SEO Glossary
301 Redirect
Use when moving a page to a new location on a site. Tells search engines which is the correct page.
Absolute URL
Full URL with the precise web address, such as http://www.mysite.com/mypage. See Relative URL.
Alt Attribute
Text for an image or element. Important for accessibility. Also called Alt Tag.
Algorithm
The formula used by search engines to compute the relevance and order of pages shown in the SERPs.
Anchor Text
A hyperlink's visible words on a site page. See Link.
Ask
A search engine. Originally designed as "Ask Jeeves," where a searcher queried using questions.
Backlink
A link from another site to your site. Also called Inbound Link.
Bing
A search engine that calls itself a decision engine. Formerly known as “Live Search.”
Black Hat SEO
Search engine optimization that does not follow the search engine's rules or terms of service. See also White Hat SEO
Cloaking
Providing one page for a searcher and another page for a search engine spider. See Black Hat SEO.
Content
Basic requirement for SEO. The text, images, videos, etc. on website pages. Good content attracts good inbound links.
Decision Engine
Alternative to a search engine. Designed to “help you make smarter, faster decisions.” See Bing.
Directory
A listing of sites, blogs, or articles organized by subject.
Google
A search engine. The majority of search queries are conducted through Google.
Inbound Links
A link from another site to your site. Also called Backlink.
Index
Information stored by search engines; collected by spidering your site and links to your site.
Keywords
Words that you use to talk about your product or service offering. Ideally the words you use are also the words searchers query.
Keyword Density
How often your keyword appears on a site page in relation to the total number of words on that page.
Keyword Stuffing
Overuse of your keywords on a page in the hopes a search engine will consider your page more relevant. Also called Keyword Spamming.
Link Bait
An element on your site designed primarily to attract links.
Link Farm
Sites that all link one to another with the goal of building PageRank. Also called Link Circle
Meta Tags
Used to describe your webpage. First 120 characters (approximately) show on SERPs. Also called Meta Elements
Organic Search
The main or non-sponsored results on the SERPs.
PageRank
Google's "points" system for assigning relevance to pages; based on link value.
Query
Words that a searcher types into a search engine.
Relative URL
Web address written in relation to another folder on a site, such as /mysite.com/mypage. Also see Absolute URL
Search Engine
Software that indexes websites and displays the most relevant page to answer a searcher's query. See Ask, Bing, Google, or Yahoo!
SERP
The list of most relevant pages to answer a searcher's query. Search Engine Results Page.
Stemming
Using various forms of a word on a web page so content reads naturally.
Title Element
The title of your page, which is displayed in the very top bar or tab of a web browser. Also called Title Tag
White Hat SEO
Search engine optimization that follows the search engine's rules or terms of service. See also Black Hat SEO
Yahoo!
A directory and search engine.