SEO Glossary: A beginner’s guide

Learn the meanings behind these key SEO terms

Search engine optimization (or SEO) can be hugely beneficial for your business — once you get your head around all the confusing jargon, that is. As of 2023, 69% of companies actively invest their time in search engine optimization. [1]

To help you understand more about SEO and how it can help you stand out online, we’ve created a simple glossary of the 19 essential SEO terms you need to know.

A quick recap: What is SEO?

The purpose of search engine optimization is to increase the organic traffic to your website by improving your visibility on search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo. 86% of B2B marketers have used website traffic to track content performance, the top most used metric in 2023. [2]

A comprehensive SEO strategy involves several technical and creative tactics to gain traction online. By implementing effective SEO strategies, websites can attract more organic (non-paid) traffic from search engines, increase their online presence, and ultimately reach a broader audience.

SEO is an ongoing process as search engine algorithms evolve, and staying current with best practices is crucial for maintaining and improving search rankings. We’ll explore some fundamental methods and terms in the SEO glossary below.

 

SEO glossary: 19 essential SEO terms, explained:

#1: Backlink

A link from another website to a page on your website. Search engines use backlinks as a ranking factor because it signals that your website contains useful, quality content.

#2: Core Web Vitals

Updated in November of 2023, Core Web Vitals are a set of three metrics that measure the speed, interactivity, and visual stability of a webpage. [3] These metrics hold significance as key ranking factors for search engine optimization (SEO), and enhancing them can elevate your website’s position in search results, ultimately improving the overall user experience.

#3: Crawlers

Also known as bots or web robots, crawlers are computer programs specifically created to automatically browse and analyze websites’ information at a speed much faster than a human could. It is estimated that crawlers account for approximately 60% of online traffic. SEO practitioners commonly utilize these tools to gather and analyze website data, including their own websites and those of others.

Search engines also use crawlers to visit your website, discover your web pages, and “read” your content. This content is then collected and indexed by the search engine.

#4: Featured snippet

Also known as Position #0, the featured snippet appears in a box above everything else on the search engine results page. To learn more about the importance of featured snippets, read our SEO case study.

#5: Indexing

The search engine’s process of storing and organizing the content it found on your website during crawling.

#6: Doorway link

Doorway links, also known as doorway pages, are a type of web spam that aims to manipulate search engine rankings. These links are often created to imitate the success of other reputable links.

#7: Backdoor linking

Backdoor linking is a tactic used to create a link on one website that directs back to your own website. This process can involve various methods, such as posting a link in a comment on a blog or being listed in a directory.

#8: Internal link

A link from one page on your website to another page on your website allows users to navigate and see related content easily. Search engines also use internal links to crawl your website.

#9: Keyword or Keyphrase

A word or phrase within your website’s content that allows people who are searching online to find that page in search engine results. 78% of B2B marketers utilize keyword research in their SEO strategy. [4]

#10: Keyword density

This term describes the frequency at which a specific keyword appears on a webpage in relation to the total number of words. Although its direct impact on SEO has significantly diminished, it can still be a guiding metric to avoid keyword stuffing and maintain a well-optimized webpage.

#11: Local pack

A map with three business listings that show in Google search results when a user enters a location-specific query, such as “Orlando advertising agency.”

#12: Meta description

A small snippet of text you can add when publishing or updating a page on your website that will show in search results below the page title and the link. For more help, read our blog on how to write the perfect meta description.

#13: Nofollow link

A link marked with a particular tag that means no ranking authority is passed from the referring website to the website it links to. These tags can be used to combat people who are using bad SEO tactics to “trick” search engines into improving their website ranking.

#14: Organic traffic

The number of users who visit your website from search engine results pages. To learn more, read our blog about the different types of website traffic.

#15: Query or Search Query

The word or phrase that a user types into a search engine.

#16: Ranking

The position in which your website appears on a search engine results page.

#17: SERP

This term stands for Search Engine Results Page, the page you see when you type a search query into a search engine. SERPs typically contain two types of content: organic (non-paid) search results and paid search results. There are usually ten organic search results per page.

#18: Sitemap

A map of all the pages on your website and how they link together. While a sitemap is not essential, it helps search engines quickly crawl and index all of your content, particularly if you have a big e-commerce, informational, or news website.

Need help with your SEO strategy?

If you need help understanding how search engine optimization can help your business, a digital marketing agency can help. They’ll guide you through creating the right SEO strategy to correctly structure your website, expand and optimize your content, and improve your search engine ranking.

At Different Perspective, we help businesses in several industries establish brand authority, gain online visibility, and attract new leads with SEO services as part of a comprehensive digital marketing plan.

Ready to get started?

Contact us today to learn more

 

Sources:
1: Enterprise Apps Today | SEO Statistics
2: Content Marketing Institute | B2B: Content Marketing Insights
3: Backlinko | Core Web Vitals
4: Content Marketing Institute | B2B: Content Marketing Insights