Glossary of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Terms
Algorithm: The technology that a search engine uses to deliver results to a search query.Back-links: All the links pointing at a particular webpage; also called inbound links.
Banned: Search engines remove or "ban" sites from their index if found violating their guidelines.
Benchmark Report: An initial report used to mark where a web page falls on search engine results pages for a certain query. Subsequent reports are compared against this initial report.
Cloaking: Considered a spamming technique, cloaking uses specific software programs to send search engine spiders to alternative pages that are not seen by the end user.
Crawler: A search engine’s crawler (also called a spider or robot) follows links to web pages. It makes copies of the web pages found and stores these in the search engine’s index.
Directories: Directories gathered and reviewed web sites through human efforts rather than by automated crawling of the web. Listings are placed in a relevant category.
Doorway: Doorway pages (also referred to as gateway or bridge pages) are used to help increase rankings on specific key terms. This tactic is considered spam.
Flash Optimization: The process in which flash movies are reworked to make the content "crawlable" and search engine friendly.
Hidden Text: Provides a way for pages to be filled with enormous amounts of keywords. This an easily detectable spamming technique.
Index: The database of information a search engine has that searchers can query against. With crawler-based search engines, the indexes are typically copies (or cache) of pages they found.
Indexed Pages: Search engines scan their databases for web pages related to keywords. Optimized web pages strive to be indexed so they appear in search engine results listings.
Keyword: The phrase a searcher enters into a search engine’s search box. Also called search term, query terms or query.
Landing Page: The specific webpage that a visitor reaches after clicking a search engine listing, pay-per-click ad or banner ad. Literally, any page of a web site can be considered a landing page.
Link Popularity: A raw count of how “popular” a page is, based on the number of back-links it has.
Link Text: The text that is contained within a link.
Listings: The information that appears on a search engine’s results page in response to a search.
Meta Tags: Meta tags contain the descriptive terms used within the HTML code of a webpage that provide a summary of the page’s content such as a brief page summary (or description).
Metrics: Measurements, collections of data about activities, resources and/or deliverables.
Onsite Search: The onsite search can be used by consumers to find specific products through keyword queries specific to the website.
Organic Listings: Listings (unlike paid listings) appear solely because a search engine has deemed it editorially relevant to a user's search term.
Outbound Links: Links on a particular web page leading to other webpages, whether they are within the same website or other websites.
Paid Inclusion: Refers to a fee based listing that occurs with several of the major search engines and directories including Yahoo.
Paid Listings: Listings that search engines sell to advertisers, usually through paid placement or paid inclusion. In contrast, organic listings are not sold.
Position: How well a particular webpage or website is listed in search engine results; positions 1-10 are the most visible.
Position Report: Reports position movement based upon your initial benchmark position for each keyword along with daily changes and indexed URL’s.
Query: The words (or word) a searcher enters into a search engine’s search box. Also used to refer to terms that a marketer hopes will find a particular page. Also called keywords.
Rank: The position of a particular web page is listed in a search engine’s result pages.
Reciprocal Link: A link exchange between two sites.
Results Page: After a user enters a search query, the page that is displayed is called the results page. It may also be called SERP, for “search engine results page.”
Robot: A search engine’s robot (also called a spider or crawler), follows links to discover new web pages. It takes a snapshot of the pages found which is stored in the search engine’s index.
Robots.txt: A file used to keep web pages from being indexed by search engines. The Google Robots Exclusion page provides official details.
Search Engine: Any service designed to allow users to search the web or a specialized database of information. Web search engines generally have paid listings and organic listings.
Search Engine Optimization: The method to achieve optimum visibility in natural search engine results. Best practices include well written content, technical analysis and keyword targeting.
SEO: SEO is the abbreviation often used to describe search engine optimization.
SERPs: Acronym that refers to Search Engine Results Pages.
Spam: Any search engine marketing method that a search engine deems to be detrimental to its efforts to deliver relevant, quality search results.
Spider: A search engine's "spider" discovers web pages by “spidering” the web. A search engine’s spider (also called a crawler or robot), follows links to web pages.
Web Analytics: A generic term used to describe analysis of website traffic and performance.