitors to your site. Search Engine Optimisation aims to increase appropriate traffic which is more likely to result in conversions.
W3C
“The World Wide Web Consortium” provides guideline for valid and accessible websites. For a Search Engine Optimisation campaign to have most impact, websites must have valid code.
White Hat
Another name for ethical Search Engine Optimisation practitioners who don’t use underhand, unethical or black hat SEO techniques to try and manipulate ranking results.
XML Sitemap
If a website has an XML Sitemap on their website, search engines will find it and easily discover all of the site’s content so it is a necessity when performing Search Engine Optimisation.
