SEO Wiki
Working in SEO means keeping up with unusual acronyms and phrases. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro, this glossary has you covered.
SEO terms starting with A
The visible, clickable text of a hyperlink within page copy. It signals to search engines what the linked page is about.
Learn moreThe HTML attribute that describes a visual image to search engines. Alt text provides an additional opportunity to rank and improve search visibility.
SEO terms starting with B
Search terms or phrases that contain your brand's name.
Small text paths at the top of a webpage that help users navigate. They improve navigation and user experience on multi-page websites.
Learn moreSEO terms starting with C
Occurs when content from the same domain competes for the same search result, causing search engines to be unable to discern which page version to display.
Learn moreMeasures SERP and ad performance. Calculated by dividing clicks by impressions.
Learn moreA digital library dedicated to a specific topic or niche, containing a pillar page with several sub-topics linked to the core topic.
Grouping content logically to show how subjects and ideas relate. Google Analytics has a content grouping feature to view page performance by URL group.
Learn moreThe most important content on your website — usually your top-converting pages that you want to maintain or grow keyword rankings for.
Your site's conversion rate, calculated by dividing total conversions by total conversion point interactions.
Learn moreSearch terms most likely to turn users into customers — typically used by people researching before a purchase.
A set number of characters allowed in a content block. Using the maximum number of characters isn't always optimum.
How search engines discover and process URLs. Relates to crawl budget, crawl depth, crawl errors, and more.
Learn moreSEO terms starting with D
A trust signal that helps Google and other search engines evaluate content. Higher DA scores are believed to boost your chances of ranking first for a search query.
Learn moreSEO terms starting with E
The page a user first landed on when entering your website.
Content that remains relevant over a long period and is not impacted by news, world events, seasons, or trending topics. If well-optimized, it stays fresh for months or years.
SEO terms starting with F
Brief summaries that appear at the top of organic search results, providing quick answers to search queries.
How Google's featured snippets workSEO terms starting with G
Complex systems used to retrieve information from Google's search index and rank results using hundreds of signals.
7 important Google algorithm updatesA web-based platform that collects analytical data about your website and apps, and measures ROI of advertising efforts.
A Google Search feature that suggests predictions as you type into the search box, helping users save time with suggested searches.
Google Autocomplete explainedA term used to describe the fluctuations in Google's search result rankings, often occurring during or after an algorithm update.
Introduced in 2013, this algorithm update evaluates context and query intent, allowing Google to answer searches more accurately.
Rolled out in 2011, this algorithm filters out websites with thin, low-quality, or duplicate content from search results.
When your website does not have enough relevant or authoritative content, it may end up in the Google Sandbox — limiting its ability to rank.
A free service that helps website owners monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot their visibility in Google's organic search results.
Writing content that gets published on a third-party website, usually in the same industry as the author's brand.
SEO terms starting with H
An HTML heading tag used to mark up a web page title. It follows a hierarchy structure, typically followed by H2, H3, or H4 tags.
SEO terms starting with I
A link from another website pointing to your website. Also called a backlink.
Search queries where users want to learn more about something, rather than buy or navigate to a specific page.
Any link that goes from one page on your website to another page on your website.
SEO terms starting with K
Trackable search queries and phrases that help customers find product listings, service pages, articles, and more in search engines.
Important keyword metricsOrganizing keywords into semantically related sets to improve content planning and topical authority.
When multiple pages on the same domain target the same keywords, causing them to compete with each other in search results.
Learn moreHow frequently a certain keyword appears in a given piece of text or on a given web page.
An SEO metric that estimates how hard it is to rank on Google's first page for a given keyword.
Read: keyword difficulty explainedThe distance between a search phrase's individual keywords within the content.
The process of identifying keywords that users type into search engines to find information, products, or services.
Try our keyword research toolTracking a group of keywords' position in search engine results over time to measure website visibility.
Track your keyword rankingsThe overuse of a specific keyword within a webpage. A black-hat tactic penalized by Google.
Google's knowledge base that includes descriptions, entities, topics, and relationships to deliver richer search results.
Google's Knowledge GraphSEO terms starting with L
A search query containing a location in the phrase, such as "SEO agency in New York."
Local rank trackingMore specific keywords than short, high-volume ones. They receive fewer searches but attract more targeted, qualified traffic.
Long-tail vs short-tail keywordsSEO terms starting with M
HTML meta title tags tell search engines and viewers the page's topic. They appear as the clickable headline in SERPs.
Learn more about metadataAppears alongside a meta title in search results and provides a short summary of what the page is about.
Learn more about metadataNo longer recognized by Google. Meta keywords were an HTML field that allowed webmasters to include keywords relevant to the page.
SEO terms starting with N
A search query used to navigate to a specific website or page — for example, searching for a brand's name to find their homepage.
SEO terms starting with O
Optimizing individual web pages to rank higher and receive more relevant traffic in search engines.
Search engine results that appear naturally based on relevance, without any paid promotion.
SEO terms starting with P
Google's webpage ranking algorithm that measures each page by assigning a value based on the quantity and quality of inbound links.
A SERP feature that displays user-generated questions related to the main search query, appearing below the top result.
Long-form content that provides an overview of a topic, covers related subtopics, and links out to additional related content. The cornerstone of a content hub.
SEO terms starting with Q
A word or phrase entered into a search engine to retrieve relevant results.
SEO terms starting with R
The position of a web page on a SERP when a specific query is searched.
Track your rankingsGoogle's machine learning system that interprets search queries to determine the most relevant results.
Additional search queries shown at the bottom of a SERP that supplement or broaden the scope of the main search query.
SEO terms starting with S
The list of results displayed by a search engine in response to a query — including organic results, ads, featured snippets, and more.
A user's motivation for conducting a particular search — whether informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional.
Understanding search intentThe average number of monthly searches for a specific keyword or phrase on a search engine.
The relationships between words and how they convey meaning — increasingly important as search engines better understand natural language.
Broad, foundational terms used to kick off keyword research and discover related terms.
A word or phrase that a user enters into a search engine to find relevant web pages.
Supporting keywords that complement the primary keyword on a page.
The process of improving a website's content and structure to increase its visibility in organic search results.
A method of organizing website content by grouping related pages together, helping search engines identify topically relevant content.
Elements beyond standard blue links in search results — including featured snippets, image packs, People Also Ask boxes, local packs, and more.
A metric that measures how prominent a brand's presence is in search results for a set of keywords, relative to competitors.
Share of voice trackingShort, competitive phrases of 1–3 words. They are generic and challenging to rank for due to high competition.
SEO terms starting with T
A numerical statistic assessing a word's significance in a document relative to a corpus. Used in content analysis and information retrieval.
Low-quality content in the form of duplicate content, very short articles, or pages with little substance. Can lead to lower search rankings.
A search query indicating purchase intent. Often includes phrases like "buy," "order," "pricing," or "download."
A measure of how closely a web page's content matches the topic of a given search query.
SEO terms starting with V
A specialized type of search presenting results from a specific category — such as image search, video search, or local search.
A technology that allows users to search by speaking into a device such as a smartphone or smart speaker.
SEO terms starting with W
SEO practices that comply with search engine guidelines and focus on providing genuine value to users.
SEO terms starting with Z
A search query where the user gets their answer directly from the SERP — via a featured snippet or knowledge panel — without clicking through to any website.
Our glossary is constantly being expanded with new terms. Bookmark this page to keep up with the most important SEO terminology.
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