Glossary: A-Z of search engine optimisation (SEO) terms

Comprehensive A–Z glossary of search engine optimisation (SEO) terms. Perfect for beginners looking to understand key concepts and jargon.

A

Ahrefs
A comprehensive SEO toolset used for keyword research, backlink analysis and tracking website rankings.

Alt tags / Image alt text
Text descriptions added to images on a website, aiding search engines in understanding image content and improving accessibility.

B

Backlinks / Inbound links / Incoming links
Links from external websites pointing to your site, indicating credibility and influencing search engine rankings.

Black hat SEO
Unethical SEO practices aimed at manipulating search engine rankings, often leading to penalties.

Bots / Crawlers / Web Crawlers
Automated programs used by search engines to index and rank web content.

Broad keywords
General search terms with high search volumes but often high competition and lower conversion rates.

Broken links
Hyperlinks that lead to non-existent web pages, negatively impacting user experience and SEO.

C

Citation audit
The process of reviewing and correcting business listings across various directories to ensure consistency.

Citations / Citation building
Mentions of your business name, address and phone number on other websites, aiding local SEO efforts.

Click-through rate (CTR)
The percentage of users who click on a specific link compared to the number of users who view a page, email or advertisement.

Competitors (in the context of search)
Other websites or businesses competing for the same keywords and audience in search engine results.

Content research
The process of analysing topics and keywords to create relevant and valuable content for your audience.

Conversion rate
The percentage of website visitors who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.

Copywriting
Crafting persuasive and relevant text for websites to engage visitors and drive conversions.

Core web vitals / Core vitals
A set of metrics evaluating user experience on a website, including loading performance, interactivity and visual stability.

D

Disavowing links and disavow files
The process of informing search engines to ignore certain backlinks, often due to spammy or low-quality sources.

Domain authority / Domain ranking / Site authority
A metric indicating the credibility and ranking potential of a website based on its backlink profile and other factors.

E

External linking
The practice of linking to other reputable websites, providing additional value to users and signaling trustworthiness to search engines.

F

First input delay (FID)
A core web vital measuring the time from when a user first interacts with a page to when the browser responds.

Follow links / Do-follow
Hyperlinks that pass SEO value from one website to another, influencing search engine rankings.

G

Google alerts
A tool that notifies users about new content related to specified keywords, aiding in monitoring brand mentions and industry trends.

Google Analytics
A platform providing insights into website traffic, user behavior and other key metrics to inform marketing strategies.

Google Business Profile (GBP)
A free tool allowing businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps.

Google Search Console
A service offering tools and reports to help website owners measure search traffic and performance, and fix issues.

Google Tag Manager
A tag management system enabling quick and easy updates to measurement codes and related code fragments on a website.

Grey hat SEO
SEO practices that fall between ethical (white hat) and unethical (black hat), often riskier and not clearly defined by search engine guidelines.

Guest posts
Articles written for publication on other websites, often including backlinks to the author's site, aiding in SEO and brand exposure.

H

Heading structures
Organising content using headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to improve readability and help search engines understand content hierarchy.

Health score
An assessment metric indicating the overall SEO health of a website, considering factors like broken links, duplicate content and site speed.

High-quality vs low-quality or harmful backlinks / Link profiles
Evaluating the value of backlinks, where high-quality links from reputable sites boost SEO, while low-quality or spammy links can harm rankings.

I

Index / Indexing
The process by which search engines store and organise content to be retrieved during search queries.

Index bloat
A situation where unnecessary or low-value pages are indexed by search engines, potentially diluting SEO efforts.

Informational vs commercial search queries
Differentiating between searches seeking information (informational) and those intending to make a purchase or take action (commercial).

Internal linking
The practice of linking to other pages within the same website to improve navigation and distribute page authority.

Intent
Understanding the purpose behind a user's search query to provide relevant content that meets their needs.

K

Keyword cannibalisation
Occurs when multiple pages on the same website target the same keyword, potentially causing competition between them in search rankings.

Keyword difficulty
A metric indicating how challenging it is to rank for a specific keyword based on competition and search engine algorithms.

Keyword frequency
The number of times a keyword appears on a webpage, influencing its relevance to that term in search engines.

Keyword research
The process of identifying and analysing search terms to target in content creation and SEO strategies.

Keyword stuffing
Overloading a webpage with keywords in an attempt to manipulate search rankings, often leading to penalties.

Keywords / Search terms / Phrases / Queries
Words or phrases users enter into search engines, which SEO strategies aim to target for improved visibility.

L

Local SEO and the “Local pack”
Optimising a website to appear in local search results, particularly in the map-based "local pack" listings on search engines.

Long-tail keywords
Specific, longer search phrases with lower competition, often indicating higher intent and conversion potential.

M

Meta descriptions
Brief summaries of webpage content displayed in search engine results, influencing click-through rates.

Metadata / Metas
Data providing information about other data, such as meta titles and descriptions that describe webpage content to search engines.

Mobile friendliness
The design and optimisation of a website to ensure usability and accessibility on mobile devices.

N

NAP (name, address, phone number)
Consistent listing of a business's name, address and phone number across online directories, crucial for local SEO.

No-follow links
Hyperlinks that instruct search engines not to pass SEO value to the linked site, often used for untrusted or paid links.

O

Organic
Refers to unpaid search results, achieved through effective SEO practices rather than paid advertising.

P

Page speed
The time it takes for a webpage to load, impacting user experience and search engine rankings.

Page titles
The titles of webpages, displayed in browser tabs and search engine results, important for SEO and user clarity.

Position / Ranking / Keyword ranking / Organic ranking
The placement of a website or page in search engine results for specific keywords.

R

Readability
The ease with which content can be read and understood by users, influencing engagement and SEO.

Relevancy
The degree to which content matches the intent and expectations of the user's search query.

Rich snippets
Enhanced search results featuring additional information like ratings, images or FAQs, derived from structured data.

Robots.txt
A file that instructs search engine crawlers on which pages or sections of a website to crawl or avoid.

Root directory
The top-level directory of a website's file structure, containing all other files and folders.

S

Schema markup / Structured data
A form of code added to web pages that helps search engines better understand content and display rich results, like reviews or FAQs.

Search engine optimisation (SEO)
The practice of enhancing a website to improve its visibility in organic (non-paid) search engine results.

Search engine results pages (SERPs)
The pages displayed by search engines in response to a user's query, typically including organic listings, ads and rich features like maps or FAQs.

Search intent / User intent
The goal or purpose behind a user’s search query – whether they're looking to buy, learn, find a location, or navigate to a specific site.

Search visibility / Visibility score
A metric that reflects how prominently a website appears across search engine results for targeted keywords.

SEO audit
A comprehensive review of a website’s SEO health, examining factors like site structure, content quality, backlinks and technical issues.

SERP features
Special elements in search results beyond standard listings, such as featured snippets, image packs, local packs or knowledge panels.

Site architecture / Structure
The organisation of a website’s content and navigation, designed to help users and search engines access and understand the information easily.

Site speed / Page load time
How quickly a website’s pages load in a browser, which affects user experience and search rankings.

Sitemaps / XML sitemap
A file that lists all pages on a website to help search engines discover and index them more efficiently.

Spammy / Toxic links
Backlinks from low-quality, irrelevant or suspicious websites that can negatively impact a site’s SEO if not addressed.

SSL certificates / HTTPS
Security protocols that encrypt data between a user's browser and the website, enhancing trust and being a ranking factor for SEO.

Status codes (404, 301, 302, etc)
HTTP responses that indicate the state of a webpage – such as not found (404), permanently moved (301), or temporarily redirected (302).

T

Technical SEO
The process of optimising a website's backend structure and code to improve crawling, indexing and overall site performance in search engines.

Thin content
Web pages with little or no valuable content for users, often flagged by search engines as low-quality.

Title tags / Page titles
HTML elements that define the title of a web page, visible in browser tabs and search results; important for SEO and user click-through.

Toxic backlinks
Links from untrustworthy or spammy sites that can harm a website’s SEO performance and may require disavowing.

Traffic (organic, direct, referral, paid)
Different types of website visitors, categorised by their source – such as search engines (organic), typed URLs (direct), other sites (referral) or ads (paid).

U

Unique content
Original content that isn’t duplicated on other websites, essential for ranking well in search engines and engaging users.

URL slug / URL structure
The portion of a webpage URL that comes after the domain name, which should be short, descriptive and keyword-friendly.

User experience (UX)
How easy, enjoyable and efficient it is for people to use and navigate a website – an increasingly important SEO factor.

User-generated content
Content such as reviews, comments or forum posts that’s created by site visitors rather than the website owner.

V

Voice search optimisation
Adapting SEO strategies for voice-based searches, often involving more conversational keywords and question-based content.

W

Webmaster guidelines
Rules and best practices provided by search engines to help website owners maintain healthy, search-friendly websites.

White hat SEO
Ethical, search engine-approved SEO tactics focused on providing value to users and complying with guidelines.

Word count
The length of content on a page, which can impact its perceived value and relevance in search engine algorithms.

Y

YouTube SEO
The practice of optimising video content on YouTube to improve its visibility and ranking within both YouTube and Google search results.

Z

Zero-click searches
Search results that answer a query directly on the results page – like definitions, calculators or weather – so users don’t click through to a website.