A8 terms

• A/B TestingA/B testing is a controlled experiment that shows two versions of an ad, a page or a message to similar audiences and measures which one performs better.
• Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an open-source framework from Google for building stripped-down web pages that load almost instantly on phones.
• AI Optimization (AIO)AI Optimization (AIO) is the practice of shaping content and its structure so that AI models and assistants understand it, trust it and cite it when they...
• Alt TextAlt text is the written description attached to an image in a web page's code, read aloud by screen readers and used by search engines to understand...
• Anchor TextAnchor text is the visible, clickable wording of a link, and it tells both readers and search engines what the page on the other end is about.
• Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring content so that search engines and AI assistants can lift a direct answer from it and...
• Article SpinningArticle spinning is the practice of rewriting an existing piece of content, by hand or by software, to produce many near-duplicate versions that pass as...
• Audience InsightsAudience insights are the useful truths about who a brand's audience is, how they behave and what they want, drawn from data and research and sharp...

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B14 terms

• Backlink ProfileA backlink profile is the complete set of links pointing to a website from other sites, read as a whole for its size, quality, relevance and health.
• BacklinksBacklinks are links from other websites to yours, and they remain one of the strongest signals search engines use to judge a site's authority.
• BERTBERT is a natural language model that Google added to its search ranking in 2019 so it could understand the context and intent of words in a query rather...
• Bing Webmaster ToolsBing Webmaster Tools is Microsoft's free dashboard for site owners, showing how Bing crawls, indexes and ranks a website and offering tools to fix what...
• BingbotBingbot is the web crawler Microsoft uses to discover and fetch pages for the Bing search index, which also feeds Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and Microsoft's own...
• Black Hat SEOBlack hat SEO is the use of tactics that break search engines' rules to gain rankings faster than the quality of a site would earn, at the risk of...
• Blog CommentingBlog commenting is the practice of leaving comments on other sites' articles, with a link back to your own, as a way to build links, visibility and...
• Bounce RateBounce rate is the percentage of visits to a website that end on the page where they started, without the visitor clicking through to anything else.
• Brand MentionsBrand mentions are the places online where a company, product or person is named, whether or not the mention includes a link.
• Branded KeywordsBranded keywords are search terms that include a company's name, product names or recognizable variations of them, used by people who already know what...
• BreadcrumbA breadcrumb is the row of links near the top of a web page that shows where the page sits in a site's hierarchy, from the homepage down, so people and...
• Bridge PageA bridge page is a thin page created only to catch search traffic and pass it on to another destination, offering nothing of its own along the way.
• Broken LinkA broken link is a hyperlink that points to a page which no longer exists or cannot be reached, so the person who clicks it lands on an error instead of the...
• Business ListingA business listing is a public entry for a company on a directory, map or review platform, giving its name, address, phone number, hours and category so...

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C17 terms

• Cached PageA cached page is a stored copy of a web page, kept by a browser, a server or a search engine so the page can be served again without being rebuilt or...
• Campaign ReportingCampaign reporting is the structured account of what a marketing campaign did: what was spent, what was delivered, what happened as a result and what should...
• Canonical TagA canonical tag is a line of HTML that tells search engines which URL is the preferred version of a page when the same content is reachable at more than one...
• Click Through Rate (CTR)Click through rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who click on an ad, a link or a search result out of everyone who saw it.
• CloakingCloaking is the practice of showing search engine crawlers different content from what human visitors see, in order to rank for things the real page does...
• Co-citationCo-citation is the pattern of two websites or brands being mentioned together by a third source, which search engines read as a signal that the two are related.
• Commercial QueryA commercial query is a search made by someone who intends to buy and is comparing options before they do, which makes it the most valuable kind of search...
• Conversion TrackingConversion tracking is the measurement of the actions a brand wants people to take, such as purchases, sign-ups or inquiries, and the attribution of those...
• Core Web VitalsCore Web Vitals are three measurements Google uses to judge the real-world experience of loading a web page: how fast the main content appears, how quickly...
• Cornerstone ContentCornerstone content is the small set of comprehensive, long-lived pages that define what a website is about, which the rest of the site links to and builds on.
• Crawl BudgetCrawl budget is the number of pages a search engine is willing and able to fetch from a website in a given period, set by how much the server can handle and...
• Crawl DelayCrawl delay is a robots.txt setting that asks search engine bots to wait a set number of seconds between requests, to stop crawling from overloading a server.
• Crawl ErrorsCrawl errors are the problems a search engine hits when it tries to fetch a page, from broken links and server failures to pages blocked by mistake.
• CrawlabilityCrawlability is how easily a search engine's crawler can reach, fetch and move through the pages of a website.
• CrawlerA crawler is an automated program that visits web pages, reads their content and follows their links to discover more pages, feeding what it finds into a...
• CTR (Click-Through Rate)CTR (click-through rate) is the share of people who click a link, result or ad after seeing it, and in search it measures how well a page's listing...
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is a Core Web Vitals metric that measures how much the visible content of a page moves around unexpectedly while it loads and...

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D15 terms

• Dashboard SoftwareDashboard software is a tool that pulls data from several sources into one live screen of charts and figures, so the people running a business or a campaign...
• Data VisualizationData visualization is the practice of turning numbers into charts, maps, diagrams and graphics so that a pattern, a comparison or a result can be seen at a...
• Data-NosnippetData-nosnippet is an HTML attribute that tells Google not to show a marked section of a page's text in its search result snippets.
• DeindexingDeindexing is the removal of a page or a whole site from a search engine's index so that it no longer appears in results.
• Direct TrafficDirect traffic is the share of website visits that arrive with no referrer, typically from a typed URL, a bookmark or an untagged link.
• Directory SubmissionDirectory submission is the practice of listing a website in online directories to earn citations, referral visits and backlinks.
• Disavow ToolThe Disavow Tool is a Google Search Console feature that lets a site owner ask Google to ignore specific backlinks when assessing the site.
• Dofollow LinkA dofollow link is an ordinary hyperlink with no nofollow attribute, so search engines may follow it and pass ranking signals to the page it points to.
• Domain AgeDomain age is the length of time a domain name has existed, measured from its registration or from the first time search engines saw it live.
• Domain AuthorityDomain Authority is a score from 1 to 100, created by Moz, that predicts how likely a website is to rank compared with other sites based on its link profile.
• Doorway PageA doorway page is a page created to rank for specific searches and funnel visitors to a single destination, offering little value of its own.
• Duplicate ContentDuplicate content is substantial text that appears at more than one URL, either within a site or across different sites.
• Dwell TimeDwell time is the length of time a searcher spends on a page after clicking a search result and before returning to the results page.
• Dynamic SitemapA dynamic sitemap is an XML sitemap generated automatically from a site's content so that it updates whenever pages are added, changed or removed.
• Dynamic URLA dynamic URL is a web address generated by a server from parameters, so the same page can appear under many query-string variations.

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E7 terms

• E-E-A-TE-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness, the qualities Google's quality raters use to judge whether content...
• Editorial LinkAn editorial link is a link a writer or editor chooses to give because your page is worth referencing, not because you paid for it, traded for it or asked...
• Entry PageAn entry page is the first page a visitor sees in a session, whichever page on the site it happens to be.
• Event TrackingEvent tracking is the practice of recording specific user actions on a website or app, such as clicks, video plays, scrolls and form submissions, so that...
• Exact Match Domain (EMD)An exact match domain is a domain name that is identical to the keyword phrase a site wants to rank for.
• Exit RateExit rate is the percentage of views of a page that were the last view in a session, showing where visitors leave a site.
• External LinkAn external link is a hyperlink that points from a page on one website to a page on a different website.

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F4 terms

• Featured SnippetA featured snippet is a highlighted block at the top of Google's results that answers the query with text pulled from one page.
• First Contentful Paint (FCP)First Contentful Paint is the time from when a page starts loading to the moment the first text or image is drawn on screen.
• First Input Delay (FID)First Input Delay is a retired web performance metric that measured the delay between a visitor's first interaction with a page and the browser...
• Focus KeywordA focus keyword is the single search term a page is written and optimized to rank for.

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G33 terms

• Gateway PageA gateway page is a page built to rank for a search term and pass visitors through to another destination, usually by redirecting them.
• Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of shaping a brand's content and presence so that AI answer engines cite it, recommend it and...
• Google AlertsGoogle Alerts is a free service that emails you when new results for a search term you have chosen appear in Google's index.
• Google AnalyticsGoogle Analytics is Google's free web and app analytics platform, which tracks who visits a site, where they came from, what they did and whether they...
• Google AutocompleteGoogle Autocomplete is the feature that predicts and completes a query as a person types it into the search box, based on what others have searched.
• Google BombingGoogle bombing is the manipulation of search rankings by pointing many links with the same anchor text at a page so that it ranks for a phrase it has...
• Google Business ProfileGoogle Business Profile is the free listing that controls how a business appears in Google Search and Google Maps.
• Google CaffeineGoogle Caffeine was a 2010 rebuild of Google's indexing system that let new pages and updates appear in search results within minutes rather than weeks.
• Google DanceThe Google Dance was the period of ranking turbulence that occurred each month in Google's early years while a rebuilt index rolled out across its data...
• Google DiscoverGoogle Discover is a personalized content feed on mobile that shows articles and videos to people based on their interests, without a search query.
• Google HummingbirdGoogle Hummingbird was a 2013 rewrite of Google's core search algorithm that shifted ranking from matching keywords toward understanding the meaning of...
• Google Keyword PlannerGoogle Keyword Planner is a free tool inside Google Ads that shows search volumes, forecasts and keyword ideas for terms people search on Google.
• Google Knowledge GraphThe Google Knowledge Graph is Google's database of real-world entities, people, places, organizations and things, and the relationships between them.
• Google Knowledge PanelA Google Knowledge Panel is the information box that appears in search results for a person, organization or thing, built from Google's Knowledge Graph.
• Google Medic UpdateThe Google Medic Update was a broad core algorithm update in August 2018 that hit health, finance and other Your Money or Your Life sites particularly hard.
• Google PandaGoogle Panda was a 2011 algorithm update that lowered the rankings of sites with thin, duplicated or low-quality content.
• Google PenaltyA Google penalty is a drop in rankings or removal from search results imposed on a site for violating Google's spam policies.
• Google PenguinGoogle Penguin was a 2012 algorithm update that targeted sites manipulating rankings through spammy or unnatural backlinks.
• Google PigeonGoogle Pigeon was a 2014 algorithm update that improved local search results by tying them more closely to Google's traditional web ranking signals.
• Google SandboxThe Google Sandbox is the widely reported, never confirmed period in which a brand new website struggles to rank for competitive searches no matter how good...
• Google Search AlgorithmThe Google search algorithm is the set of systems Google uses to decide which pages appear for a search and in what order.
• Google Search ConsoleGoogle Search Console is Google's free tool for site owners that shows how a website is crawled, indexed and found in Google search.
• Google Search EssentialsGoogle Search Essentials is Google's published set of requirements and best practices for making a website eligible to appear, and to perform well, in...
• Google Search Quality Rater GuidelinesThe Google Search Quality Rater Guidelines are the public handbook Google gives its human evaluators for judging whether search results are useful,...
• Google StackingGoogle stacking is a link-building tactic that chains together free Google properties, such as Sites, Docs, Drive and Maps, to point links at a target website.
• Google Tag ManagerGoogle Tag Manager is a free tool that lets a marketing team add, change and remove the tracking tags on a website from one dashboard, without editing the...
• Google Top Heavy UpdateThe Google Top Heavy update, also called the page layout algorithm, is a ranking change that demotes pages which push their actual content below a wall of...
• Google TrendsGoogle Trends is Google's free tool for seeing how interest in a search term rises and falls over time, by region and in comparison with other terms.
• GooglebotGooglebot is the web crawler Google uses to discover pages, fetch them and pass them to the index so they can appear in search results.
• Grey Hat SEOGrey hat SEO is the use of tactics that are not explicitly forbidden by search engine guidelines but that exist to manipulate rankings rather than to serve...
• Guest BloggingGuest blogging is writing an article for someone else's website in exchange for exposure to their audience and, usually, a link back to your own site.
• GuestographicA guestographic is an infographic offered to other websites to publish, with a unique introduction written for each, in exchange for a link back to the source.
• Guiding Metrics DashboardsA guiding metrics dashboard is a single screen that shows the handful of numbers a team has agreed to steer by, updated often enough to change what the team...

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H5 terms

• H1 TagThe H1 tag is the HTML element that marks the main heading of a page, the one line that tells readers and search engines what the page is about.
• Header TagsHeader tags are the six HTML heading elements, H1 through H6, that give a page its outline so readers can scan it and search engines can understand its...
• HeatmapA heatmap is a visual overlay on a web page that uses color to show where visitors click, move and scroll, so you can see how a page is actually used.
• Holistic SEOHolistic SEO is an approach to search that treats the whole site as the thing being ranked: content, technical health, user experience, authority and brand,...
• HreflangHreflang is an HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and region each version of a page is meant for, so the right version is shown to the...

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I10 terms

• Image OptimizationImage optimization is the work of making the pictures on a website as small, fast and well described as they can be without losing the quality the brand needs.
• Image SitemapAn image sitemap is an XML file, or a set of image entries inside a regular sitemap, that tells search engines which images a site wants indexed and which...
• Inbound LinksAn inbound link is a link from another website to yours, and the number and quality of them is one of the strongest signals search engines use to judge a...
• IndexThe index is the database in which a search engine stores the pages it has crawled and understood, and only pages in the index can appear in search results.
• Index BloatIndex bloat is what happens when a search engine indexes far more pages from a site than have any value, so the pages that matter are diluted by pages that...
• IndexabilityIndexability is whether a search engine is able and permitted to add a page to its index, which is the precondition for that page appearing in any search...
• Informational QueryAn informational query is a search made to learn something rather than to buy something or reach a particular site, and it is the largest category of...
• Interaction to Next Paint (INP)Interaction to Next Paint (INP) is the Core Web Vitals metric that measures how quickly a page responds visually after a user taps, clicks or types.
• Internal LinksAn internal link is a link from one page on a website to another page on the same site, and together they form the structure that readers and search engines...
• International SEOInternational SEO is the practice of structuring and optimizing a website so that search engines show the right language and country version to people in...

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K17 terms

• Keyword AnalysisKeyword analysis is the evaluation of search terms by volume, difficulty, intent and value, to decide which ones a site should try to rank for and how.
• Keyword CannibalizationKeyword cannibalization is what happens when several pages on the same site target the same search, so they compete with each other and none of them ranks...
• Keyword ClusteringKeyword clustering is the practice of grouping related search terms into topics so that one page can target a whole cluster instead of a single phrase.
• Keyword DensityKeyword density is the percentage of words on a page that are a given keyword, an early on-page SEO measure that matters far less to search engines now than...
• Keyword DifficultyKeyword difficulty is an estimate, usually scored from 0 to 100, of how hard it would be for a new page to rank on the first page of results for a given...
• Keyword MappingKeyword mapping is the process of assigning each target keyword or cluster of keywords to one specific page on a site, so every search has a home and no two...
• Keyword RankingKeyword ranking is the position a page holds in the search results for a particular term, and tracking it over time is how SEO progress is measured.
• Keyword ResearchKeyword research is the process of finding out what people type into search engines about a subject, how often, and with what intent, so that content and...
• Keyword StemmingKeyword stemming is the way search engines reduce words to their root so that a search for one form of a word also matches its plurals, tenses and variations.
• Keyword StuffingKeyword stuffing is the practice of loading a page with a search term far more often than natural writing would, in an attempt to rank for it, and search...
• KeywordsKeywords are the words and phrases people type into a search engine, and the terms a page is written to be found for.
• KPI DevelopmentKPI development is the process of choosing, defining and agreeing the small set of measures that will tell a team whether its work is achieving the business...
• KPI DigitalA digital KPI is a key performance indicator drawn from digital channels, such as website traffic, conversion rate, cost per acquisition or engagement rate,...
• KPI ExamplesKPI examples are the concrete measures, such as conversion rate, cost per acquisition, bounce rate and return on investment, that teams use to track whether...
• KPI in Digital MarketingA KPI in digital marketing is a measurable value, such as cost per lead, conversion rate or return on ad spend, that shows whether online marketing activity...
• KPI SoftwareKPI software is the category of tools that collect performance data from many sources, calculate key performance indicators and present them on dashboards...
• KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)A key performance indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that shows how effectively a team, a campaign or a business is achieving a specific goal.

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L23 terms

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is the Core Web Vitals metric that measures how long a page takes to display its largest visible element, which is usually...
• Latent Semantic IndexingLatent semantic indexing is a technique that maps which words tend to appear together so a search engine can understand what a page is about beyond its...
• Link BuildingLink building is the work of earning links from other websites to yours, which search engines read as votes of confidence.
• Link Building StrategiesLink building strategies are the repeatable approaches a site uses to earn backlinks, from digital PR and guest writing to partnerships and broken link...
• Link EquityLink equity is the ranking value a link passes from one page to another, shaped by the authority of the linking page and how it links.
• Link ExchangeA link exchange is an arrangement where two websites agree to link to each other, which search engines tolerate in small doses and penalize at scale.
• Link FarmA link farm is a group of websites built to link to each other and to paying customers in order to manipulate search rankings.
• Link PopularityLink popularity is a measure of how many sites link to a page and how trusted those sites are, used by search engines as a signal of importance.
• Link ProfileA link profile is the complete picture of every backlink pointing at a website: where they come from, what they say and how natural the mix looks.
• Link ReclamationLink reclamation is the process of recovering backlinks that were lost, broken or never completed, such as a mention of your brand that has no link attached.
• Link RotLink rot is the gradual breaking of links over time as the pages they point to are moved, deleted or taken offline.
• Link SchemeA link scheme is any arrangement intended to manipulate a site's ranking by creating links that were not earned, which violates Google's spam...
• Link SpamLink spam is the mass creation of low-quality or irrelevant links to manipulate search rankings, and search engines are built to ignore or punish it.
• Link TitleA link title is the optional title attribute on an HTML link that shows a short description when someone hovers over it.
• Link VelocityLink velocity is the rate at which a website gains or loses backlinks over time, which search engines compare against what looks natural for a site of its kind.
• Local CitationsA local citation is any online mention of a business's name, address and phone number, on a directory, a map, a social profile or a news site, that...
• Local PackThe local pack is the block of three business listings with a map that Google shows for searches with local intent, drawn from Google Business Profile data.
• Local Search MarketingLocal search marketing is the practice of reaching customers who search for products and services near them, through local listings, local content and...
• Local SEOLocal SEO is the practice of optimizing a business's online presence so it appears in search results for people looking nearby.
• Log File AnalysisLog file analysis is the examination of a web server's access logs to see exactly how search engine crawlers and visitors request pages on a site.
• Long-Tail KeywordA long-tail keyword is a longer, more specific search phrase with lower volume and clearer intent than a broad head term.
• Looker StudioLooker Studio is Google's free reporting tool for building live dashboards that pull data from analytics, advertising and search platforms into one view.
• LSI KeywordsLSI keywords are terms and phrases semantically related to a page's main topic, used in SEO to help search engines understand what the content is about...

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M12 terms

• Manual ActionA manual action is a penalty applied by a human reviewer at Google when a site is found to violate its spam policies, reported in Search Console.
• Marketing AttributionMarketing attribution is the practice of working out which ads, channels and touchpoints led to a sale or a sign-up, so a brand can see what is working and...
• Meta DescriptionA meta description is the short summary of a web page, written into its HTML, that search engines may show beneath the page title in results.
• Meta KeywordsThe meta keywords tag is an HTML element that once listed a page's target keywords for search engines and is now ignored by Google and most major engines.
• Meta RedirectA meta redirect is an instruction in a page's HTML that tells the browser to load a different URL, with or without a delay, instead of a redirect sent...
• Meta RefreshA meta refresh is an HTML tag that makes a browser reload the current page or load a new URL after a set number of seconds.
• Meta TagsMeta tags are snippets of HTML in a page's head that describe the page to browsers, search engines and social platforms without appearing on the page...
• Meta TitleThe meta title is the title tag in a page's HTML head, shown as the clickable headline in search results and the label on a browser tab.
• Metadata OptimizationMetadata optimization is the practice of writing and refining a page's title, description, structured data and other hidden descriptors so search...
• Metrics in BusinessMetrics in business are the measured quantities a company tracks, such as revenue, margin, churn and conversion rate, to judge performance and make decisions.
• MicrodataMicrodata is a way of embedding structured data in HTML by adding attributes to existing tags so search engines can identify entities like products, events...
• Mobile-First IndexingMobile-first indexing is Google's practice of crawling and indexing the mobile version of a website as the primary version used for ranking.

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N9 terms

• Name Address Phone Number (NAP)NAP is a business's name, address and phone number, which must appear identically across its website, Google Business Profile and every directory for...
• Natural LinkA natural link is a link to your site that another site added on its own, because your page was worth pointing to, with no payment, exchange or request...
• NavboostNavboost is a Google ranking system that uses how people actually click on and engage with search results to adjust which pages rank, rewarding results that...
• Navigational QueryA navigational query is a search made to reach a specific website or brand, such as typing a company name into Google instead of the address bar.
• Net Promoter ScoreNet Promoter Score is a customer loyalty metric calculated from one question: how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague, scored from 0 to 10.
• No Image IndexNoimageindex is a robots directive that tells search engines not to index the images on a page, so they do not appear in image search results.
• No SnippetNo snippet is a directive that tells search engines not to show a text preview, or an AI-generated summary, of a page in their results, so the listing...
• NoFollowNofollow is a link attribute that tells search engines a site does not vouch for the page it links to and should not pass ranking credit through the link.
• Noindex TagA noindex tag is a robots directive that tells search engines not to include a page in their index, so it will not appear in search results.

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O6 terms

• Off-Page SEOOff-page SEO is everything done outside a website to raise its authority and visibility in search, chiefly earning links, mentions and reputation across the...
• On-Page SEOOn-page SEO is the optimization of everything within a web page, from its content and headings to its metadata and internal links, so search engines can...
• Organic Search ResultsOrganic search results are the unpaid listings on a search engine results page, ranked by the engine's algorithm rather than purchased as advertising.
• Organic TrafficOrganic traffic is the visitors a website receives from unpaid search engine results, as distinct from paid ads, social, referrals or direct visits.
• Orphan PageAn orphan page is a page on a website that no other page on the site links to, leaving it reachable only by direct URL or from outside.
• Over-optimizationOver-optimization is pushing SEO tactics past the point of usefulness, with keyword stuffing, forced links and manipulative structure that search engines...

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P16 terms

• Page SpeedPage speed is how quickly a web page loads and becomes usable, measured in seconds and in the metrics Google calls Core Web Vitals.
• Page ViewsA page view is one load of one page by one visitor, counted every time the page is opened or reloaded.
• PageRankPageRank is Google's original algorithm for scoring a page's authority by the number and quality of the links pointing to it.
• Pages Per SessionPages per session is the average number of pages a visitor views in one visit to a website.
• PageSpeed InsightsPageSpeed Insights is Google's free tool that measures how fast a page loads for real visitors and in the lab, and lists what to fix.
• Paid LinkA paid link is a link to your site that you bought, traded for or otherwise compensated someone for, which search engines treat as a vote you are not...
• Parasite SEOParasite SEO is the practice of publishing content on a powerful third-party website to borrow its authority and rank for search terms your own site could not.
• People Also AskPeople Also Ask is the box of expandable questions Google shows in its results, each one answered with a snippet from a web page.
• Performance AnalyticsPerformance analytics is the measurement of how a campaign or a piece of content actually performed, in clicks, views, conversions and cost, so the next one...
• Pillar PageA pillar page is a long, comprehensive page that covers a whole topic and links out to a cluster of narrower pages on each part of it.
• Pogo-StickingPogo-sticking is when a searcher clicks a result, quickly returns to the results page and clicks a different one, because the first page did not answer the...
• PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ManagementPPC (pay-per-click) management is the ongoing work of planning, running and optimizing paid advertising in which the advertiser pays each time someone...
• Primary KeywordA primary keyword is the one search term a page is built to rank for, the phrase that sets its title, its headings and its subject.
• Private Blog Network (PBN)A private blog network is a group of websites controlled by one owner and built to pass links to a target site so it ranks higher, a tactic search engines...
• PruningPruning is the practice of removing, merging or de-indexing low-value pages so that a site's remaining content is stronger and easier for search...
• Pure SpamPure spam is Google's label for sites built almost entirely on aggressive manipulation, such as auto-generated gibberish, cloaking and scraped content,...

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R15 terms

• RankBrainRankBrain is the machine learning system Google introduced in 2015 to interpret search queries it has never seen and to help decide which results best match...
• Ranking FactorA ranking factor is any signal a search engine uses to decide where a page appears in its results, from the words on the page to the links pointing at it to...
• Real-Time Data TrackingReal-time data tracking is the monitoring of user behavior, performance and key metrics as they happen, in seconds rather than in yesterday's report.
• Reciprocal LinkA reciprocal link is an arrangement where two websites link to each other, which is natural between partners and a problem when it is done at scale to...
• Reconsideration RequestA reconsideration request is the formal appeal a site owner files with Google after fixing the problems behind a manual action, asking for the penalty to be...
• RedirectA redirect is an instruction that sends a visitor and a search engine from one URL to another, used when a page moves, merges or is retired.
• Redirect ChainA redirect chain is a sequence of two or more redirects between the URL that was requested and the page that finally loads, each hop slowing the visitor and...
• Redirect LoopA redirect loop is a set of redirects that point back to each other, so the browser is sent around in a circle and never reaches a page.
• Referral TrafficReferral traffic is the visitors who arrive at your site by clicking a link on another website, as opposed to coming from a search engine, an ad, a social...
• Related SearchesRelated searches are the suggested queries Google shows at the bottom of a results page, drawn from what other people searched around the same subject.
• Resource PagesA resource page is a page that collects useful links, tools and references on a subject, valued by visitors for its curation and by search engines for the...
• Rich ResultsRich results are Google search listings enhanced with extra elements such as star ratings, images, prices, FAQs or event dates, generated from structured...
• Rich SnippetA rich snippet is a search listing with extra detail drawn from structured data on the page, such as star ratings, prices, author names or cooking times,...
• Robots Meta TagA robots meta tag is a line of HTML in a page's head that tells search engine crawlers whether to index that page and whether to follow its links.
• Robots.txtRobots.txt is a plain text file at the root of a website that tells crawlers which parts of the site they may and may not visit.

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S31 terms

• Schema MarkupSchema markup is code added to a web page, using the schema.org vocabulary, that tells search engines exactly what the content is so they can understand it...
• Scraped ContentScraped content is material copied from other websites, automatically or by hand, and republished without adding anything, which search engines treat as low...
• Search Engine PoisoningSearch engine poisoning is an attack in which criminals manipulate search results so that people looking for something ordinary land on pages that deliver...
• Search Engine Results Pages (SERP)A search engine results page (SERP) is the page a search engine returns after a query, where ads, organic results, snippets, maps and videos compete for the...
• Search Experience Optimization (SXO)Search experience optimization (SXO) is the practice of designing a page for what happens after the click, so that a visitor who arrives from search finds...
• Search IntentSearch intent is the reason behind a search: what the person typing the query actually wants to find, do or buy.
• Search TermA search term is the exact word or phrase someone types into a search engine, as opposed to the keyword an advertiser or SEO chooses to target.
• Search VisibilitySearch visibility is a measure of how often a website appears in search results for the keywords that matter to it, weighted by the positions it holds.
• Search VolumeSearch volume is the number of times a keyword is searched in a given period, usually expressed as an average per month, and used to judge how much traffic...
• Secondary KeywordsSecondary keywords are the related terms and phrases a page covers alongside its primary keyword, adding depth and helping it rank for the wider set of...
• Seed KeywordA seed keyword is the short, broad term that keyword research starts from, which tools and searches expand into the long list of related queries a site...
• SEOSEO, search engine optimization, is the practice of making a website easier for search engines to find, understand and rank, so that it earns visitors from...
• SEO AuditAn SEO audit is a structured review of a website's technical health, content and authority that identifies what is holding it back in search and what...
• SEO AuditsSEO audits are the regular health checks of a website's search performance, examining structure, content, keywords and technical setup to find where it...
• SEO StrategyAn SEO strategy is the plan for how a website will earn and keep visibility in search, setting which terms it will target, what content and technical work...
• SERP FeaturesSERP features are the elements on a search results page that are not standard blue links, such as featured snippets, image packs, map results, videos and...
• SERP OptimizationSERP optimization is the work of improving how a brand's pages appear on a search engine results page, from the title and description to rich results...
• SERP VolatilitySERP volatility is how much search rankings move from day to day across many queries, and a spike in it usually means a search engine has changed its...
• Short-Tail KeywordsA short-tail keyword is a broad, high-volume search term of one or two words, such as "shoes" or "creative agency", that sits at the top...
• Silo StructureA silo structure organizes a website's content into tightly themed sections, with pages that link within their theme, so search engines and visitors...
• Site ArchitectureSite architecture is the way a website's pages are organized, grouped and linked to one another, which decides how easily people and search engines can...
• SitelinksSitelinks are the extra links to a site's inner pages that Google shows beneath a main search result, giving searchers a shortcut to the pages they are...
• SitemapA sitemap is a list of a website's pages, provided either as an XML file for search engines or as an HTML page for visitors, that helps everything on...
• Sitewide LinkA sitewide link is a link that appears on every page of a website, usually in the header, footer or sidebar, and it carries far less weight per page than a...
• Skyscraper TechniqueThe skyscraper technique is a link-building method: find a popular, well-linked page on a topic, make a clearly better one, then ask the sites linking to...
• Social Media AnalyticsSocial media analytics is the measurement of how content performs on social platforms, from reach and engagement to audience growth and sentiment, used to...
• Spam ScoreSpam score is a metric, originally from Moz, that estimates how likely a website is to be penalized or distrusted by search engines, based on traits it...
• SpamdexingSpamdexing is the manipulation of search engine indexes through deceptive tactics such as keyword stuffing, cloaking and link schemes, designed to rank...
• Sponsored Link AttributeThe sponsored link attribute, written as rel=sponsored, tells search engines that a link exists because of a payment or other compensation, so it is not...
• Structured DataStructured data is a standardized format of code, usually schema.org vocabulary written as JSON-LD, that labels the content of a page so search engines...
• SubfolderA subfolder is a directory within a website's URL structure, such as example.com/blog/, used to organize sections of a site under the same domain.

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T9 terms

• Taxonomy SEOTaxonomy SEO is the practice of organizing a site's content through categories, tags and other classification pages so that related content is grouped,...
• Technical SEOTechnical SEO is the work of making a website crawlable, indexable, fast and well structured so search engines can find, read and rank its content without...
• TF-IDFTF-IDF, or term frequency inverse document frequency, is a statistical measure of how important a word is to one document relative to a whole collection,...
• Time to First Byte (TTFB)Time to First Byte (TTFB) is the time between a browser requesting a page and receiving the first byte of the response, a measure of how quickly the server...
• Topic ResearchTopic research is the process of finding out what an audience is actually asking, searching for and talking about, so that content is planned around real...
• Tracking CodeA tracking code is a snippet of JavaScript or a pixel placed on a website that records what visitors do and sends it to an analytics or advertising platform.
• Trailing SlashA trailing slash is the forward slash at the end of a URL, and whether a site uses it consistently decides whether each page has one address or two.
• Transactional QueryA transactional query is a search made by someone ready to act, whether to buy, sign up, book or download, and it is the kind of search that...
• TrustRankTrustRank is a link-analysis method that estimates how trustworthy a web page is by measuring how closely it is connected to a small set of hand-picked,...

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U9 terms

• UGC Link AttributeThe UGC link attribute (rel="ugc") marks a link as user-generated content, telling search engines it was placed by a user rather than by the...
• Universal SearchUniversal search is the way Google blends results of different kinds, such as images, videos, news, maps and shopping, into a single results page instead of...
• Unnatural LinksUnnatural links are backlinks that exist to manipulate rankings rather than to help a reader, and Google penalizes sites that build or buy them.
• URL Inspection ToolThe URL Inspection Tool is a feature of Google Search Console that reports how Google sees a specific page, including whether it is indexed, when it was...
• URL ParametersURL parameters are the key and value pairs added to a web address after a question mark, used for tracking, filtering, sorting and session data, and a...
• URL Rating (UR)URL Rating is Ahrefs' score, from 0 to 100, for the strength of the links pointing to a single page, as opposed to the whole site it sits on.
• URL SlugA URL slug is the final, human-readable part of a web address that identifies a specific page, such as the words after the last folder in...
• URL StructureURL structure is the pattern a website uses to build its addresses, from the domain and folders to the slug, and a clear structure tells both people and...
• User-AgentA user-agent is the string a browser, app or bot sends to identify itself when it requests a web page, and it is how servers, analytics and SEO tools tell a...

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V2 terms

• Vertical SearchVertical search is search focused on one kind of content or one industry, such as video, images, jobs, travel or products, rather than the whole web.
• Voice SearchVoice search is searching by speaking to a device (a phone, a smart speaker, a car or an earbud) and getting back one spoken answer rather than a page of...

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W6 terms

• Web AnalyticsWeb analytics is the collection, measurement and analysis of data about how people find and use a website, used to improve its content, design and results.
• Website AuthorityWebsite authority is a measure of how much a site is trusted, estimated from the quality and quantity of its backlinks, its content and its track record,...
• Website TrafficWebsite traffic is the volume of visits a site receives over a period, broken down by where visitors came from and what they did, and it is the baseline...
• Website Traffic AnalysisWebsite traffic analysis is the reading of a site's visitor data to work out where people come from, what they do and why, so that decisions about...
• WebspamWebspam is content or links created to manipulate search rankings rather than to help people, and search engines penalize or remove it.
• White Hat SEOWhite hat SEO is search optimization that follows search engine guidelines and works by making a site genuinely better for people, through quality content,...

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X2 terms

• X-Robots-TagThe X-Robots-Tag is an HTTP response header that gives search engines indexing instructions for a URL, doing the job of a robots meta tag for files that...
• XML SitemapAn XML sitemap is a machine-readable file that lists the URLs a website wants search engines to crawl and index, along with when each was last changed.

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Y1 term

• YMYL PagesYMYL pages, short for Your Money or Your Life, are pages whose content could affect a reader's health, finances, safety or major life decisions, and...

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Z2 terms

• Zero-Click SearchesA zero-click search is a search that ends on the results page, because the answer appeared in a featured snippet, a knowledge panel, a map, a calculator or...
• Zombie PagesZombie pages are pages on a website that get no traffic, earn no links and serve no purpose, yet remain live and indexed, where they dilute crawl budget and...

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#10 terms

• 200 (OK) Response CodeA 200 OK response code is the server's confirmation that a request succeeded and the page was delivered as asked.
• 301 RedirectA 301 redirect is a permanent instruction that sends browsers and search engines from an old URL to a new one, carrying the old page's ranking signals...
• 302 RedirectA 302 redirect is a temporary instruction that sends visitors from one URL to another while telling search engines the original address will return.
• 304 Not ModifiedA 304 Not Modified response tells a browser or a crawler that the page has not changed since it was last fetched, so the cached copy can be used instead.
• 307 Temporary RedirectA 307 Temporary Redirect sends a visitor to a different URL for now, while guaranteeing that the request is repeated exactly as it was made.
• 403 ForbiddenA 403 Forbidden error means the server understood the request but refuses to serve the page, usually because the visitor does not have permission to see it.
• 404 Not FoundA 404 Not Found error is the response a web server returns when a requested page does not exist, which harms search visibility and user trust unless it is...
• 410 GoneA 410 Gone status tells browsers and search engines that a page has been removed on purpose and is not coming back.
• 500 Internal Server ErrorA 500 Internal Server Error is the HTTP status code a web server returns when it has failed to handle a request for a reason it cannot specify, and the page...
• 502 Bad GatewayA 502 Bad Gateway error means one server in the chain that delivers your site received an invalid response from another, so the page could not be served.

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