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S.E.O. Glossary of Terms
404 Error Page - This is the web page that displays when a user attempts to view a page that no longer exists or the page file name has been changed.
Adandonment Rates - The percentage of site visitors who view a page and then exit without linking to other pages on the site.
Alt tags - Better defined, these are ALT "attributes". This is text coded in the HTML that associates a word or phrase with web graphics.
Back Links - The number of links pointing to a website, "link popularity".
Cache - The website content saved by the search engine robots/scooters in their indexes.
Call-To-Action - A way to engage the website visitor that encourages them to interact with the company.
Cloaking - At the same URL (web address) showing one page to a search engine spider and a different page to a human visitor. Frowned upon by search engines as deceptive, sites may be severely penalized by the engines if they use cloaking.
Conversion - When a website visitor takes a desired action, such as making a purchase or downloading a file or files.
Crawler-based search engines - Engines that use automated software to index the billions of files online.
CTR "Click Through Rate" - Percentage of users who click an online ad after viewing it.
Directories - Websites that list other sites by category, e.g. Yahoo! Directory.
DMOZ - A directory run by volunteers under the Open Directory project, www.dmoz.org.
Flash - Macromedia software that creates vector-based graphic animations with small file sizes for use online.
Framed site - Using a specific type of HTML code that places "pages inside pages". Has significant disadvantages and a few advantages. Most of today's sites are not created in frames.
H1, H2 tags - In HTML, the code used to define a page title or subhead.
HTML Text - Text on a web page that is created using HTML (which can be indexed by the engines) as opposed to a graphic (which cannot) and in this case ALT Tags should be used (see above).
Hyperlinks - A link from one web page to another (links can also point to another location on the same page).
Indexing / Indexable - Online content that the search engines can index. Some content is not indexable (e.g. locked PDF files, text in a graphic).
JavaScript - A programming script used on websites.
Keyword Stemming - Google searches not only for your search terms, but also for words that are similar to some or all of those terms, including plurals.
Link Popularity - The number of links pointing to a website.
Meta Description - "Hidden" HTML code that contains a descriptive sentence or two about the web page.
Natural Listings - That part of the search engine results that is not paid for, typically in the central area of the results page.
Off-The-Page - Factors considered by the search engines when ranking a page that are not part of the web page, e.g. back links.
On-The-Page - Factors considered by the search engines when ranking a page that are part of the web page, e.g. text content, title text, etc.
Organic Listings - See "Natural Listings"
Page Rank - Devised by Google, it measures not only how many links point to a website, but the "quality" of the sites providing the links.
Page Views - The number of requests to view a specific web page in a specific time frame (the same person could make multiple requests).
Paid Inclusion - The process of paying money to be listed in a search engine or online directory.
Paid Placement - Paying money to have an advertisement shown on a search engine results page and in an area more commonly seen by the user.
PDF - A commonly utilized Portable Document Format created using Adobe Acrobat software.
Phrase Match - Performing a search with quotation marks around the phrase so that the search results will show web pages with the exact phrase. This helps to obtain a more accurate result.
Pop-up Ads - A form of online advertising that opens a new web browser window to display advertisements (usally smaller than a full size screen).
PPC "Pay Per Click" - The process of paying a small amount of money each time a user clicks on an online ad.
Redirect - A file on the server indicating that the requested page has permanently (301) or temporarily (302) been moved to another location.
Robots.txt - A text file that instructs the search engines about pages or directories to exclude from its database.
ROI "Return on Investment" - How much revenue is generated in relation (ratio) to how much was spent on a marketing campaign
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - The practice of marketing and advertising a website's services and/or products through the search engines.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - The process of planning and designing a website so that it ranks highly in the search engines when someone searches for specific word or phrase related to that sites content, subject, industry, etc.
Search Engine Rankings - The position a site has on a search results page when a specific phrase is searched for.
Search Engine Referrals - A visitors who arrive at a website after clicking a link on a search engine results page.
Search Engine Results Page (SERP) - The page that displays in a search engine when a specific word or phrase is searched for.
Search Engine Saturation - This refers to the number of web pages that a search engine has indexed from your website.
Search Term - The word or words entered by the user into the search engine request.
Similar Pages - Identifies web sites that the search engines think are the same theme and/or cntain the same content.
Title Tag - In HTML, an area where text is placed that shows at the very top of the browser window. Search engines consider this area as critical.
Unique Visitors - The number of individuals who visit a website during a specific time (the same person visiting twice is only counted once).
Web Spider - Specific software that browses the Internet in an automated manner and retains a copy of the visited pages in its database. Also known also as a crawler or robot.
Webinar - An online seminar that may contain audio and video.
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