The Ultimate 2022 SEO Glossary

The world of SEO is complex, ever-changing, and filled with jargon that can make it easy to get confused quickly. If you're new to SEO or just need some help refreshing your knowledge, we've made a comprehensive list of over 100 terms that SEO experts are likely to encounter in their work.

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2xx status codes: "Successful" Your request was sent to the browser and received information (no action is required).

4xx status codes: Your resource/webpage is unavailable and will not load due to a client error.

5xx status codes: Your server does not support or is unable to process a user's request.

A

Above the fold: Any webpage content viewed in your browser before scrolling. Once you scroll down, the content would be considered "below the fold."

Analytics: The process of collecting data and using that information to better understand a website's performance.

Anchor Text: Visible and clickable text that displays a hyperlink on a website.

Algorithm Updates: Step-by-step instructions given to a computer to complete a task that is customizable based on a series of criteria.

B

Backlinks: Hyperlinks on a page that direct you to another website from a different domain than the website you are currently on.

Black-Hat SEO: Unethical method of SEO used to improve a site's ranking in a search query. This can be done through keyword stuffing, cloaking and using private link networks.

Blog: Regularly updated website or webpage that features content intended for the general public or a targeted audience relevant to a specific industry.

Bounce Rate: Percentage of single-engagement traffic visits to a website.

Bot: Typically called a "spider" or a "crawler," they download content from all over the internet to provide relevant links in response to user search queries.

Brand Mentions: Reference to a company, brand or online service through another website or news media.

Breadcrumb: Found at the top of the website or under the navigation bar, these allow users to track their position on a webpage and how far they are from the website's homepage.

Broken Links: A link on a webpage that sends visitors to a page that no longer exists.

C

Cache: Snapshot of a website that has been scanned/indexed by bots that's stored by Google to help a developer promote the webpage.

Canonical URL: This is a URL that Google recommends as the accurate URL if there are duplicate pages on a site. Also known as a "master copy" of a page.

Citations: Reference or mention of a person or a company's business information online.

Click Bait: Marketing technique where webpages have links that are intended to boost a page's clickthrough rate regardless if the content is valuable or truthful.

Cloaking: A method where a user is under the impression that the content on a webpage is similar or identical to what they see in the search engine results, but is actually different. Cloaking is usually considered a violation of webmaster guidelines by Google.

Citation Flow (CF): A metric created by Majestic that measures a site's URL influence based on how many websites are linking to it.

Competitive Analysis: Research method using similar content or keywords from competitors to find relevant websites that will link to your content to compete for organic traffic.

Content: Any relevant information that can be leveraged to increase your webpage's rank in a search engine.

Core Update: Updates that improve the relevance of Google's search results by changing the ranking algorithm to provide more authoritative and relevant content to searchers.

Core Web Vitals: Performance metric(s) that scores how quickly a page content loads, how quickly a browser can respond to a user's input and how unstable the content is as it's loading. Read more.

Crawlability: Search engine's ability to access content and follow links on a page.

Crawler: Program used to collect data from the internet to find new and updated content.

(See Bot)

D

Dead-End Page: Webpage with no outgoing links.

Deep-Link: A hyperlink that allows websites to build traffic to pages deeper within their site.

De-indexed: To have your site temporarily or permanently taken out of a user's SERP.

Directories: Local business listings that include company name, address, website address and phone numbers.

Disavow: Action using the Google Search Console (GSC) that allows webmasters to discount certain links that may negatively affect a website's authority.

Disavow File: A text document that allows you to choose links to deactivate from the website's backlink profile.

Do-follow Links: Links that allow bots and search engines to point back to your website or blog.

Domain Authority (DA): A metric created by Moz, this is a range between 0-100 that measures how successful a website is during a search engine result.

Duplicate Content: Similar or exact content on a page under the same domain or multiple webpages.

Dwell Time: Amount of time a user is on your website before going back to search results.

E

Editorial Link: Voluntarily linked content by webmaster after determining that it has high quality and value.

Evergreen Content: Content that remains continually relevant over long periods of time.

External Link: Backlink on a webpage that directs you to a different domain.

F

Footer Link: Links that appear on every page of a website, also known as "site-wide" links.

G

Gated Content: A form of content that is primarily meant for lead generation. Typically blocked by bots, accessing this content typically requires filling out contact information in a form.

Google Analytics: Service tools provided by Google that helps SEO track, analyze and report data for their website.

Google Alerts: Notification service that alerts you via email when new content, relevant to a topic of your choosing, is found on websites indexed by Google.

Google My Business Listing: Product offered by Google that will show users using a SERP where and how to find your business.

Guest Posts: Posting blog content on another individual's blog or company website.

H

Head Term: Straightforward keyword (1-3 words) that has a high search volume.

Hidden Text: Black-Hat practice where invisible or unreadable text is used to deceive bots into making a page rank better.

Homepage: Welcome page on your website that highlights important tools or information throughout your website for easy user navigation.

Hub Page: The main page of your website pertaining to a certain topic or keyword.

Inbound Link: Same as a backlink, these are links on different websites that lead a user to your website.

Indexed Page: Pages that a search engine/bot has reviewed and deemed relevant for search phrases and keywords.

Image Carousels: Interactive image experience that allows a website user to see images in a slideshow.

Image Links: URL link to images on a website.

Infographic: Form of content that is visually pleasing and sometimes interactive to maintain attention from users and to make data more understandable.

Intent: The main goal a user has when using a search engine.

Internal Links: Links that maintain the same domain URL of the website you are on and direct traffic internally.

IP Address: Known as an internet protocol address, identifies a device connected to the internet or another computer network. (Public, Private, Static and Dynamic)

J

Javascript: Commonly used programming language to create interactive web content such as applications and browsers.

JSON-LD: (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) Formatted data that allows bots to understand the content of your page, usually embedded in a

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