SEO Glossary - Beginner's Guide to SEO Terms

SEO Glossary – SEO Terms Explained

Algorithm – A set of rules used by search engines to determine rankings in search results.
Crawling – The process where search engine bots scan a website’s content to index it.
Indexing – The process where search engines store and organise content from websites for retrieval in search results.
Ranking – The position of a webpage in search engine results.
SERP (Search Engine Results Page) – The page displayed by search engines in response to a user query.
Organic Search Results – Non-paid listings in search engine results, ranked by relevance.
Paid Search Results – Listings that appear at the top of SERPs because advertisers pay for them.
Search Intent – The purpose behind a user’s search query, such as informational, navigational, or transactional.
Impressions – The number of times a webpage appears in search engine results, regardless of whether it was clicked.
Cloaking – A deceptive SEO tactic where content shown to search engines differs from what users see.

Keyword – A word or phrase that users type into search engines to find information.
Long-Tail Keywords – Specific, multi-word phrases that are less competitive but attract targeted traffic.
Keyword Density – The number of times a keyword appears in content compared to the total word count.
Keyword Cannibalisation – When multiple pages on a website compete for the same keyword, reducing rankings.
Meta Description – A short summary of a page’s content that appears in search results.
Title Tag – An HTML tag that specifies a web page’s title, which appears in search results and browser tabs.
H1, H2, H3 Tags – HTML heading tags used to structure content and signal importance to search engines.
Thin Content – Pages with little or low-quality content that provide little value to users.
Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) – The process search engines use to identify related terms in content to better understand context.
Duplicate Content – Content that appears in more than one place on the internet, which can hurt SEO rankings.

Alt Text (Alternative Text) – A description added to images to help search engines understand their content and improve accessibility.
Anchor Text – The clickable text in a hyperlink that helps search engines understand the linked page’s content.
Internal Link – A hyperlink that connects different pages within the same website.
Canonical URL – A tag used to indicate the preferred version of a web page to avoid duplicate content issues.
Schema Markup – Structured data that helps search engines understand content and display rich snippets.
User Experience (UX) – The overall experience a visitor has on a website, affecting SEO rankings.
Core Web Vitals – A set of performance metrics that measure page loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.
Breadcrumb Navigation – A secondary navigation system that helps users understand their location within a website.
Above the Fold – The portion of a webpage visible without scrolling.
Image Optimisation – Reducing file sizes and using descriptive filenames and alt tags to improve page speed and rankings.

Backlink – A link from another website pointing to your site, which can improve rankings if from a reputable source.
Link Building – The process of acquiring backlinks from other websites to improve search rankings.
NoFollow Link – A hyperlink with a “rel=nofollow” tag that prevents search engines from passing authority to the linked page.
Domain Authority (DA) – A score predicting a website’s ability to rank in search engines, based on factors like backlinks and content quality.
Guest Blogging – Writing content for another website in exchange for a backlink.
Social Signals – Social media engagement that can indirectly influence rankings.
Broken Link Building – Finding broken links on other sites and suggesting your content as a replacement.

Google My Business (GMB) – A free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence in Google Search and Maps.
NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) – Consistent business information across directories to improve local search rankings.
Local Pack – A set of business listings shown in local search results on Google Maps.
Citations – Mentions of a business’s name, address, and phone number on other websites.
Geo-Targeting – Customising content based on a user’s location to improve relevance.

Mobile-First Indexing – Google’s approach to ranking sites based on their mobile version rather than desktop.
PageSpeed – The time it takes for a webpage to load, impacting user experience and rankings.
Robots.txt – A file that instructs search engine bots on which pages to crawl and which to ignore.
XML Sitemap – A structured file that helps search engines index a website’s pages.
SSL Certificate – A security protocol that encrypts data, signified by HTTPS in a URL, boosting SEO rankings.
Redirect (301, 302) – A method used to send users and search engines to a different URL than the one requested.
Canonicalisation – Preventing duplicate content issues by specifying a preferred URL for a webpage.
Lazy Loading – Deferring the loading of images and other elements to improve page speed.
Structured Data – A way to organise website content using markup to help search engines understand it better.

Google Search Console – A free tool from Google that helps monitor website performance, index status, and search traffic.
Google Analytics – A tool that tracks website traffic, user behaviour, and conversions.
Bounce Rate – The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page.
Click-Through Rate (CTR) – The percentage of users who click on a link after seeing it in search results.
Conversion Rate – The percentage of website visitors who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.
Heatmaps – Visual representations of user activity on a website.
A/B Testing – Comparing two versions of a webpage to determine which performs better.

White Hat SEO – Ethical SEO practices that follow search engine guidelines to improve rankings.
Black Hat SEO – Unethical SEO tactics that violate search engine guidelines, such as keyword stuffing and cloaking.
Grey Hat SEO – SEO techniques that fall in between ethical and unethical practices.
Content Marketing – The process of creating valuable content to attract and engage audiences.
Zero-Click Searches – Searches where users get answers directly from the SERP without clicking on any result.
Featured Snippet – A highlighted search result at the top of Google’s results, often answering a user’s query directly.
E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) – Factors Google considers when ranking content quality.