180+ Terms and Definitions You Should Know

You’ve most likely seen that there’s lots of jargon and abbreviations in search engine marketing. So we curated and categorized all of the necessary search engine marketing phrases and their definitions beneath.

Click to discover a specific time period you’re inquisitive about, or preserve studying for all definitions.

# | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | Ok | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

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10x content material

Content that’s at the very least ten occasions higher than the present top-ranking end result for the goal key phrase.

301 redirect

Redirect that takes customers to a brand new URL and tells engines like google that the web page has moved completely.

302 redirect

Redirect that takes customers to a brand new URL and tells engines like google that the web page has moved briefly.

404 error

HTTP standing code indicating that the server couldn’t discover the specified web page or useful resource.

A

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

Open-source HTML framework for creating stripped-down variations of internet pages that load sooner on cell.

Ahrefsbot

Web crawler that powers Ahrefs’ backlink index and search engine marketing instruments.

Alt textual content

Descriptive textual content that seems rather than a picture if it fails to load.

Anchor textual content

Clickable phrase or phrase that hyperlinks one webpage to a different.

Article spinning

Spammy “writing” method that turns one article into many “new” articles.

Article syndication

When web sites republish content material that initially appeared on one other web site.

Auto-generated content material

Content that’s robotically generated utilizing a program or code.

B

Backlinks

Links from pages on one other web site.

Bing Webmaster Tools

Free service from Microsoft that helps you monitor and troubleshoot your web site’s look in Bing’s search outcomes.

Bingbot

Web crawler that powers Bing’s search engine.

Black-hat search engine marketing

The use of search engine marketing methods and techniques that violate search engine tips.

Bounce charge

The share of tourists that take no additional motion after touchdown on a web site.

Branded key phrases

Words and phrases related together with your model, merchandise, or providers.

Breadcrumb navigation

Internal hyperlinks that give customers (and engines like google) a transparent path to observe round your web site.

Bridge web page

Page designed to rank for a key phrase and redirect customers elsewhere.

Broken hyperlink

Link in your web site that factors to a non-existent useful resource. They will be inside or exterior hyperlinks.

C

Cached web page

What an internet web page appeared just like the final time Google visited it.

Canonical tag

HTML code that tells Google what you think about to be the “master” model of a web page.

Canonical URL

URL that Google sees because the “master” model of a web page or set of pages.

Co-citation

When a web site is talked about by two different web sites.

Content hub

Interlinked collections of content material a few related subject.

Core Web Vitals

Metrics which are a part of Google’s Page Experience alerts used to measure person expertise.

Cornerstone content material

The most necessary pages or posts in your web site.

Crawl funds

How quick and what number of pages a search engine desires to crawl in your web site.

Crawlability

A search engine’s capability to entry content material on a web page.

Crawler

The laptop bot engines like google use to find pages on the internet.

D

Dofollow hyperlink

Link that transfers PageRank. AKA a “followed” hyperlink.

Domain Rating (DR)

The relative power of a web site’s authority based mostly on its backlink profile.

Doorway web page

Pages designed to rank for related search queries.

Duplicate content material

Content that seems on the net in a couple of place.

Dwell time

How a lot time passes between you clicking a search end result and clicking again to the SERPs.

Dynamic URL

URL with content material that will depend on variable parameters.

E

Editorial hyperlink

Link that factors to your web site (that you simply didn’t ask or pay for.)

Email outreach

The strategy of placing your product or content material in entrance of related individuals by sending them personalised emails.

Entry web page

The first web page a searcher views in your web site.

External hyperlink

Link out of your web site to a different web site.

F

Faceted navigation

Type of navigation discovered on class/archive pages of web sites that take care of many listings.

G

Gated content material

Content that guests can solely entry after offering their contact info.

Gateway web page

Pages created to rank for particular, related search queries. Also often called doorway pages.

Google Alerts

Free service from Google that screens the net for content material modifications matching a selected search question.

Google algorithm

Set of guidelines utilized by Google to rank matching outcomes when a person performs a search.

Google Analytics

Free service from Google for monitoring and monitoring web site site visitors.

Google autocomplete

Search solutions given by Google when coming into a search.

Google bombing

Where you get a web site to rank increased in Google for irrelevant or unrelated search queries utilizing black-hat search engine marketing techniques.

Google Business Profile

Free enterprise itemizing from Google that reveals up in maps and internet search outcomes.

Google Caffeine

Search index launched by Google in 2010 that allowed them to index extra content material and supply more energizing search outcomes.

Google dance

Slang time period describing the volatility a brand new web site or web page experiences when Google is making an attempt to find out the place it ought to rank.

Google Hummingbird

Algorithm replace launched by Google in 2013 to return higher search outcomes. It emphasised the that means of search queries over particular person key phrases.

Google Knowledge Graph

Knowledge base of entities and the relationships between them.

Google Knowledge Panel

SERP characteristic that gives details about the primary topic of the question.

Google My Business

Free service from Google that permits enterprise house owners to create, handle, and optimize their Google Business Profile.

Google Panda

Algorithm replace launched in 2011 by Google that rewarded higher-quality websites and downgraded the presence of lower-quality websites of their search outcomes.

Google penalty

Penalty issued by Google to demote a web page or web site in its search outcomes. Can be algorithmic or handbook.

Google Penguin

Algorithm replace launched in 2012 by Google to downgrade websites that engaged in manipulative hyperlink schemes and key phrase stuffing.

Google Pigeon

Algorithm replace launched in 2013 by Google to enhance search outcomes for native search queries.

Google sandbox

Alleged filter by Google that forestalls new web sites from rating in Google’s prime outcomes.

Google Search Console

Free service from Google that helps you monitor and troubleshoot your web site’s look of their search outcomes.

Google Webmaster Guidelines

Best practices from Google to assist them discover, index, and rank your web site.

Google Webmaster Tools

Old identify of Google Search Console.

Googlebot

Web crawler that powers Google’s search engine.

Grey-hat search engine marketing

The use of search engine marketing methods and techniques that blur the road between white-hat and black-hat.

Guest running a blog

When you create content material for an additional web site.

Guestographic

Infographic created by you however revealed on different web sites.

H

H1 tag

HTML heading that’s mostly used to mark up an internet web page title.

Header tags

HTML components used to outline headings and subheadings on a web page.

Hilltop algorithm

Algorithm adopted by Google in 2003 to determine authoritative internet pages to rank.

Holistic search engine marketing

The follow of bettering all features of a web site to rank increased in engines like google.

Hreflang

HTML attribute used to inform Google about alternate variations of an internet web page for various languages and areas.

HTTPS

Encrypted model of HTTP that protects the communications between your browser and server from being intercepted and tampered with by attackers.

I

Inbound hyperlink

Link from one other web site to your web site.

Indexability

A search engine’s capability to research and retailer an internet web page in its database.

Informational question

Query the place somebody desires to seek out info, not merchandise.

Internal hyperlink

Link from one other web page on the identical web site.

Interstitial advert

Full-screen interactive adverts that cowl the interface of the web site or app.

Ok

Keyword cannibalization

When a single web site unintentionally targets the identical key phrase throughout a number of posts or pages.

Keyword density

Percentage of whole phrases on a web page which are a selected key phrase or phrase.

Keyword Difficulty

Metric utilized by search engine marketing instrument suppliers to estimate a key phrase’s rating issue.

Keyword rating

Your place in natural seek for a specific key phrase.

Keyword stemming

Process of decreasing a phrase to its ‘stem’ or ‘root’ (e.g., flowers, flowery -> flower).

Keyword stuffing

Repeating the identical key phrases (or related phrases) in your content material to attempt to manipulate rankings.

Keywords

Words and phrases that folks sort into engines like google to seek out what they’re searching for.

L

Link bait

Content particularly formulated to draw hyperlinks.

Link constructing

The strategy of getting different web sites to hyperlink to pages in your web site.

Link fairness

‘Authority’ that’s handed when one web page hyperlinks to a different.

Link change

Agreement between two web sites to hyperlink to every different.

Link farm

Group of internet sites created to hyperlink to one another to enhance search engine rankings.

Link reputation

The variety of backlinks that time to a web site.

Link profile

Assessment of all of the backlinks (amount, high quality, variety, and so forth.) a web site has.

Link reclamation

The strategy of making an attempt to get again misplaced hyperlinks.

Link rot

Natural tendency for hyperlinks to turn into damaged on the net over time.

Link scheme

Links supposed to control PageRank or a web site’s rating in Google search outcomes.

Link spam

Irrelevant hyperlinks positioned on pages to try to enhance search engine rankings.

Link velocity

The charge at which a web site’s backlink profile is rising.

Local enterprise schema

Type of structured knowledge markup to assist native companies optimize for native search engine marketing.

Local quotation

Any point out of your online business’s identify, tackle, and telephone quantity (NAP) on-line.

Local pack

SERP characteristic that seems for native queries and shows native Google enterprise listings.

Local search advertising

The strategy of bettering your presence in native search utilizing search engine marketing or paid adverts.

Local search engine marketing

The strategy of ‘optimizing’ your on-line presence to indicate up and rank increased in related native searches.

Log file evaluation

Where you analyze the crawl behaviour of search engine bots in server logs to find alternatives to enhance search engine marketing.

Long-tail key phrase

A low-volume search question.

LSI key phrases

Misnomer for semantically-related phrases and phrases. (LSI key phrases don’t exist.)

M

Manual motion

Demotion or removing of internet sites/webpages issued by Google to websites that don’t adjust to their webmaster tips.

Meta description

HTML attribute used to explain what a web page is about.

Meta key phrases

Meta tags that give some engines like google (not Google) extra details about a web page’s content material.

Meta redirect

Code that tells the net browser to redirect the person to a special URL after a set quantity of time.

Meta robots tag

HTML snippet that tells engines like google methods to crawl or index a web page.

Meta tags

Snippets of code that inform engines like google necessary details about your internet web page.

Mirror web site

A replica of a web site hosted on one other server.

Mobile-first indexing

Google’s shift to utilizing the cell model of content material for indexing and rating.

N

Natural hyperlink

A hyperlink that happens organically.

Navigational question

Query the place somebody is searching for a selected web site.

Negative search engine marketing

When a competitor makes use of black-hat techniques to aim to sabotage the rankings of a competing web site or internet web page.

Nofollow

Tag that tells Google to not take a hyperlink into consideration for rating functions.

Noindex tag

Tag that instructs engines like google to not index a web page.

Noreferrer

HTML attribute that forestalls referrer info passing by a hyperlink.

Not supplied

Keyword knowledge that Google omits from sharing with you in Google Analytics.

O

Off-page search engine marketing

Any efforts taken exterior of a web site to enhance its search engine rankings.

On-page search engine marketing

The follow of optimizing an internet web page’s seen content material and supply code to rank increased.

Organic search outcomes

Non-paid search outcomes from a search engine that may’t be purchased or influenced by advertisers.

Organic site visitors

Traffic from a search engine’s natural outcomes.

Orphan web page

Page with no inside hyperlinks pointing to it.

Outbound hyperlink

Link that factors to a web page not in your web site.

P

Page velocity

The period of time it takes for an internet web page to load.

PageRank

A components that judges the worth of a web page by trying on the amount and high quality of different pages that hyperlink to it.

Paid hyperlink

A backlink that you simply pay for.

People additionally ask

SERP characteristic that solutions questions associated to the person’s search question.

Pogo-sticking

Back-and-forth course of between the SERPs and its outcomes when a searcher is unable to seek out the content material they need.

Private Blog Network (PBN)

A community of internet sites designed particularly for linking to and bettering the rankings of different web sites.

R

RankBrain

Component of Google’s algorithm that makes use of refined machine studying algorithms to know the that means of unfamiliar phrases and phrases.

Reciprocal hyperlink

When two web sites hyperlink to every different.

Reconsideration request

Request to have Google evaluate your web site after fixing issues recognized in a handbook motion or safety points notification.

Related searches

Search solutions associated to your question that seem on the backside of the SERPs.

Resource pages

Web pages that curate and hyperlink out to helpful business sources.

Rich snippet

Google search end result with extra knowledge proven alongside it, often from structured knowledge on the web page.

Robots.txt

A file that tells engines like google the place they’ll and may’t go in your web site.

S

Schema markup

Code that helps engines like google to higher perceive and symbolize your content material within the search outcomes.

Search algorithm

List of guidelines utilized by engines like google to rank matching outcomes when a person performs a search.

Search engine poisoning

When malicious hackers create dummy web sites that seem like respectable search engine outcomes. Their objective is to steal private info or set up malware.

Search intent

The cause behind a search.

Search question

The phrases and phrases that folks sort into engines like google to seek out what they’re searching for.

Search visibility

How seen your web site and its associated pages are in a search engine’s natural outcomes.

Search quantity

How many occasions per thirty days, on common, individuals in a given nation seek for your goal key phrase.

Secondary key phrases

Terms intently associated to the key phrase you need to goal.

Seed key phrases

Keywords that outline your area of interest and allow you to determine your opponents.

search engine marketing

The follow of optimizing a web site or webpage to get extra high-quality site visitors from a search engine’s natural outcomes.

search engine marketing audit

The strategy of evaluating and assessing your web site to see how effectively it’s performing in engines like google.

search engine marketing silo

The grouping collectively of topically-related internet pages by way of inside hyperlinks.

Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)

Pages that engines like google present in response to a person’s search question.

SERP options

Non-traditional search outcomes that present info instantly inside the SERP, so customers should not have to click on.

Share of voice

How seen your model is available in the market.

Short-tail key phrases

Terms with excessive search volumes.

Sitelinks

Links to different pages or sections of a web page that seem beneath some Google search outcomes.

Sitemap

XML file itemizing all of the necessary content material in your web site.

Sitewide hyperlink

Outbound hyperlink that seems on each web page of a web site.

Spamdexing

Deliberate manipulation of search engine outcomes utilizing methods which are in opposition to their tips.

Srcset

HTML attribute that means that you can show completely different variations of a picture for various display sizes and resolutions.

SSL

Protocols for establishing authenticated and encrypted hyperlinks between networked computer systems.

Structured knowledge

A standardized means to supply details about an internet web page.

Subdomain

The a part of a URL on the left of the foundation area, e.g., assist.ahrefs.com

T

Taxonomy search engine marketing

Optimizing for engines like google by organizing the construction of content material.

Technical search engine marketing

Making technical changes to assist engines like google discover, crawl, perceive, and index your pages.

TF-IDF

Statistical measure that goals to guage the relative significance of a phrase in a doc.

Thin content material

Content that has little or no worth for the person.

Title tag

HTML aspect used to specify the title of a webpage.

Top degree area (TLD)

Last phase of a website identify, like .com or .org.

Transactional question

Query the place somebody is seeking to buy one thing however hasn’t but determined the place to purchase it from.

TrustRank

Algorithm that analyzes hyperlinks to separate helpful internet pages from spam.

U

Unnatural hyperlinks

Links in a web page’s content material that aren’t editorially positioned or vouched for by the positioning’s proprietor.

URL Rating (UR)

The power of a goal web page’s backlink profile on a 0–100 scale, with 100 being the strongest.

URL slug

The finish a part of the URL that (sometimes) explains a web page’s content material.

v

Vertical search

Search engine devoted to a selected space of focus.

Voice search

The use of voice to work together with a search engine (relatively than looking out by textual content).

W

Website construction

How a web site is organized and its internet pages interlinked.

Webspam

Web pages created to control search engine rankings.

Website authority

A metric from search engine marketing instrument suppliers that measures the relative power of a web site. (Ours is Domain Rating.)

White-hat search engine marketing

The use of Google-approved web site search engine marketing methods, methods, and techniques.

X

X‑robots-tag

HTTP header despatched from an internet server that controls indexing of a web page.

Y

YMYL pages

Pages about subjects that would influence an individual’s future happiness, well being, monetary stability, or security.

Keep studying

If you’re simply getting began with search engine marketing and need to be taught the fundamentals, take a look at our newbie’s information to search engine marketing. It covers every little thing it is advisable know, together with:

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