15 SEO TERMS FOR BEGINNERS
If your are new to search engine optimization (SEO) you may find yourself quickly overwhelmed with the vast terminology assosiated with it.
1.ON PAGE SEO
On-page SEO is the optimization technique applied to a website’s pages to improve its visibility and search engine rankings. These techniques include optimizing the content and code of a website, as well as making sure that it is technically sound and easy to navigate.
On-page SEO includes:
Content optimization: This includes optimizing the text, images, and videos on a web page to ensure that they are relevant to the user’s search query and include keywords relevant to the page’s topic.
Meta tags optimization: This includes optimizing the title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags to ensure they are relevant to the user’s search query and include keywords relevant to the page’s topic.
URL optimization: This includes optimizing the URLs of a website to make them more search engine friendly and easy to understand for both users and search engines.
Internal linking: This includes creating a logical structure of internal links within the website that helps search engines understand its hierarchy and makes it easy for users to navigate.
Mobile optimization: This includes ensuring that a website is optimized for mobile devices and has a responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes.
Site Speed optimization: This includes optimizing the load time of web pages and the size of images, videos, and other media files to make the website run faster.
Usability and Accessibility: This includes making sure that the website is easy to use for users with disabilities and that it follows web accessibility guidelines.
Schema Markup: This includes adding structured data to a website that helps search engines understand the content and context of a page.
On-page SEO is the foundation of SEO, and it is important to get it right to achieve good search engine rankings. A website can improve its visibility and search engine rankings by optimizing its content and code and ensuring it is technically sound and easy to navigate.
2.OFF PAGE SEO
Off-page SEO refers to the optimization activities performed outside a website to improve its visibility and search engine rankings. These activities include link building, social media marketing, and online reputation management.
Several off-page SEO activities can be performed to improve a website’s visibility and search engine rankings.
Off-page SEO include:
Link building: Acquiring backlinks from other websites to a website, which signals to search engines that the site is valuable and trustworthy. Off-page can be done through various techniques such as guest blogging, directory submissions, and creating high-quality content.
Social media marketing: Using social media platforms to promote a website and its content, increase brand awareness, and drive traffic to a website. Off-page can include creating and sharing content, engaging with followers, and running social media ads.
Online reputation management: Monitoring and influencing the perception of a brand or website online, including monitoring mentions of a brand or website on social media and other websites and responding to negative comments or reviews.
Influencer marketing: Partnering with influencers in your niche to promote your website or products, this could be a blog post, video, or social media post.
Brand mentions: When a brand is mentioned in an article or blog post without a link to the site, this is called a brand mention. Off-page is a signal of trust and authority for search engines.
Local SEO: Optimizing a website for local search results, Off-page includes creating a Google My Business page, getting listed in local directories, and building local backlinks.
Forum and Community engagement:
- Participating in forums and online communities relevant to your niche.
- Answering questions.
- Sharing knowledge.
- Leaving links to your site when appropriate.
Press Release Submission: Submit press releases to online news outlets and news aggregators to generate links and exposure for your brand.
These are just a few examples of off-page SEO activities that can be performed. The key is building a diverse and natural link profile and ensuring your brand is visible across the web.
3.WHITE HAT SEO
White hat SEO refers to the ethical and legitimate techniques used to optimize a website for search engines. These techniques are designed to improve the website’s visibility in search engine results and drive more organic traffic while adhering to the guidelines and best practices set by search engines.
White hat SEO techniques include:
- Conducting keyword research to identify the most relevant and high-performing keywords.
- Creating high-quality and relevant content that satisfies the user’s search intent.
- Optimizing the website’s structure and technical elements to make it more search engine-friendly.
- Building high-quality backlinks from other reputable websites.
- Utilizing schema markup and other structured data to help search engines understand the website’s content.
- Creating a mobile-friendly and accessible website.
White hat SEO can take more time and effort than other techniques, but the long-term benefits include higher rankings, increased traffic, and better visibility in search results. Furthermore, it can also improve the website’s user experience, which is beneficial for both the website owners and users.
Search engines are constantly evolving and updating their algorithms. Therefore, it’s important to stay up-to-date with the best practices and guidelines for SEO and regularly monitor the website’s performance in search results.
4.Black Hat SEO
Black hat SEO refers to using unethical or manipulative techniques to improve a website’s search engine rankings. These techniques violate the guidelines and terms of service of search engines and can lead to penalties or even being banned from the search engine’s index.
Examples of black hat SEO techniques include:
Keyword stuffing: Repeating keywords unnaturally throughout the content to manipulate search engine rankings.
Cloaking: Serving different content to search engines than to users in an attempt to manipulate rankings.
Link farming: Creating a large number of low-quality or irrelevant links in an attempt to manipulate rankings.
Hidden text or links: Using text or links hidden from users but visible to search engines to manipulate rankings.
Content scraping: Copying content from other websites and republishing it on your own website to manipulate rankings.
Black hat SEO techniques are not only unethical but also can be harmful to the website’s reputation and can lead to penalties from search engines. That’s why it’s important for SEO professionals and webmasters to focus on providing valuable and high-quality content and follow best SEO practices that align with search engine guidelines.
5.Gray Hat SEO
Gray hat SEO refers to a set of optimization practices that fall in between “white hat” (ethical and approved by search engines) and “black hat” (unethical and not approved by search engines) SEO. Gray hat SEO techniques are not strictly against search engine guidelines, but they can be considered in a gray area, where they may push the limits of what is acceptable.
Gray hat SEO techniques include:
- Buying and selling links, which is generally considered to be a violation of search engine guidelines but is not always explicitly prohibited
- Creating doorway pages, which are optimized for specific keywords but do not provide much value to the user
- Using hidden text or links on a website
- Creating multiple domains or subdomains with similar content to a main website
- Using automated tools to generate backlinks.
While gray hat SEO techniques can provide short-term benefits, they may put a website at risk of search engine penalties or de-indexing. It’s always advisable to stick to white hat SEO techniques for long-term sustainable growth and to avoid the risk of penalties.
6.Keyword Research
Keyword research identifies and analyzes words and phrases people use to search for products, services, or information online. This research is typically conducted as a first step in search engine optimization (SEO) or pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns. The goal of keyword research is to identify keywords and phrases relevant to the business or organization, have a high search volume, and have a low level of competition.
Keyword Research Techniques
Brainstorming: Creating a list of relevant keywords and phrases based on the products, services, or information offered by the business or organization.
Competitor analysis: Analyzing competitors’ keywords and phrases to identify potential opportunities.
Keyword research tools: Use online tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, SEMrush, etc., to research keywords and phrases and find the best-performing ones.
Analyzing search queries: Analyzing the search queries that users type into search engines to identify potential keywords and phrases.
Once the research is complete, the keywords and phrases are typically organized into groups or “themes” that reflect the topics or themes of the website. This information is then used to optimize website content, meta tags, and other elements to help improve the website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).
7.Search Volume
Search volume refers to the number of times a keyword or phrase is searched for on a search engine over a given period. It is a measure of the popularity of a keyword and can be used to identify which keywords are most relevant for a website or business.
Search volume data can be used for a variety of purposes, such as:
Keyword research: Allows users to identify keywords most relevant to their business or industry and have a high search volume.
Content optimization: Allows users to identify which keywords to target in their website’s content to drive more traffic.
PPC advertising: Allows users to identify keywords that are popular enough to drive a significant number of clicks but not so popular that the cost-per-click will be too high.
Search volume data is typically collected and provided by keyword research tools, such as Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz Keyword Explorer. These tools use data from search engines and other sources to estimate the search volume for a given keyword or phrase.
It’s important to note that search volume data is an estimate, and actual search volume may vary depending on factors such as seasonality, location, and competition. Additionally, search volume data is always changing, so it’s important to regularly monitor the search volume and adapt the SEO strategy accordingly.
In summary, search volume refers to the number of times a keyword or phrase is searched for on a search engine over a given period. It is a measure of the popularity of a keyword and can be used to identify which keywords are most relevant for a website or business. Search volume data is typically collected and provided by keyword research tools and can be used for various purposes, such as keyword research, content optimization, and PPC advertising.
8.Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics defined by Google that measure a website’s performance and user experience. These metrics focus on a webpage’s loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.
The Core Web Vitals include:
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures loading performance, it should occur within 2.5 seconds of when the page first starts loading.
First Input Delay (FID): Measures interactivity, it should be less than 100 milliseconds.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures visual stability, it should be less than 0.1.
Meeting the Core Web Vitals targets ensures the user can interact with the site quickly and with a stable layout. These metrics are important for both SEO and user experience. Google has announced that it plans to use core web vitals as a ranking factor in search results, so optimizing your website to meet these standards is important.
To improve the core web vitals, developers can take various actions such as reducing the size of images and other resources, implementing lazy loading, optimizing the code, and reducing the number of unnecessary scripts and styles.
Google Search Console and various third-party web vitals testing tools can be used to monitor and track the core web vitals of a website. These tools can help identify the specific issues that need to be addressed and guide how to fix them.
9.AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an open-source project launched by Google in 2015 to improve the performance of web pages on mobile devices. The AMP framework is built on top of HTML and uses a simplified version of HTML called AMP HTML and JavaScript and caching to create fast-loading web pages.
The goal of AMP is to make web pages load faster on mobile devices, which can lead to a better user experience and higher engagement. AMP pages are designed to load quickly, even on slow connections or older devices. They also prioritize loading above-the-fold content so that users can see the most important content first.
AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) pages are also optimized for search engines, which can lead to higher visibility in search results. Google has stated that AMP pages may be given a slight ranking boost in mobile search results. Additionally, AMP pages are often displayed in a carousel of Top Stories in the mobile search results, leading to higher visibility and traffic.
To create an AMP page, you will need to create a separate version of the page using the AMP HTML, JavaScript, and caching. Additionally, you must validate your AMP page using the AMP validator to ensure it meets the AMP guidelines.
10.Website Traffic
Website traffic refers to the number of visitors a website receives, and it is a key metric for measuring a website’s performance.
Website Traffic can be broken down into different segments, such as:
Organic traffic: Visitors that come to a website from search engine results, as opposed to paid traffic from sources such as paid search ads or display ads.
Direct traffic: Visitors that type the website’s URL directly in their browser or click on a bookmark.
Referral traffic: Visitors that come to a website from other websites through links.
Social traffic: Visitors that come to a website from social media platforms.
Paid traffic: Visitors who visit a website from paid advertising campaigns such as Google Adwords or Facebook Ads.
Website traffic is important because it can indicate the popularity and visibility of a website, and it can also be used to measure the effectiveness of various marketing strategies such as SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and paid advertising.
Various tools and software are available for tracking website traffic, such as Google Analytics, which provides a detailed breakdown of website traffic, including information on the number of visitors, where they’re coming from, and how they’re interacting with the website.
Improving website traffic
- Creating high-quality and relevant content that satisfies the user’s search intent.
- Optimizing the website’s structure and technical elements to make it more search engine-friendly.
- Building high-quality backlinks from other reputable websites.
- Utilizing social media platforms and paid advertising campaigns to drive traffic to the website.
Website traffic can fluctuate over time and can be affected by various factors, such as changes in search engine algorithms, competition, and the overall interest in the website’s topic. Therefore, it’s important to regularly monitor and analyze website traffic and adjust the marketing strategy accordingly.
11.10x Content
10x content, also known as “10 times content,” is a term used to describe content significantly better than the average content on a given topic. It’s a concept first introduced by Rand Fishkin, the founder of Moz, a popular SEO tool and resource website.
Features characterize 10x content:
Comprehensive: It covers all aspects of a topic in great detail.
Unique: It provides a fresh perspective or new insights on a topic.
High-Quality: It’s well-researched, well-written, and well-designed.
Actionable: It provides useful information or actionable steps that users can implement.
Engaging: It’s easy to read, visually appealing, and engaging
Shareable: It’s easily shareable and likely to be shared and linked to.
Creating 10x content can benefit businesses and organizations, as it can help attract more traffic, generate more leads, and increase conversions. Additionally, 10x content can also help to improve the search engine visibility of a website, as it is more likely to be shared and linked to, which can help to improve the website’s authority and rankings in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Creating 10x content is time-consuming and challenging, but it can be done by understanding the audience, researching the topic thoroughly, and creating well-structured, visually appealing, and engaging content. Promoting the content and making it easy to share and link to is also important.
12.Google Algorithms
Google Algorithms are a set of complex mathematical equations and machine learning models used by Google to determine the relevance and importance of web pages in search engine results. These algorithms are designed to analyze the content of web pages and extract the most relevant and helpful information for a given query. Google uses multiple algorithms that work together to understand the query’s intent, evaluate the pages’ relevance and authority, and return the most relevant results to the user.
Examples of Google algorithms:
Google Panda: This algorithm identifies and penalizes low-quality or thin content and promotes high-quality content. It was first introduced in 2011, and it’s focused on the quality of the content.
Google Penguin: This algorithm is designed to identify and penalize web pages that use manipulative tactics to achieve higher rankings, such as buying links or using keyword stuffing. It was first introduced in 2012 and focused on the website’s link profile.
Google Hummingbird: This algorithm is designed to understand the query’s intent better and deliver more relevant results. It was first introduced in 2013, and it’s focused on natural language processing and the context of the query.
Google RankBrain: This algorithm is designed to understand the query’s intent and provide more accurate results. It’s a machine learning algorithm that was introduced in 2015, and it’s focused on understanding the search query.
Google BERT: This algorithm is designed to understand the intent of a query and context to provide more accurate results. It was introduced in 2019 and focused on natural language processing.
Google is constantly updating and refining its algorithms to improve the quality of search results quality and adapt to the changing needs of users and the web. As a result, website owners and webmasters should stay informed about the latest updates and best practices in SEO to ensure that their website is optimized for the current algorithms and can rank well in search results.
13.XML Sitemap
An XML sitemap is a file that contains a list of URLs for a website, along with additional information such as the date the page was last updated and the frequency at which the page is expected to change. The XML sitemap is used to help search engines discover and crawl the pages on a website.
XML sitemaps are typically created and submitted to search engines using a sitemap generation tool, and they use a specific syntax and format. Once the sitemap is created, it can be submitted to search engines using the Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools.
The structure of an XML sitemap is as follows:
In this example, the <loc> tag contains the URL of the page, the <lastmod> tag contains the date the page was last modified, the <changefreq> tag contains the expected change frequency, and the <priority> tag contains a value between 0.0 and 1.0 indicating the importance of the page compared to other pages on the website.
XML sitemaps are optional, but they can be beneficial for websites with many pages or dynamic content, as they help search engines discover and crawl the website more efficiently. Additionally, XML sitemaps can also inform search engines about the priority of the pages and the frequency at which they are updated, which can help optimize the crawling and indexing process.
14.Indexing in SEO
Indexing refers to the process of collecting, parsing, and storing data in an index, typically in a database, in order to make it easily searchable and retrievable. In the context of search engines, indexing refers to the process of adding web pages to a search engine’s database, so that they can be included in search results when users search for relevant keywords or phrases.
When a search engine indexes a web page, it analyzes the content of the page, such as the text, images, and links, in order to understand the topic and context of the page. The search engine then uses this information to determine how relevant the page is to different search queries and to decide where to rank the page in search results.
The process of indexing starts with web crawling, where the search engine’s web crawler visit websites and follow links to other pages to discover new pages and update their databases with new or changed content. Once the web pages have been discovered and analyzed, the search engine will add them to the index.
Search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo have huge indexes that include billions of web pages. Website owners and webmasters can use tools such as Google Search Console to monitor how search engines are indexing their websites and to identify any issues that might affect the visibility of their websites in search results.
15.Robots.txt In SEO
The robots.txt file is a text file used to communicate with web crawlers and other automated agents, such as search engine spiders, to inform them which pages or sections of a website they should or should not access.
The robots.txt file is typically located in the root directory of a website (e.g. www.example.com/robots.txt), and it uses a specific syntax to specify which pages should be crawled and which should be ignored.
The syntax of a robots.txt file is as follows:
User-agent: [agent name]
Disallow: [URL or directory]
For example, the following robots.txt file tells all web crawlers not to crawl any pages on the website:
It’s important to note that while a robots.txt file is a widely recognized standard, it is not a guarantee that a page will not be indexed or crawled. Some crawlers may not obey the instructions provided in the robots.txt file, and certain malicious actors may ignore it. Additionally, the robots.txt file only affects the crawling of the website. It does not affect the indexing of the website; for that purpose, the meta robots tag or the HTTP header should be used.
Using robots.txt is a way to communicate with the crawlers and inform them which pages or sections of the website should not be accessed. Still, it should be used with other methods, such as noindex meta tags or redirects, to ensure that sensitive pages are not indexed.