SEO Glossary

I have compiled a list of SEO terms, phrases and words that will help readers get accustomed to the search engine world. At times, the public can be overwhelmed with buzz words, industry trends and standard practices. I will continue to update this glossary as words appear in stories and blog comments. If you have any you would like to add, please feel free to comment and I will add them in. Please also feel free to dispute or edit my entries.

Search Engine Optimization : (SEO), a subset of search engine marketing, is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithimic") search results. SEO can also target specialized searches such as image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. (source: Wikipedia)

Search Engine Marketing (SEM): In internet marketing, SEM, is a set of marketing methods to increase the visibility of a website in search engine result pages (SERPs). (source: Wikipedia)

Pay Per Click Advertising: (PPC) advertising uses sponsored search engine listings to drive traffic to a web site. The advertiser bids for search terms, and the search engine ranks ads based on a competitive auction as well as other factors. (source: Wikipedia)

Algorithms: These set of rules are how the search engines rank web pages within their system. A major part of SEO is figuring out relevance within each search engine algorithm, in order to make certain pages target certain keywords.

Link Building: The process of gaining inbound links to your site. The search engines view these links as "votes" from these websites and improve your rankings and visibility online.

CPM: If an advertisement isn't PPC, it usually falls within the CPM cost system. CPM means cost per thousand impressions. Example: CPM = $5.00. You pay $5.00 for every 1,000 ad impressions you receive.

Cost Per Click (CPC): Also refer to as PPC or pay-per-click advertising.

"White Hat" SEO: This process is the natural and organic SEO practices that are used to improve a site's rankings and visibility online. White Hat techniques are ethical and follow the search engines standard practices.

"Black Hat SEO: Involves unethical, questionable and sometimes illegal search engine techniques used to improve site rankings and visibility. These techniques include hidden text and links, bait and switch methods and are usually geared for short term results.

Click Through Rate (CTR): This term refers to the effectiveness of advertising online, through determining how often an ad is clicked on. CTR Formula = Impressions divided by Clicks.

Backlinks: All the links pointing at a particular web page. Also called inbound links. Source: Webmaster World Forums
Banned Pages: When the search engines no longer index your site because of possible spamming or failing to follow search engine guidelines.

Conversion Rate: The relationship between visitors to a web site and actions consider to be a "conversion," such as a sale or request to receive more information. Often expressed as a percentage. If a web site has 50 visitors and 10 of them convert, then the site has a 20 percent conversion rate. Source: Webmaster World Forums

Crawlers, Spiders, Bots: Tools used by the search engines to crawl through web pages to scan for keywords, text and links. After crawling the web pages, this information is indexed by the search engines.

Directories: A type of search engine where listings are gathered through human efforts, rather than by automated crawling of the web. In directories, web sites are often reviewed, summarized in about 25 words and placed in a particular category. (source: sempo.org)

Index: The collection of information a search engine has that searchers can query against. With crawler-based search engines, the index is typically copies of all the web pages they have found from crawling the web. With human-powered directories, the index contains the summaries of all web sites that have been categorized. (source: sempo.org)

Organic Listings: The "natural" or "organic" results a search engine displays for search engine phrases. These listings unpaid listings are categorized and ranked by the search engine's algorithm.

Meta Tags: Information is placed in the coding of a web page that gives a description of the web page you are viewing. This tag is often the description used by the search engines.

Meta Keywords: Information placed in the coding of a web page to indicate which keywords summarize this page of content.

Reciprocal Link: A link exchange between two sites. (source: sempo.org)

Return on Investment (ROI): As known as rate of profit or rate of return. In regards to the internet and search engine, ROI is determined by the total amount spent on website development or online advertising in comparison to how much business is generated. If you spend $1,000 in advertising that brings $3,000 in revenue has a 300% return on investment.

Submission: Submitting URLs to be indexed by the search engines. This process can be done manually or through automated programs.