What exactly is SEO, and why are there so many terms?
If you’ve ever found yourself puzzled by the jargon thrown around in the SEO world, you’re not alone.
That’s why I’ve put together this easy-to-follow glossary, featuring over 260 terms.
Whether you’re just getting into SEO or brushing up for 2025, this list will help clear up confusion and give you quick, simple definitions of key terms.
A
AJAX
AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) lets websites update content without refreshing the whole page, making interactions faster for users.
Algorithm
An algorithm is a set of rules search engines use to rank websites in search results. It’s sometimes called a “search algorithm.”
Alt Attribute (also known as Alt Text)
Alt attribute or alt text describes an image on a webpage. It helps search engines understand what the image is about and improves accessibility.
Above the Fold
Content that appears on a webpage before you need to scroll is called “above the fold.” It’s the first thing users see when they land on a page.
Analytics
Analytics tools track and report website data like traffic, user behavior, and conversions. This helps site owners understand what’s working and where improvements are needed.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence refers to machines learning and performing tasks that usually require human intelligence, like understanding search queries or predicting trends.
Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. It tells users and search engines what the linked page is about.
Authority
Authority refers to the trust and credibility a website has. The more reliable a site is, the higher it’s likely to rank on search engines.
B
Branded Keyword
A branded keyword is a search term that includes the name of a brand. It shows when people are specifically looking for that brand’s products or services.
Breadcrumb
A breadcrumb is a navigation aid showing the path a user has taken to get to the current page on a website, helping them understand site structure.
Broken Link (also known as Dead Link)
A broken link is a hyperlink that no longer works, either because the target page has been removed or its URL has changed.
B2B (also known as Business-to-Business)
B2B refers to companies that sell products or services to other businesses rather than to individual consumers.
Backlink (also known as Inbound Link)
A backlink is a link from one website to another. Search engines view backlinks as a vote of confidence, which can help boost rankings.
Baidu
Baidu is a popular search engine in China, similar to Google in other countries, and is a key platform for SEO in Chinese markets.
B2C (also known as Business-to-Consumer)
B2C refers to companies that sell products or services directly to individual consumers.
Bing
Bing is a search engine developed by Microsoft. It’s the second-largest search engine after Google and offers its own SEO guidelines.
Blog
A blog is a regularly updated section of a website where articles or posts are published on specific topics. Blogs help drive traffic and improve SEO.
Bot (also known as Web Crawler)
A bot or web crawler is a program that automatically scans and indexes websites for search engines, helping them update their search results.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page, without interacting with the site further.
Black Box
In SEO, a black box refers to the mysterious nature of how search engines rank websites. The exact process is not fully disclosed to the public.
Black Hat
Black hat SEO refers to unethical practices aimed at manipulating search rankings. These tactics often violate search engine guidelines and can lead to penalties.
Buyer Intent Keywords
Buyer intent keywords are search terms that indicate someone is ready to make a purchase. These keywords are valuable for targeting users close to converting.
C
Content is King
“Content is King” is just a way of saying that good content is super important. If your website has valuable info, people and search engines will love it.
Conversion
A conversion is when someone on your website does exactly what you want them to—like buying something, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a form.
Conversion Rate
Conversion rate is the percentage of people who take action on your site, like making a purchase, compared to the total visitors. Higher rate, better results.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
CRO means tweaking your website to get more visitors to do what you want, like buy a product or sign up, without getting more traffic.
Citation
A citation is just a mention of your business on other websites. It usually includes your name, address, and phone number, and it helps with local SEO.
Click Bait
Click bait is a catchy headline designed to make you click, but often the content doesn’t live up to the hype. It can be frustrating and misleading.
Comment Spam
Comment spam is when people drop useless comments on blogs or forums just to get links back to their website. It’s annoying and hurts your credibility.
Competition
In SEO, competition is simply other websites that are trying to rank for the same keywords or reach the same audience. You’re battling for the top spot.
Content
Content is everything you put on your site: text, images, videos, and more. It’s what keeps visitors around and helps search engines figure out what your site is about.
Crawl Budget
Crawl budget is the number of pages a search engine is willing to look at on your site. If your site is huge, you want to make sure they’re crawling the important stuff.
Cache
A cache is a saved version of your website, so it loads faster the next time someone visits. Search engines also keep a cached copy to help index it faster.
Canonical URL
A canonical URL tells search engines which version of a page is the official one, especially when you have similar content on different URLs.
ccTLD (Country Code Top-Level Domain)
ccTLD is just the country-specific ending of a domain name, like .uk or .ca. It’s useful for targeting people in a specific country.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
CTR is the percentage of people who click your link out of the total people who saw it. It’s often used to see how well your ads or organic listings are doing.
Cloaking
Cloaking is a shady SEO trick where you show search engines one version of your page and users a different one. It’s against the rules.
CMS (Content Management System)
A CMS is the platform you use to create and manage your website without needing to know how to code. WordPress and Wix are popular examples.
Crawl Error
A crawl error happens when a search engine can’t access a page on your site. If it can’t access the page, it won’t show up in search results.
Customer Journey
Customer journey is just the path someone takes from learning about your brand to making a purchase or doing whatever you want them to do.
Crawling
Crawling is what search engines do to find new or updated content. They follow links from one page to another and store that info for search results.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
CSS is the code that tells your website how to look—like what colors, fonts, and layout to use. It’s what makes a website look good.
D
Do-follow
A do-follow link is a normal hyperlink that tells search engines to follow it and pass on any SEO value to the linked site. It’s basically a “thumbs up” in SEO.
Domain
A domain is your website’s name, like example.com. It’s the address people type in to visit your site, and every website has one.
Disavow
Disavow is when you tell Google to ignore certain backlinks pointing to your site. It’s like saying, “I don’t want credit for these links.”
DMOZ
DMOZ was a big human-edited directory of websites that helped with SEO. It’s no longer around, but it used to be a go-to resource for building credibility.
Domain Authority
Domain authority (DA) is a score that shows how strong or trustworthy a website is. Higher scores generally mean a better chance of ranking well in search results.
Read More: Domain Authority
De-index
When a page or website is de-indexed, it gets removed from search engine results. It’s like the page doesn’t exist in the eyes of the search engine anymore.
Deep Link
A deep link is a hyperlink that points to a specific page or piece of content on a website, rather than just the homepage. It’s super useful for SEO.
Doorway Page
A doorway page is a sneaky page created just to rank in search engines and funnel users to another page. It’s a bad practice and can get you penalized.
DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo is a search engine known for prioritizing privacy and not tracking users. It’s a popular alternative to Google for people who value anonymity online.
Duplicate Content
Duplicate content is when the same content appears in multiple places on the web. It can confuse search engines and hurt your rankings.
Directory
A directory is a website that lists other websites, often grouped by category. Think of it as an online phonebook that can help boost your SEO with backlinks.
Domain Rating
Domain rating (DR) is a metric that measures the strength of a website’s backlink profile. The higher the DR, the more valuable the site is for SEO.
Dwell Time
Dwell time is the amount of time someone spends on your site after clicking through from search results. The longer they stay, the better it looks to search engines.
E
Enterprise SEO
Enterprise SEO is just like regular SEO but on a much bigger scale. It’s for huge websites with tons of pages, where small tweaks can make a big impact on traffic.
Entity
In SEO, an entity is basically any thing that’s uniquely identifiable, like a person, place, or brand. Search engines use entities to better understand content and context.
E-commerce
E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods or services online. If you’ve ever shopped on Amazon, you’ve used an e-commerce site.
Engagement Metrics
Engagement metrics measure how users interact with your site—things like how long they stay, what they click on, and how many pages they view.
Exact Match Keywords
Exact match keywords are search terms that are exactly what users type into the search box. Using them can help you target very specific searches.
Editorial Link
An editorial link is a natural link that comes from someone referencing your website because they genuinely think it’s helpful, not because you paid for it.
External Link
An external link is any hyperlink that points from your website to another site. It helps give your users more info and can also affect your SEO.
F
Findability
Findability is about how easy it is for people to find your website or content online. Better SEO improves findability, helping your site show up in search results.
Favicon
A favicon is that tiny icon you see in your browser tab when you’re on a website. It’s a small but important part of branding your site.
Featured Snippet
A featured snippet is the quick answer Google shows at the top of search results. It’s like getting the spotlight for your content, and it can drive a lot of traffic.
Focus Keyword
A focus keyword is the main search term you want a page to rank for. It’s the word or phrase you’re building your content around.
Footer Link
A footer link is a hyperlink placed in the footer (bottom) section of a webpage. These links can help with navigation but aren’t as visible as other links on the page.
G
Google Trends
Google Trends shows what people are searching for in real time. It’s a great way to see what’s hot and track search interest over time.
Google Webmaster Guidelines (also known as Search Essentials)
Google Webmaster Guidelines, now called “Search Essentials,” are the rules Google gives to help webmasters understand how to rank well and avoid penalties.
Googlebot
Googlebot is Google’s crawler, or “spider,” that visits websites and collects info to index them for search results.
Gray Hat (also known as Risky SEO)
Gray hat SEO is a mix of white hat (good) and black hat (bad) techniques. It’s risky because it pushes the boundaries of search engine guidelines.
Google is the world’s biggest search engine, where most online searches start. Optimizing for Google is key to getting traffic.
Google Dance
Google Dance refers to those times when Google’s rankings suddenly change. This usually happens when Google updates its algorithm.
Google Hummingbird
Google Hummingbird is a search algorithm update that helped Google better understand the meaning behind words, not just the keywords themselves.
Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is a free tool that helps you find keywords for content and ads. It shows how often people search for specific words or phrases.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a tool that tracks and reports website traffic. It gives all kinds of insights into how visitors interact with your site.
Google Penguin Algorithm (also known as Penguin Update)
Google Penguin is an algorithm update aimed at cracking down on spammy or low-quality backlinks that artificially boosted a site’s rankings.
Google Pigeon Update
The Google Pigeon update improved local search results by tying them to real-world locations, making them more accurate and relevant.
Google Bomb
Google Bombing is when a group of people tries to manipulate Google’s search results to rank a page for an unrelated or misleading term.
Google Sandbox
Google Sandbox is the unofficial term for the idea that new websites may not rank well for a while, even if they’re optimized. It’s like a “waiting period.”
Google Search Console (also known as GSC)
Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool that helps you monitor your site’s performance, track keywords, and fix issues to improve your SEO.
Google Panda Algorithm (also known as Panda Update)
Google Panda is an algorithm update designed to improve rankings for high-quality sites while pushing down sites with thin or spammy content.
Google RankBrain
Google RankBrain is part of Google’s algorithm that uses artificial intelligence to better understand and interpret search queries.
Guest Blogging (also known as Guest Posting)
Guest blogging, or guest posting, is when you write a blog post for someone else’s website. It’s great for exposure and building backlinks.
H
HTML (also known as HyperText Markup Language)
HTML is the code that structures a webpage, telling the browser how to display text, images, links, and other content.
HTTP (also known as HyperText Transfer Protocol)
HTTP is the protocol used to transfer data between a web server and a browser. It’s what makes browsing the web possible.
HTTPS (also known as Secure HTTP)
HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP. It encrypts the data between your browser and the website, keeping things like passwords safe.
Heading (also known as Header Tag or H-Tag)
A heading is a tag (like H1, H2, etc.) that structures the content of a webpage. It tells search engines what each section is about, helping with SEO.
Headline
A headline is the main title of an article or page. It’s what grabs attention and gives users (and search engines) an idea of what the content is about.
htaccess File
The htaccess file is a server configuration file that controls how a website works, from setting redirects to handling security rules.
Hub Page (also known as Pillar Page)
A hub page is a central page on a website that links to more detailed sub-pages. It covers a broad topic and points users to related content.
Head Term (also known as Short-Tail Keyword)
A head term is a short, broad keyword, like “shoes” or “cars,” that typically gets a lot of search volume but is also highly competitive.
Hidden Text
Hidden text refers to content that’s visible to search engines but not to users. It’s usually a black hat tactic and can lead to penalties.
Homepage
The homepage is the main or starting page of a website. It’s often the first thing visitors see and acts as the central hub for navigation.
Hypertext
Hypertext is the clickable text that links to another webpage. It’s what makes the web “web-like” by connecting content through links.
I
Information Retrieval
Information retrieval is how search engines grab the best results when you search for something. It’s the process they use to find the right info fast.
Internal Link
An internal link is a link that connects one page of your website to another. It helps users move around your site and is great for improving SEO.
Index
The index is like the search engine’s memory. It’s where all the info from webpages is stored so search engines can quickly pull it up when needed.
Indexability
Indexability is whether a search engine can save your page in its memory (index). If a page can’t be indexed, it won’t show up in search results.
Indexed Page
An indexed page is a page that’s been stored in the search engine’s database, meaning it can appear in search results when someone looks for related info.
Inbound Link (also known as Backlink)
An inbound link, or backlink, is a link from another site pointing to yours. It’s like a recommendation, and it can help boost your website’s credibility in search rankings.
IP Address
An IP address is a unique number assigned to your device when it’s connected to the internet. It’s like your device’s digital home address.
Information Architecture
Information architecture is how you organize the content on your website. If it’s laid out well, it’s easier for users and search engines to find what they need.
J
JavaScript (JS)
JavaScript (JS) is a programming language that makes websites interactive. It’s what powers things like buttons, forms, and dynamic content that reacts when you interact with the page.
JavaScript SEO
JavaScript SEO is all about making sure search engines can read and index the parts of your website that are powered by JavaScript. It’s important because sometimes JS can cause issues with how your site is crawled.
K
Keyword Value
Keyword value refers to how much a keyword is worth in terms of driving traffic or conversions. High-value keywords are those that can bring in valuable visitors or sales.
Knowledge Graph
The Knowledge Graph is the info box you see on Google that gives quick answers about a topic. It pulls data from trusted sources to display relevant facts right away.
Keyword Density
Keyword density is how often a keyword appears in your content compared to the total word count. Too high, and it looks spammy; too low, and search engines might not notice.
Keyword Difficulty
Keyword difficulty measures how hard it is to rank for a particular keyword. If it’s highly competitive, it’ll be harder to rank unless you have strong content and links.
Keyword Research
Keyword research is finding out what words or phrases people are searching for, so you can create content around those terms and rank higher in search results.
Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is when you cram too many keywords into your content, trying to trick search engines into ranking you higher. It’s a bad practice and can get your site penalized.
Keyword
A keyword is the word or phrase that people type into a search engine when looking for something. It’s the main term you’re targeting in your content.
Keyword Cannibalization
Keyword cannibalization happens when multiple pages on your site target the same keyword, causing them to compete against each other instead of boosting your rankings.
Keyword Lists
Keyword lists are organized groups of keywords that you plan to target with your content. They help keep your SEO strategy focused and on track.
Keyword Metrics
Keyword metrics are the data points that tell you how a keyword is performing. Things like search volume, difficulty, and click-through rates help you choose the right keywords.
Keyword Modifiers
Keyword modifiers are extra words you add to a base keyword to narrow down the search. For example, adding “best” or “cheap” to “shoes” makes it more specific.
Knowledge Panel
A Knowledge Panel is that box you see on Google’s search results page with information about a business, person, or place. It’s part of Google’s Knowledge Graph and helps deliver quick info.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. These are the metrics that show how well your SEO efforts are working—like traffic, rankings, or conversion rates.
L
Link Juice
Link juice is the SEO value or authority passed from one website to another through a link. It’s like giving another site a vote of confidence.
Link Profile
Your link profile is the collection of all the links pointing to your website. A strong link profile, with quality links, can boost your SEO.
Landing Page
A landing page is a webpage designed to capture leads or drive conversions. It’s usually focused on one goal, like getting users to sign up or make a purchase.
Link Building
Link building is the process of getting other websites to link to yours. The more quality links you get, the more trust your site gains with search engines.
Link Equity (also known as Link Juice)
Link equity, sometimes called link juice, is the value passed from one site to another through a link. Links from trusted sites are more valuable.
Lead
A lead is someone who has shown interest in your product or service. In marketing, it usually means someone who’s given their info in exchange for something, like a free guide or a demo.
Link
A link, short for hyperlink, is a clickable text or image that takes you from one webpage to another. Links are a key part of how the web works.
Long-Tail Keyword
A long-tail keyword is a longer, more specific search term, like “best running shoes for flat feet.” These usually have less competition but can drive highly targeted traffic.
Link Bait
Link bait is content created specifically to attract backlinks. It’s often highly shareable, like infographics or in-depth guides, and encourages other sites to link to it.
Link Farm
A link farm is a group of websites that exist solely to link to each other and manipulate search rankings. It’s a black hat tactic that can get your site penalized.
LSI Keywords (Latent Semantic Indexing)
LSI keywords are related terms or phrases that help search engines understand the context of your content. They’re not necessarily synonyms, but they’re closely related.
Link Velocity
Link velocity is the speed at which your site gains new backlinks. A natural, steady link-building pace is good, but gaining too many too quickly can look suspicious.
Log File
A log file is a file that records all the requests made to your server, like when search engines crawl your site. It’s basically a record of all the traffic your site gets.
Log File Analysis
Log file analysis is the process of reviewing your website’s log files to see how search engines are crawling your site and to spot potential issues.
M
Meta Description
A meta description is the short summary that shows up under your webpage’s title in search results. It gives people a quick idea of what your page is about.
Meta Keywords
Meta keywords were tags you could add to a webpage to tell search engines what the page was about. They’re not really used anymore because they were often abused.
Machine Learning
Machine learning is when computers learn and get better at tasks on their own, without needing to be explicitly programmed. It’s how search engines improve at understanding search queries.
Manual Action (also known as a Google Penalty)
A manual action is when Google manually penalizes your site for violating its guidelines, like using black hat SEO tactics. It can drop your rankings until the issue is fixed.
Meta Tags
Meta tags are bits of code that provide search engines with information about your page. The most common ones are the meta title, description, and keywords (though keywords aren’t really used anymore).
Metric
A metric is any data point used to measure the success of your SEO efforts. Things like traffic, bounce rate, and conversion rate are common SEO metrics.
N
Noindex Tag
A noindex tag tells search engines not to include a particular page in search results. It’s useful for pages you don’t want showing up on Google.
Nosnippet Tag
The nosnippet tag stops search engines from displaying a snippet or description of your page in search results. It’s helpful when you don’t want certain content shown in previews.
Natural Link (also known as Organic Link)
A natural link is a backlink that you didn’t ask for or pay for. It happens naturally when someone finds your content valuable and links to it.
Niche
A niche is a specific topic or market your website focuses on. For example, a site about vegan recipes would be in the vegan cooking niche.
Negative Keyword
A negative keyword is a term you exclude from your paid search campaigns. It stops your ads from showing up for searches that aren’t relevant to your business.
Negative SEO
Negative SEO is when someone uses black hat tactics to hurt your website’s rankings, like building spammy backlinks or hacking your site. It’s rare but can be harmful.
Not provided
“Not provided” shows up in Google Analytics when the search engine doesn’t reveal what keyword brought a visitor to your site. It’s a frustrating blind spot for SEO.
Noarchive Tag
The noarchive tag tells search engines not to save a cached version of your page. It’s useful if you don’t want old versions of your page to appear in search results.
Nofollow Attribute
The nofollow attribute is a tag added to a link that tells search engines not to pass SEO value to the linked page. It’s commonly used for paid or sponsored links.
O
Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO refers to everything you do outside your website to improve your search rankings, like building backlinks or promoting your content on social media.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO is the stuff you do on your website to improve rankings, like optimizing titles, content, and internal links. It’s all about making your site search-engine-friendly.
Organic Search
Organic search refers to the unpaid search results that show up based on relevance, not ads. Ranking well in organic search means people find you naturally.
Read More: Organic Search
Orphan Page
An orphan page is a webpage on your site that isn’t linked to from anywhere else. It’s hard for users and search engines to find, so it often gets ignored.
Organic SEO Services
Organic SEO services are strategies that help improve your site’s ranking in unpaid (organic) search results. These include content creation, link building, and keyword optimization.
Outbound Link (also known as External Link)
An outbound link is a hyperlink on your site that points to another website. It helps users find more info and can show search engines that you’re linking to credible sources.
P
Page Authority
Page authority (PA) is a score that predicts how well a specific webpage will rank in search results. The higher the score, the better chance it has of ranking.
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor)
PHP is a programming language used for building dynamic websites. It’s the backbone for many sites and helps them interact with databases, like pulling content for WordPress.
Piracy
In SEO, piracy refers to illegal distribution of copyrighted content. Sites with pirated content can get penalized or removed from search results.
Pogo-sticking
Pogo-sticking happens when a user clicks on a search result, then quickly returns to the search results page to click another link. It’s a sign that the first result didn’t meet their needs.
Page Speed
Page speed is how fast your webpage loads. Faster-loading pages give users a better experience and can help boost your SEO rankings.
PageRank
PageRank is an algorithm Google used to determine the importance of a webpage based on the number and quality of links pointing to it. While it’s no longer publicly updated, it’s still part of the ranking process.
Pageview
A pageview is counted every time someone loads a page on your site. It’s a basic metric for tracking website traffic and visitor engagement.
PBN (Private Blog Network)
A PBN is a network of websites built specifically to create backlinks to a main site in an attempt to manipulate search rankings. It’s considered a black hat SEO tactic and can lead to penalties.
PDF (Portable Document Format)
PDF is a file format that lets you share documents in a fixed layout. In SEO, PDFs can rank in search results if they’re properly optimized.
Penalty
A penalty is when search engines punish your site for violating their guidelines, like using black hat SEO tactics. It can drastically hurt your rankings.
Personalization
Personalization refers to search results tailored specifically to a user based on their location, search history, and preferences. It’s why two people may see different results for the same search.
Position (also known as Search Ranking)
Position refers to where your webpage ranks in search engine results. The higher your position, the more likely you’ll get clicks and traffic.
PPC (Pay Per Click)
PPC is a form of online advertising where you pay a fee each time someone clicks on your ad. It’s commonly used in search engines and social media ads.
Paid Search
Paid search is when you pay to have your website show up in the sponsored section of search results. You bid on keywords and pay when users click on your ads.
Persona
A persona is a fictional profile that represents your ideal customer. It helps you tailor your content and marketing efforts to meet the needs of a specific audience.
Q
Quality Link
A quality link is a backlink from a trusted, authoritative site that adds real value to your SEO. It’s much more effective than a bunch of low-quality links.
Query (also known as Search Query)
A query is the word or phrase someone types into a search engine to find information. It’s what kicks off the search process.
Quality Content
Quality content is content that provides real value to readers. It’s well-written, informative, and meets the needs of users while being optimized for search engines.
Quality Deserves Freshness (QDF)
QDF is a part of Google’s algorithm that favors fresh, relevant content for trending topics. It helps newer content rank higher when it’s timely and relevant.
Question Keywords
Question keywords are search terms that include questions, like “how to bake a cake” or “what is SEO.” Targeting these can help you rank in featured snippets and answer users’ queries directly.
R
Reputation Management
Reputation management is about controlling how your brand or business is seen online. It involves monitoring reviews, social media, and other mentions to keep a positive image.
Responsive Website
A responsive website automatically adjusts to look good on any device, whether it’s a phone, tablet, or desktop. It’s key for both user experience and SEO.
Rank (also known as Search Ranking)
Rank refers to where your webpage appears in search engine results for a specific keyword. The higher your rank, the better your chances of getting clicks.
Ranking Factor
A ranking factor is something search engines consider when deciding where to place your site in search results. Factors include things like content quality, backlinks, and page speed.
Referrer
A referrer is the site that a visitor came from before landing on your website. Knowing the referrer helps you track where your traffic is coming from.
Reinclusion
Reinclusion is when you request Google to reconsider adding your site back into search results after it’s been penalized or removed.
Reciprocal Links
Reciprocal links happen when two websites agree to link to each other. While a few can be fine, overdoing it can look like manipulation and hurt your SEO.
Redirect
A redirect is when you send visitors from one URL to another. It’s useful for fixing broken links, moving content, or updating URLs without losing traffic.
Return on Investment (ROI)
ROI is the measurement of how much profit you make compared to how much you spent. In SEO, it’s used to see whether your efforts are paying off.
Rich Snippet
A rich snippet is an enhanced search result that includes extra information, like reviews, prices, or images, making it more eye-catching and informative.
Robots.txt
Robots.txt is a file on your website that tells search engines which pages they can or can’t crawl. It’s a way to control which parts of your site are visible to search engines.
Referral Traffic
Referral traffic is when visitors come to your site from a link on another website, rather than from a search engine or direct URL input.
Relevance
Relevance is how closely related your content is to the search query. The more relevant your content is, the better chance it has of ranking well.
S
Sitewide Links
Sitewide links are links that show up on every page of a website, usually in the footer or header. While they can be helpful for navigation, too many can look spammy to search engines.
Social Media
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter let people share content and connect with others. While social signals (likes, shares) don’t directly affect SEO, they can drive traffic to your site.
Schema (also known as Schema Markup)
Schema is code you add to your website to help search engines understand your content better. It can lead to rich snippets in search results, like star ratings or event dates.
Scrape
Scraping is when someone uses software to extract content or data from your website, often without permission. It’s usually done for unethical reasons and can cause problems for the original site.
Search Engine
A search engine is a tool like Google or Bing that helps you find information online. It crawls and indexes websites to deliver the most relevant results for a user’s query.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
SEM is using paid ads on search engines to boost your website’s visibility. It’s a mix of paid search (like Google Ads) and organic SEO strategies.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is all about improving your website so it ranks higher in search engines. This includes things like optimizing content, improving site speed, and building backlinks.
Search Volume
Search volume is the number of times people search for a specific keyword within a given time. It helps you figure out which keywords are worth targeting.
Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
The SERP is the page you see after typing something into a search engine. It shows a list of relevant results, including both organic listings and paid ads.
Search History
Search history is a record of the terms you’ve searched for in the past. Search engines sometimes use this data to personalize your future results.
Search Intent (also known as User Intent)
Search intent is the reason behind a search—what the person is really looking for. It could be finding information, making a purchase, or looking for a specific website.
SEED Keywords
Seed keywords are basic terms that you start with when doing keyword research. These general words help you brainstorm more specific or related keywords.
SEO Business
An SEO business provides services to help websites rank higher in search results. They often focus on things like keyword research, content optimization, and link building.
SEO Company
An SEO company is a business that specializes in improving a website’s visibility on search engines. They use a variety of strategies to boost rankings and drive traffic.
SEO Consulting
SEO consulting is when an expert gives advice to businesses on how to improve their SEO. They analyze what’s working, what’s not, and suggest steps to improve.
SEO Hosting
SEO hosting refers to hosting services that offer unique IP addresses for each of your websites. It’s sometimes used in link-building strategies to make the links look more natural.
SEO Keywords
SEO keywords are the words or phrases you want your content to rank for. These are the terms that people search for, and you want your page to show up when they do.
SEO Campaign
An SEO campaign is a focused effort to improve your site’s rankings through specific actions, like content creation, link building, and technical fixes.
SEO Cost
SEO cost refers to how much you spend on improving your website’s ranking. This could include paying for tools, hiring an SEO expert, or investing in content creation.
SEO Manager
An SEO manager oversees the SEO strategy for a business. They handle everything from keyword research to monitoring performance and making adjustments.
SEO Report
An SEO report shows how well a website is performing in search engines. It usually includes things like rankings, traffic, and suggestions for improvement.
SEO Services
SEO services are everything a business can offer to help improve a website’s search rankings, like keyword research, link building, and on-page optimization.
Short-Tail Keyword (also known as Head Term)
A short-tail keyword is a simple, broad search term, like “shoes.” It usually has a high search volume but can be more competitive than longer, more specific keywords.
Sitelinks
Sitelinks are the extra links you sometimes see under a website’s main search result. They help users quickly find important pages within the site.
Sitemap
A sitemap is a file that lists all the pages on your website. It helps search engines crawl your site more efficiently and understand its structure.
Social Signal
Social signals are things like likes, shares, and comments on social media posts. While they don’t directly affect your SEO, they can increase traffic and visibility.
SEO Specialist
An SEO specialist is someone who focuses on improving a website’s rankings by optimizing content, fixing technical issues, and building links.
SEO Web Design
SEO web design is when a website is built with search engine optimization in mind. This means making sure it’s easy for search engines to crawl and users to navigate.
Spam
In SEO, spam refers to manipulative tactics like keyword stuffing, buying low-quality links, or creating worthless content just to trick search engines. It can lead to penalties or lower rankings.
Spider (also known as Crawler or Bot)
A spider is a program used by search engines to crawl websites and gather information. This helps search engines understand what your site is about and where it should rank.
Split Testing (also known as A/B Testing)
Split testing is when you test two versions of a webpage or element (like a headline) to see which one performs better. It’s commonly used to improve user experience and conversion rates.
SSL Certificate
An SSL certificate encrypts the data between your website and its users, keeping it secure. Websites with an SSL certificate show “HTTPS” in the URL and are preferred by search engines.
Status Codes
Status codes are numbers returned by a web server to show if a webpage loaded properly or encountered a problem. For example, a 404 error means the page wasn’t found.
Stop Word
Stop words are common words like “and,” “the,” or “in” that search engines often ignore because they don’t add much meaning to the search.
SEO Writing
SEO writing is creating content that’s both helpful for users and optimized for search engines. It includes using keywords naturally and structuring content for readability.
Share of Voice
Share of voice measures how visible your brand is in search results compared to competitors. It’s like knowing how big your slice of the SEO pie is.
Source Code
Source code is the underlying code that makes your website function. It’s what browsers and search engines read to display and understand your site.
Subdomain
A subdomain is a section of your website that’s separate from the main site but still connected. For example, “blog.example.com” is a subdomain of “example.com.”
Syndication
Syndication is when your content is republished on other websites or platforms to reach a larger audience. It can help drive more traffic to your site.
T
Title Tag
A title tag is the text that appears in the browser tab and search results for a webpage. It’s one of the most important elements for SEO, helping both users and search engines understand what the page is about.
Top-Level Domain (TLD)
A TLD is the part of a website’s URL that comes after the dot, like .com, .org, or .net. It often indicates the purpose or geographic location of a website.
Traffic
Traffic refers to the number of visitors coming to your website. It can come from different sources, like search engines, social media, or direct visits.
Taxonomy
In SEO, taxonomy is the way you organize and structure your website’s content. A clear, logical taxonomy helps users and search engines find information easily.
Trust
Trust in SEO is about how reliable and credible your website appears to both users and search engines. Sites with high trust usually rank better.
TrustRank
TrustRank is a metric used to evaluate how trustworthy a website is based on the quality of the backlinks it receives. The more trusted sites link to you, the more credible your site seems.
Thumbnail
A thumbnail is a small, clickable image that represents a video or webpage. It’s the first visual people see before clicking, especially on platforms like YouTube or in search results.
Time on Page
Time on page is how long a visitor spends on a specific page of your website. It can give you an idea of how engaging or relevant the content is to the user.
U
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
A URL is the web address of a page. It’s what you type into the browser to visit a website, like www.example.com. Every webpage has its own unique URL.
Universal Search
Universal search is when a search engine shows a mix of results—like images, videos, news, and web pages—all on the same search results page. It helps users find different types of content easily.
Unnatural Link
An unnatural link is a backlink that appears manipulative or spammy, like when a site buys links or participates in link schemes. Search engines can penalize sites with too many unnatural links.
URL Parameter
A URL parameter is the extra bit of info added to a URL after a question mark, like www.example.com?page=2. It’s used to track or filter data, but too many parameters can mess with SEO.
User Experience (UX)
User experience (UX) is all about how easy and pleasant it is for people to use your website. Good UX means users can find what they need quickly and enjoy their time on your site.
User-Generated Content (UGC)
UGC is any content created by your website’s users, like reviews, comments, or social media posts. It’s great for building engagement and adding fresh content to your site.
URL Slug
A URL slug is the part of the URL that comes after the main domain, like www.example.com/blog-post. It should be short, descriptive, and keyword-friendly for SEO.
Usability
Usability refers to how easy and intuitive your website is for visitors. A usable site helps people navigate smoothly and find what they’re looking for without frustration.
User Agent
A user agent is the software (like a browser or search engine bot) that interacts with your website. It sends info to the server about what type of device or software is accessing your site.
V
Virtual Assistant (VA)
A virtual assistant (VA) is a person who provides support services remotely. In the SEO world, VAs can help with tasks like content writing, data entry, or social media management.
Visibility
Visibility in SEO refers to how often your website shows up in search results. The higher your visibility, the more likely people are to find and visit your site.
Vanity URL
A vanity URL is a clean, custom URL that’s easy to remember and looks good, like www.example.com/store instead of www.example.com/page1234. It’s great for branding and user experience.
Vertical Search
Vertical search is a type of search focused on a specific industry or category, like shopping, images, or travel. It narrows down the search results to a specific vertical.
Voice Search
Voice search is when people use spoken commands (like Siri or Google Assistant) to search for information online. Optimizing for voice search often means targeting conversational keywords.
W
White Hat
White hat SEO refers to ethical, best-practice SEO strategies that follow search engine guidelines. It’s all about earning rankings the right way—through quality content and proper optimization.
Word Count
Word count is the total number of words on a webpage. While longer content can sometimes rank better, what really matters is providing valuable and relevant information to users.
Webpage
A webpage is a single document or page on the internet, accessed through a browser. Every webpage has its own unique URL and is part of a larger website.
Website Navigation
Website navigation refers to the way users move around your site. Clear, easy-to-use navigation helps visitors find what they’re looking for and improves user experience.
Webspam (also known as Spammy Content)
Webspam is low-quality, manipulative content or links created to trick search engines into ranking a site higher. Search engines penalize sites with webspam to keep results clean and useful.
Website
A website is a collection of related web pages under a single domain, like www.example.com. It’s your digital home where visitors can access your content, products, or services.
WordPress
WordPress is a popular content management system (CMS) used to build and manage websites. It’s known for being user-friendly and great for SEO with the right plugins and settings.
X
XML
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a format used to organize and store data. In SEO, XML is mostly used for sitemaps, which help search engines understand your website’s structure.
XML Sitemap
An XML sitemap is a file that lists all the important pages on your website, making it easier for search engines to crawl and index your site. It’s like giving Google a roadmap of your content.
Y
Yahoo
Yahoo is one of the oldest search engines out there. While it’s not as big as Google, some people still use it, and it’s important to keep it in mind for search engine optimization.
Yandex
Yandex is the most popular search engine in Russia. Like Google, it has its own ranking algorithms, and if you’re targeting Russian-speaking audiences, optimizing for Yandex is a must.
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304 Not Modified
A 304 Not Modified response tells the browser that the page hasn’t changed since the last time it was requested. It’s a way to save bandwidth by reusing the cached version of the page instead of downloading it again.
404 Error
A 404 error happens when someone tries to visit a page that doesn’t exist on your website. It usually means the page was removed or the URL was typed incorrectly. It’s frustrating for users, so it’s a good idea to fix broken links.
10x Content
10x content is content that’s ten times better than anything else out there on the same topic. It’s what you aim for when you want your page to be the ultimate resource and rank at the top of search results.
301 Redirect
A 301 redirect permanently sends users and search engines from one URL to another. It’s useful when you’ve moved a page and want to make sure any SEO value (like backlinks) gets passed along to the new page.
302 Redirect
A 302 redirect is a temporary redirect from one URL to another. It tells search engines that the original page will be back, so they don’t transfer SEO value to the new page.
410 Gone
A 410 Gone status tells both users and search engines that a page has been permanently removed and isn’t coming back. It’s like a 404 error but more intentional, letting search engines know not to keep looking for that page.
Final Thoughts
Now you’ve got a solid understanding of the most important SEO terms you’ll need to know in 2025. Keeping this glossary nearby will save you from scratching your head when new terms pop up. The more familiar you get with this SEO lingo, the better you’ll be at making decisions that can boost your rankings and traffic. So, keep learning, stay curious, and watch your SEO efforts pay off!