SEO jargon can feel like learning a new language. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with this no-nonsense guide to over 200 SEO terms and definitions. From backlinks to XML sitemaps, we’ll break it all down in a way that’s easy to understand. No more getting lost in technical mumbo-jumbo or feeling like you’re drowning in alphabet soup.
We’ll keep our SEO glossary straightforward and to the point, because who has time for fluff?
Get ready to level up your knowledge and start speaking the lingo like a pro.
Our glossary of SEO terms
301 redirect: A permanent redirect, which passes full link equity.
302 redirect: A temporary redirect, which does not pass full link equity.
404 error: An HTTP status code indicating that the requested web page could not be found on the server.
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP): An open-source framework for creating fast-loading mobile web pages.
Algorithm: A set of rules or instructions followed by search engines to rank web pages.
Alt attribute: An HTML attribute that describes an image, used for accessibility and SEO purposes.
Alt text: The text description of an image, used by search engines and for accessibility.
Anchor text: The visible, clickable text in a hyperlink (e.g. ‘Contact us’)
Authority site: A website that is highly trusted and respected by search engines and users.
Average Monthly Searches (AMS): A metric that estimates the average number of searches for a particular keyword or phrase over a month.
Backlink: An inbound link from another website to your website.
Backlink profile: The overall composition, quality, and characteristics of the backlinks pointing to a website, which can impact search engine rankings.
Behavioural targeting: Targeting users based on their online behaviour and browsing history.
Bing Webmaster Tools: A suite of tools provided by Bing to help webmasters optimise their websites for Bing search.
Bingbot: Microsoft Bing’s web crawler.
Black hat SEO: Unethical tactics that attempt to manipulate search engine rankings through techniques that violate search engine guidelines, such as link buying/selling or keyword stuffing.
Bottom-of-Funnel (BOFU): The final stage of the marketing funnel where leads are ready to make a purchase decision.
Bounce rate: The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page.
Brand mentions: A reference or citation of a brand’s name that appears online, such as in an article, social media post, review, or other digital content.
Branded search: A search query that includes a brand name or product name. E.g. ‘Dell laptop’.
Breadcrumb navigation: A navigational aid that shows a user’s location within a website’s hierarchy.
Broken link: A link that points to a non-existent or unavailable web page (i.e. a 404 error)
Broken link building: The process of finding broken links on other websites and suggesting your content as a replacement.
Buyer journey: The process a potential customer goes through, from initial awareness to final purchase decision.
Caching: The temporary storage of web pages or other data for faster retrieval.
Canonical tag: An HTML element that specifies the preferred version of a web page.
Canonicalization: The process of designating a single preferred URL as the canonical version when multiple URLs lead to the same or similar content, helping search engines prioritise the correct URL for indexing and consolidating ranking signals.
Citation: A mention of a business’s name, address, and phone number on the web.
Click depth: The number of clicks required to reach a specific page from the homepage.
Clickstream data: Data that tracks a user’s online activity, including the pages visited and actions taken.
Click-through rate (CTR): The ratio of users who click on a specific search result to the number of total users who viewed the result.
Cloaking: Delivering different content to search engines than to users.
Content audit: A comprehensive evaluation of a website’s existing content.
Content cluster: A group of related content pieces organised around a central topic or theme.
Content gap analysis: Identifying gaps or opportunities in a website’s content strategy.
Content Management System (CMS): A software application that allows users to create, manage, and publish digital content on websites or blogs.
Content optimisation: The process of improving and refining content to better meet user needs and search engine requirements.
Content pruning: The process of removing or consolidating low-quality or outdated content from a website.
Content repurposing: Reusing or adapting existing content for different formats or channels.
Content silo: Another word for content cluster. A way of organising related content on a website into distinct topic areas or themes.
Contextual advertising: Displaying advertisements based on the content of a web page.
Conversion funnel: The series of steps a user takes before completing a desired action, such as making a purchase.
Conversion rate: The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.
Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO): The practice of optimising website elements to increase the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action.
Cookies: Small text files stored on a user’s device by websites to remember user preferences and activity.
Core Web Vitals: A set of metrics that measure the user experience of a web page, including loading, interactivity and visual stability. You can check yours using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool.
Cornerstone content: Similar to pillar content (see below!)
Cost-per-click: An advertising model where the advertiser pays each time their ad is clicked by a user.
CSS: A style sheet language used to control the presentation and formatting of web pages.
Crawl budget: The number of pages a search engine will crawl on a website within a given timeframe.
Crawl depth: The number of levels deep a search engine will crawl into a website’s structure.
Crawl efficiency: The effectiveness of a search engine’s crawling process on a website.
Crawl errors: Issues that prevent search engines from successfully crawling and indexing web pages.
Crawl rate: The frequency at which a search engine crawls a website.
Crawler: A software program used by search engines to discover and index web pages.
Crawling: The process by which search engines discover and index web pages.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): A Core Web Vitals metric that measures the visual stability of a web page by quantifying unexpected layout shifts.
Deep link: A link that points to a specific page or section within a website, rather than the homepage.
Digital marketing: The promotion of products or services using digital technologies, including search engines, social media, email, and mobile apps.
Digital PR: The practice of promoting a brand, product or service online through tactics media relations, like influencer marketing, content creation, and online reputation management.
Direct traffic: Website visitors that arrive by directly typing the URL into their browser or through bookmarks/favourites.
Directory submission: The process of submitting a website to online directories for potential backlinks and increased visibility.
Disavow tool: A tool provided by Google to disavow low-quality or spammy backlinks.
Do-follow link: A regular link that passes link equity.
Domain: The unique name that identifies a website’s address on the internet (e.g. thisisdefinition.com).
Domain Authority (DA): A metric created by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engines.
Doorway pages: Low-quality web pages designed solely to rank for specific keywords and redirect visitors to another page.
Duplicate content: Identical or very similar content appearing on multiple web pages.
Dwell time: The amount of time a user spends on a web page before returning to the search results.
E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, factors used by Google to evaluate content quality.
Entities: Objects, people or concepts that can be clearly defined and linked in the context of a search query.
Engagement metrics: Measurements that track how users interact with and engage with website content.
Entity search: A search that focuses on finding information about specific entities, such as people, places, or organisations.
Event: An action or occurrence that can be tracked and measured, such as a website visit or a form submission.
Evergreen content: Content that remains relevant and valuable over an extended period – especially when updated regularly.
Exit rate: The percentage of visitors who leave a website from a specific page.
Featured snippet: A summary of an answer to a user’s query, displayed at the top of search results.
Geo-targeting: Delivering content or search results based on a user’s geographic location.
Goal: A specific action or outcome that a website aims to achieve, such as a purchase or lead generation.
Google Analytics: A free web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic.
Google Business Profile: A free tool for businesses to manage their online presence across Google’s services.
Google Dance: Fluctuations in search engine rankings that occur after algorithm updates.
Google Keyword Planner: A free tool provided by Google that allows marketers to research and analyse search volume data for keywords, as well as plan and optimise pay-per-click (PPC) and SEO campaigns.
Google Search Console: A free tool provided by Google that helps webmasters monitor and maintain their site’s presence in Google Search results.
Googlebot: Google’s web crawler that discovers and indexes web pages.
H1 tag: The main HTML heading tag that defines the most important heading on a web page.
Header tags (H1, H2, etc.): HTML elements that define the structure and hierarchy of content.
Headless CMS: A content management system that decouples the back-end from the front-end, allowing for greater flexibility and performance.
Hreflang tag: An HTML tag that helps search engines understand the language and geographic targeting of a website’s content.
HTML: The standard markup language used to create and structure web pages.
HTTPs: A secure version of the HTTP protocol that encrypts data transmitted between a web server and a client.
Image optimisation: The process of optimising images for faster loading times and better search engine visibility.
Image sitemap: A file that provides information about the images on a website.
Inbound links: Links from other websites that point to your website, also known as backlinks.
Incognito mode: A private browsing mode that prevents search history and cookies from being saved.
Indexability: The ability of a web page to be indexed and included in search engine results.
Indexing: The process of adding web pages to a search engine’s database.
Interaction to Next Paint (INP): A Core Web Vitals metric that measures the time it takes for a web page to become interactive after a user input.
Internal linking: The act of linking between pages within the same website.
Internal links: Links that point from one page on your website to another page on the same website.
International SEO: Optimising a website for search engines and users in different countries and languages.
Intrusive interstitials: Obtrusive pop-up ads or interstitial pages that disrupt the user experience on web pages.
JavaScript: A programming language used to add interactivity and dynamic behaviour to web pages.
JavaScript redirects: A method of redirecting users from one URL to another using JavaScript code.
Keyword: A word or phrase that describes the content of a web page.
Keyword cannibalisation: When multiple pages on a website target the same keyword, potentially causing them to compete against each other in search results.
Keyword density: The frequency of keywords in a web page’s content.
Keyword mapping: The process of assigning target keywords to specific pages on a website to indicate their relevance to search engines and searchers for those terms.
Keyword research: The process of identifying and analysing the keywords and phrases that potential customers use to search for products or services.
Keyword stuffing: The unnatural overuse of keywords on a web page, which can result in poorer content performance, or even penalties.
Knowledge graph: A knowledge base used by search engines to enhance search results with relevant information and facts.
Landing page: A web page designed specifically for visitors from a particular source or campaign.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): A Core Web Vitals metric that measures the time it takes for the largest content element on a web page to load.
Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA): A technique used by search engines to understand the context and meaning of content.
Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI): A technique used by search engines to understand the context and meaning of content.
Lazy loading: A technique that defers the loading of resources (images, videos, etc.) on a web page until they are needed, improving initial load times.
Link bait: Content or strategies designed to attract backlinks from other websites.
Link building: The process of acquiring backlinks from other websites.
Link detox: The process of identifying and removing low-quality or toxic backlinks.
Link equity: The value and authority passed from one website to another through links.
Link farming: The practice of creating low-quality websites solely for the purpose of link building.
Link juice: The authority and ranking power passed from one web page to another through links.
Link pyramid: A linking strategy that involves building a hierarchy of links from low-authority to high-authority websites.
Link reclamation: The process of identifying and recovering lost or broken backlinks to a website.
Link wheel: A linking strategy that involves creating a circular pattern of links between multiple websites.
Local pack: A listing of local businesses in Google Search/Google Maps results.
Local SEO: Optimisation strategies specifically for local businesses to rank well in location-based searches.
Long-tail keyword: A longer, more specific keyword phrase. Such as, ‘how to make a vegan spaghetti Bolognese’.
Manual action: A penalty imposed by a search engine due to violations of their guidelines.
Meta description: A brief summary of a web page’s content, visible in search engine results.
Meta tags: Snippets of text that describe a page’s content, used by search engines to understand the page.
Middle-of-Funnel (MOFU): The middle stage of the marketing funnel where leads are considering and evaluating different options before making a purchase decision.
Mobile optimisation: Ensuring a website is optimised for use on mobile devices.
Mobile-First Indexing: Google’s approach to primarily using the mobile version of a website for indexing and ranking.
Multilingual SEO: Optimising a website for multiple languages.
Multiregional SEO: Optimising a website for multiple geographic regions.
NAP consistency: Ensuring that a business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistently listed across the web.
Natural Language Processing (NLP): The ability of computers to understand and process human language.
Negative SEO: Malicious tactics used by competitors to harm a website’s search engine rankings.
News sitemap: A file that provides information about news articles on a website.
No-follow link: A link with a “nofollow” attribute, which instructs search engines not to pass link equity.
No-index: An HTML tag or HTTP header that instructs search engines not to index a specific web page.
Organic clicks: Clicks from users on organic (non-paid) search engine result listings.
Organic competition: The other websites and web pages that are competing for the same search keywords and rankings.
Organic impressions: The number of times a website’s listing appeared (but isn’t necessarily clicked on) in organic (non-paid) search results.
Organic leads: Potential customers or sales prospects acquired through organic search traffic.
Organic search: Search results that are not influenced by paid advertising like Google Ads.
Organic sessions: Website visits that originated from organic (non-paid) search results.
Organic users: The number of unique visitors that accessed a website through organic (non-paid) search results.
Outbound links: Links from your website that point to other websites.
Page authority: A metric that predicts how well a specific page will rank on search engines.
Page experience: The overall user experience of a web page, including factors like loading speed and visual stability.
Page speed: The measurement of how quickly a web page loads, which is a ranking factor for search engines.
Pagination: The process of dividing website content into multiple pages to improve user experience and website performance by breaking down large amounts of information into smaller, more manageable chunks.
Panda update: A Google algorithm update aimed at reducing the rankings of low-quality or thin content.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC): An advertising model where advertisers pay each time their ad is clicked.
Penguin update: A Google algorithm update focused on penalising websites with spammy or manipulative link practices.
Persona: A fictional representation of an ideal customer or user, based on research and data.
Pillar content: Comprehensive, in-depth content that covers a broad topic.
Plugins: Software components that extend the functionality of a web application or content management system.
Progressive Web App (PWA): A type of web application that combines features of both web and mobile apps.
Python: A popular programming language often used for web development, data analysis, and automation tasks.
Query Deserves Freshness (QDF): A Google algorithm component that prioritises fresh and up-to-date content for certain types of queries.
RankBrain: A machine learning system used by Google to better understand search queries and provide more relevant results.
Ranking: The position of a web page in search engine results.
Ranking factor: A signal used by search engines to determine the relevance and ranking position of a webpage in search results. There are hundreds of them.
Redirect: A technique used to forward visitors from one URL to another.
Referral traffic: Website visitors referred from links on other websites or platforms like social media.
Rel=canonical: An HTML element that specifies the canonical version of a web page.
Rel=next/prev: HTML elements that indicate the sequential relationship between paginated pages.
Responsive design: A web design approach that ensures optimal viewing and interaction across different devices and screen sizes.
Rich snippet: Enhanced search result listings that include additional information.
Robots meta tag: An HTML element that provides instructions to search engine crawlers.
Robots.txt: A file that instructs search engines which pages to crawl or not crawl. Learn more about them from Google.
Schema markup: A structured data format that helps search engines better understand web content. See also: structured data.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM): The practice of promoting websites through paid advertising or achieving organic rankings on search engines.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): The practice of optimising a website to rank higher in search engine results.
Search Engine Results Page (SERP): The page displayed by a search engine in response to a user’s query.
Search Generative Experience (SGE): Google’s new approach to generating and presenting AI-powered search results tailored to each user’s query.
Search intent: The underlying reason or goal behind a user’s search query.
Search query: The keywords or phrases entered by a user into a search engine.
Search volume: The number of searches performed for a particular keyword or phrase over a given period. See also AMS.
Semantic search: A search technique that focuses on understanding the intent and contextual meaning behind a search query.
Site architecture: The overall structure and organisation of a website’s content and navigation.
Site audit: A comprehensive analysis of a website’s technical and on-page SEO elements.
Sitemap: A file that provides information about the pages on a website to search engines.
Sitemaps protocol: A standard for communicating sitemap information to search engines.
Skyscraper technique: Creating content that is better than the top-ranking content for a particular keyword.
Social signals: Engagement metrics from social media platforms that can influence search engine rankings.
Spam score: A metric used by search engines to assess the quality and trustworthiness of a web page.
Spider traps: Techniques used to prevent search engine crawlers from accessing certain pages or sections of a website.
Splash pages: Introductory pages that appear before the main content of a website, often used for age verification or promotional purposes.
Split testing: A method of comparing two or more versions of a web page or element to determine which performs better (and why).
Structured data: A standardised format for providing information about a page and classifying the page content, making it easier for search engines to understand and display the information (see also: Schema markup). Test yours with this tool.
Technical SEO: Optimisation strategies focused on improving the technical aspects of a website, such as site speed, crawlability, and indexability.
Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF): A statistical measure used to evaluate the importance of a word in a document.
Thin content: Content that lacks substance or value for users.
Title tag: An HTML element that specifies the title of a web page. It’s the blue copy you see in search results.
Topic cluster: A content strategy that organises content into clusters around specific topics (see also: Content cluster).
Topical authority: The perceived expertise and trustworthiness of a website or content on a specific topic.
Top-Level Domain (TLD): The last part of a domain name, such as .com, .org, or .net.
Top-of-Funnel (TOFU): The initial stage of the marketing funnel where potential customers become aware of a product or service.
URL: It stand for ‘Uniform Resource Locator’. The unique address or location of a web page on the internet. E.g. https://comms.thisisdefinition.com/
URL structure: The way URLs are organised and formatted on a website.
User Experience (UX): The overall experience a user has when interacting with a website or application.
User Intent: The underlying goal or purpose behind a user’s search query (see also: Search intent).
Video sitemap: A file that provides information about the videos on a website.
Voice search: The ability to perform searches using voice commands.
White hat SEO: Ethical SEO practices that follow search engine guidelines and aim to improve rankings through techniques like quality content creation and earning editorial backlinks.
XML sitemap: A file that provides information about a website’s pages and their relationships. You can submit an XML sitemap via Google Search Console.
Zero-click marketing: A strategy that aims to provide users with the information they need directly in the search results, without requiring them to click through to a website.
Now you know SEO terminology…go forth and optimise
Phew…there you have it – a crash course in SEO terminology that cuts through the clutter.
With these definitions under your belt, you’re equipped to navigate the world of SEO with confidence. No more feeling like an outsider when the nerds start throwing out loads of acronyms and technical SEO jargon.
Remember, SEO is an ever-evolving game, so keep learning, keep adapting, and most importantly, keep it simple. Mastering the jargon is just the first step towards dominating the search engine rankings.
Perhaps your next step is to work with an expert B2B SEO agency? To learn more about Definition’s SEO services, get in touch with our experts today.
Written by Matthew Robinson, Senior Digital and PR Strategist at Definition.
Drop us a line about all things SEO