SEO Glossary
š Understanding SEO starts with knowing the language. This SEO Glossary is designed to help you get familiar with the most important terms and definitions in search engine optimization. Whether you’re just getting started or brushing up on your knowledge, this guide will make complex concepts easier to grasp and apply.
š Got questions? Find answers in our SEO Questions and Answers post.
šÆ For Google Ads-specific terms, check out the Google Ads Glossary.
Backlink
Backlink in SEO is a link from another website that points to your website, helping improve your siteās authority and ranking in search engine results.
Canonical Tag
A canonical tag is an HTML element used to tell search engines which version of a webpage is the preferred or “canonical” version when there are duplicate or similar pages on a website. It helps prevent duplicate content issues and consolidates ranking signals to the main URL.
Content Optimization
Content optimization is the process of improving the quality and relevance of content to ensure it ranks higher in search engine results, engages the target audience, and achieves specific business goals. This involves using targeted keywords, optimizing meta tags, improving readability, and adding multimedia elements to help the content rank higher in search results and attract more organic traffic.
Crawl Budget
Crawl budget in SEO refers to the number of pages a search engine bot (like Googlebot) is willing and able to crawl on a website within a given timeframe. Itās influenced by factors like site size, server performance, internal linking, and the frequency of content updates.
Duplicate Content
Duplicate content refers to blocks of content that appear in more than one location (either on the same website or across different websites), making it difficult for search engines to decide which version to rank.
DoFollow Link
A DoFollow link is a regular backlink that passes SEO value (link juice) from the linking site to the linked site, helping improve its search engine ranking.
Domain Authority (DA)
Domain Authority is a metric developed by Moz that predicts how well an entire website will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs). It ranges from 1 to 100āthe higher the score, the better the ability to rank.
External Linking
External linking is the process of linking a webpage to a page on a different domain. These links point users to valuable content outside the website and can also signal credibility and relevance to search engines.
Hreflang Tags
Hreflang tags are HTML attributes used to tell search engines which language and regional version of a page to show to users based on their location and language preferences.
Image Optimization
Image optimization is the process of improving images on a website to enhance loading speed, user experience, and search engine rankings. This involves compressing image files, using descriptive filenames, adding alt text, implementing responsive images, and utilizing proper formatting to ensure better visibility in search results.
Internal Linking
Internal linking refers to the practice of connecting one page of a website to another page on the same domain. These links help users navigate the site and allow search engines to understand the website’s structure and hierarchy.
Keyword
Keywords are words or phrases that users type into search engines to find relevant content. In SEO, keywords represent the ideas and topics that define content. Including these keywords can improve its visibility and ranking on search results pages.
Keyword Cannibalization
Keyword cannibalization occurs when multiple pages on a website target the same keyword, causing them to compete and potentially hurt their search rankings.
Keyword Clustering
Keyword clustering is the practice of grouping related keywords together to optimize a single page for multiple search terms, improving its relevance and search engine rankings.
Keyword Density
Keyword Density is the percentage of times a keyword appears in a piece of content relative to the total word count. It is calculated by dividing the number of times the keyword is used by the total number of words and then multiplying by 100 to get a percentage.
Keyword Difficulty
Keyword Difficulty is a metric used in SEO to estimate how challenging it would be to rank for a specific keyword in search engine results.
Keyword Frequency
Keyword Frequency refers to the number of times a specific keyword appears on a page or in a piece of content.
Keyword Mapping
Keyword mapping is the process of assigning specific keywords to different pages on a website to optimize each page for unique search terms.
Keyword Prominence
Keyword prominence is the placement of a keyword at the beginning of a title, heading, or content to increase its importance for SEO.
Keyword Proximity
Keyword proximity is the measure of how close keywords are to each other within a piece of content.
Keyword Ranking
Keyword ranking refers to the position of a webpage in search results for a specific keyword or search query.
Keyword Research
Keyword Research is the process of finding and analyzing search terms or queries that users are searching on search engines like Google, Bing, and others. Keyword research involves discovering the terms users search for. This process is crucial for optimizing website content, improving search engine rankings, and driving targeted traffic to the site.
Keyword Stemming
Keyword stemming is the practice of using different forms or variations of a keyword, like plurals or tenses, to match related search queries.
Keyword Stuffing
Keyword Stuffing refers to the excessive and irrelevant use of keywords in a web page’s content, meta tags, or alt attributes with the intent of manipulating search engine rankings.
Link Reclamation
Link Reclamation is the process of finding and fixing lost or broken backlinks that once pointed to your website. This can include reaching out to site owners to update old links, fixing broken pages on your site, or claiming brand mentions that donāt yet link back to you. It’s a key part of maintaining and improving your backlink profile in SEO.
LSI Keywords
LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) Keywords are terms related to your main keyword that help search engines understand the context of your content.
Naked Links
Naked links are hyperlinks that use the full URL as the anchor text, rather than using descriptive or keyword-rich text.
NoFollow Link
A NoFollow link has a special HTML attribute (rel=”nofollow”) that tells search engines not to pass SEO value to the linked site.
Off-Page SEO
Off-Page SEO is the practice of improving a websiteās search engine rankings by taking actions outside of the actual website. This includes building high-quality backlinks, increasing brand awareness, and promoting content through external sources like social media, forums, and other websites to boost the siteās authority and relevance in search results.
On-Page SEO
On-Page SEO is the process of optimizing individual web pages to improve their visibility in search engine results by enhancing elements such as content, meta tags, headings, URL structure, internal links, and images to ensure better rankings and user experience.
Page Authority (PA)
Page Authority is a metric developed by Moz that predicts how well a specific individual page on a website will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs). It ranges from 1 to 100āthe higher the score, the better the ability to rank.
Redirect
A redirect is a way to send both users and search engines from one URL to another. Itās used when a page is moved, deleted, or merged, ensuring a smooth user experience and preserving SEO value (like backlinks and rankings).
Robots.txt
A robots.txt file is a text file placed in the root directory of a website that gives instructions to search engine crawlers about which pages or sections of the site they are allowed or not allowed to crawl and index. It helps manage crawler traffic and prevent indexing of sensitive or irrelevant content.
Schema Markup
Schema Markup is a type of structured data vocabulary developed by Schema.org that allows you to tag specific types of contentālike articles, products, reviews, events, and moreāso they can be displayed as rich results (e.g., stars, images, pricing) in search engine results.
Search Intent
Search intent, also known as user intent or query intent, refers to the purpose behind a user’s search query on search engines. It is the reason why a user is conducting a particular search and what they hope to find or achieve with their search.
Seed Keywords
Seed keywords are words or phrases used in the keyword research process as the starting point to unlock more keyword suggestions.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the practice of optimizing a website to improve its visibility and rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs), aiming to drive more organic traffic by making the site more relevant and accessible to users and search engines.
SEO Competitive Benchmarking
SEO competitive benchmarking is the process of evaluating your website’s SEO performance against competitors and industry standards to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
SEO Competitor Analysis
SEO competitor analysis is the process of evaluating and studying the SEO strategies and performance of your competitors to understand their strengths and weaknesses, uncover opportunities, and refine your own SEO strategy.
SEO Content Writing
SEO Content Writing is the creation of valuable, informative content optimized for search engines. It involves using relevant keywords, proper content structure, and elements like meta descriptions and internal links to improve search visibility. The goal is to attract organic traffic by addressing user queries and ranking well in search results.
SEO Copywriting
SEO Copywriting is the practice of writing content that is optimized for search engines by incorporating relevant keywords, while also ensuring the content is engaging, informative, and designed to encourage the audience to take a desired action, such as purchasing a product or subscribing to a service.
Sitemap
A sitemap is a fileāusually in XML formatāthat lists all the important pages on a website. It helps search engines discover, crawl, and index the siteās content more efficiently. Sitemaps provide information about the organization of pages and can include details like the last update date and the importance of each page.
Spam Score
Spam Score is a metric developed by Moz that indicates the likelihood of a website being penalized or banned by search engines due to spammy or suspicious practices. It ranges from 0% to 100%, with higher percentages suggesting a greater risk. This score is based on various spam signals like low-quality backlinks, keyword stuffing, or manipulative SEO tactics.
Structured Data
Structured Data is a format (usually in JSON-LD) used to label content with metadata, helping search engines better understand the content of a page.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the practice of optimizing a websiteās technical aspects to help search engines effectively crawl, index, and rank its pages. It involves improving elements like site speed, mobile usability, security (HTTPS), crawlability, and structured data to enhance a site’s visibility in search results.
Thin Content
Thin content refers to pages that have little or no valuable information for the user. These pages often lack depth, originality, or usefulness.
š Bookmark this page ā this SEO glossary will be updated regularly as new terms and trends emerge. Itās a handy resource you can return to anytime. š