SEO Dictionary
SEO can be a really confusing topic, as it is full of jargon that small creative businesses have no reason to understand. I've put together this SEO dictionary to explain some of the most common terminology you'll come across, and how you can use these concepts to improve your online store or marketplace visibility.
If you’ve come across any other terminology that I should add to this list, or if you think I’ve done a shit job explaining anything in this list please send me an email to bee@seo-bitch.com and I’ll fix that right up!
Collapsible content
A
Alt Text
This is the text used in code that describes an image. It is used by screen readers and search engines to identify the topic of an image. Alt text means “alternate text”, because it is also displayed instead of the image if the website loads incorrectly, or the internet connection is too shit to load pictures. It is a sneaky place to use keywords.
Anchor
The word or phrase in a sentence that a user can click on, that has a link attached to it, which will take the user to a different web page or website. This is an important place to use a keyword for the page that the link goes to.
B
Backlink
A link that directs traffic to your website from an external domain. Whether a link is a backlink or an external link is a matter of perspective – a link to your website from another website is a backlink to you.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate refers to the speed at which a visitor visits and leaves your website. We want the bounce rate to indicate that people come to your website and stay for a long time, rather than immediately 'bouncing' away.
C
Cannibalisation
Also known as ‘keyword cannibalisation’. This is when two or more web pages on the same website use the same keywords and therefore compete against each other in the search rankings. To avoid cannibalisation, all web pages should use unique keywords.
Competitor
Another domain or page that has the same keywords as yours which is then competing for rankings in search results.
Content
All text, images, and input that is used on a website that is not code. Website content includes things like SEO titles, meta titles, alt texts, headers and text.
D
Domain
Refers to the entire website under the main URL. The home page of a website that all other web pages branch out from.
Duplicate Content
Any text on a web page that is identical to text on any other web pages. This is very bad for your SEO. Learn more about the dangers of duplicate content in my blog.
E
External Link
A hyperlink or link on a web page that a user can click on to go to a different website. It only refers to links that will take users to a separate domain, not to another page on the same website.
F
No relevant SEO dictionary entry here.
G
No relevant SEO dictionary entry here.
H
Header/Headline
A phrase that is used to identify the topic of the content on a web page and has been given the code attribute H1, H2, H3 etc. This is an important place to use keywords.
Hyperlink
A clickable word on a web page that will take the user to a different web page. Also known as a link. It differentiates from a link in that the link is visible as a word or phrase that the user can click on (an Anchor), as opposed to being a visible URL.
I
Innerlink
A hyperlink or link on a web page that a user can click on to go to a different part of a website. It only refers to links that are within the one website, as opposed to an external link.
J
No relevant SEO terminology explained here.
K
Keyword
A keyword is a word or phrase that a user types into google (or any search engine) to try to find information or products. In SEO, we want to use appropriate keywords in our website content so that the person searching for our products can find them. More information about keywords is available in my Understanding Keywords blog post.
L
Link
A clickable word on a web page that will take the user to a different web page. Also known as a hyperlink. It differentiates from a hyperlink in that the link is visible as a URL, as opposed to being a visible word or phrase that the user can click on (an Anchor),
M
Meta Title
The text that a search engine will use as the sub-header of a web page in its search results. This is a very important place to use keywords.
N
No relevant SEO terminology to explain here.
O
Organic
This refers to traffic that has been directed to a website without being paid for. All traffic that comes through a search engine is organic traffic. All traffic that comes through an advertisement such as a paid position in search results or a paid banner on a website is paid traffic.
P
Page
A part of a website that has its own URL. For example, the home page, the ‘about’ page, and a product page are all distinct pages. Also known as a web page.
Paid Traffic
This refers to all traffic that has been directed to a website through a paid advertisement, such as a paid position in search results or a paid banner on a website.
Q
No relevant SEO dictionary entry here.
R
Ranking
The position in which a web page or product comes up in search results. For example, the top result of a google search will be rank 1, the second result will be rank two. Improving your ranking is the main objective of SEO.
S
Search Engine
Any system that allows a person to type words into a ‘search’ bar to get search results. Google and Bing are both search engines that search the whole internet. Marketing platforms like Faire and Etsy often have their own search engine which only searches their own platform.
Search Results
A list of domains, web pages or products that a search engine provides to a user. The search results are ordered by ranking.
SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, which is a set of rules and recommendations you can follow that will help your website rank in search results. Following SEO best practice will help google or other search engines to understand what you’re selling, and make sure it shows your products to those who want to see them.
SEO Bitch
The expert in SEO for small creative businesses – Bee! I’ll help you with all your SEO content needs.
SEO Title
The text that a search engine will use as the ‘headline’ of a web page in its search results. This is a very important place to use keywords.
T
Traffic
The people who come to your website. Can be either organic traffic or paid traffic. For example, having 200 traffic per month means there are 200 people who visit your website every month.
U
URL
The unique website address used to distingush a particular page.
User
A person who is using a search engine or website to find information. For example, anyone who is typing words into google is a user, and anyone using a website is a user.
V
Volume
How many users google a keyword per month.
W
Web Page
A part of a website that has its own URL. For example, the home page, the ‘about’ page, and a product page are all distinct pages. Also known as a page.
X
There's nothing here.
Y
This spot is currently empty.
Z
Empty empty empty spot in the SEO dictionary here.