SEO Terms Glossary

A

ALT Text/Tag or Attribute – The description of an image in your site’s HTML. Unlike humans, search engines read only the ALT text of images, not the images themselves. Add ALT text to images whenever possible. Using appropriate ALT tags will help your image show up in Google Images for the desired search terms.

Algorithm – The Algorithm is the formula search engines use to determine what websites to display in search results. Google’s Algorithms change and update regularly. Google Algorithms have names such as Panda and Penguin.

​Anchor Text – The actual text of a link to a web page. By default, on most websites, this text is usually dark blue and underlined, or purple if you’ve already clicked on the link. Anchor text helps search engines understand what the destination page is about; it describes what you will see when you click on the link.

B

​​Backlink – A link from an external site pointing at your site. Quality backlinks will increase the chances Google views your site as an expert in a linked topic.

​Black Hat SEO – SEO tactics that are typically spammy and aggressive. They are aimed at being read by computers and search engines over actual readers. These tactics can actually cause your site’s SEO damage.
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​Bounce Rate – this is the percentage of users who leave your website having visited only one page.

C

Canonical URL – The canonical URL is the best address on which a user can find a piece of information. Sometimes you might have a situation where the same page content can be accessed at more than one address. Specifying the canonical URL helps search engines understand which address for a piece of content is the best one.

F

The Fold – The “fold” is the point on your website where the page gets cut off by the bottom of a user’s monitor or browser window. Anything below the fold can be seen when a user scrolls down.

G

Gray Hat SEO – SEO strategies that are currently not technically breaking the rules, but are not entirely on the level. These techniques will likely become Black Hat SEO with future search engine updates. Doing things to try and “trick” users onto your site are typically Gray Hat SEO tactics.

I

Impression(s) – Number of times a page has been visited, sometimes called hits.

Inbound Link – When another website links to your website it’s considered an inbound link for your website.

Internal Link – A link from one page to another on the same website, such as from your about page to your services page.

​Indexed Pages – All the pages of your website that are stored by search engines.

K

Keyword – A word that a user enters in search. Each web page should be optimized with the goal of drawing in visitors who have searched specific keywords.

L

Long-tail keywords – Are longer and more specific keyword phrases that visitors are more likely to use when they’re closer to a point-of-purchase. They’re a little bit counter-intuitive, at first, but they can be hugely valuable if you know how to use them.

M

Metadata – Data on your website that tells search engines what your website is about.

Meta Description – A brief description (fewer than 160 characters) of a web page. This is often displayed on search engine results pages below the page title as a sample of the content on the page.

​Meta Keywords – Previously used by search engines in the 90s and early 00s to help determine what a web page was about. Search engines no longer use meta keywords.

N

Nofollow – You can mark outbound links from your website “nofollow” in the html. This tells Google’s bots you are not recommending the website linked. This can be done in blog comments to stop users from leaving their own links in an attempt to create spammy backlinks, or in the case of sponsored content or links you’ve been paid for.

O

Outbound Link – when you link to another website from your website it’s considered an outbound link for your website.

​Organic Search Results – These are the results that appear after searching a term, or keyword. They are under the paid search results. Organic search results show pages that the algorithm has deemed most relevant for that search term.

Q

Query – the word or words that a search engine user types into the search box.

R

301-Redirect – When you delete pages or posts it will create dead links or 404 errors. 404 errors result in users and search engines not being able to locate your content. Creating 301-Redirects will automatically send both users and search engines to an existing content page you choose.

S

SERP (Search Engine Ranking Page) – The page that a user is sent to after they run a query in a search engine. It usually has 10 results on it, but this may vary depending on the query and which search engine used.

T

TITLE TAG – The Title Tag is the term shown in the tab of each page on a browser. (On this page it is Glossary of SEO Terms- MTEVault) This tag should be tailored to show the reader and search engines what they will find on the page.

U

URL – The web address of a page on a website (example: www.yourwebsite.com/contact).

W

White Hat SEO - This is SEO done ethically. Using strategies that are directed at users, not computers and search engines. Writing relevant content and using keywords in natural speak that apply to the search topics you wish to be found for. Also developing quality backlinks are examples of White Hat SEO. The opposite of Black Hat SEO.