You get the general idea of search engine optimization, but all that complicated Internet jargon makes your head spin. You’re not alone. Whether you’re new to SEO or just need some clarification, this brief glossary of terms may be able to help you out:
Above the fold:
This term is traditionally used in reference to the top portion of a newspaper; however, on the Internet, it describes the content on a website that is viewable before scrolling to see more.
Google Ads:
Previously Google Adwords
This is Google’s advertising service, which enables businesses to display brief advertising copy that they pay for per click.
ALT text or attribute:
This is a description of an image that you insert into your site’s HTML. Search engines cannot identify the subject of an image, so this tells them what is in the picture.
Anchor text:
This is the actual text a user clicks on to follow a link. On most sites, the text is dark blue and underlined to indicate that it is a link.
Backlink:
Also known as an “inbound link,” this is a link that directed towards your website. When another (quality) website links back to your site, it is basically a vote of confidence telling search engines that your website has value.
Blog:
You may know what a blog is already, but you might be wondering how it’s relevant to your business’s search engine optimization strategy. In reality, B2B companies that use a blog typically generate 67% more leads than those that don’t. That is because each blog post published on your website creates a new page that a search engine can find. By creating well-written, relevant blog posts (content marketing) you also demonstrate your business’s authority in your field.
Keywords:
These are words and terms that users enter into a search engine query. A lot of your digital marketing success will rely on the use of keywords to draw specific visitors to your site.
Link building:
The process of obtaining more inbound links.
Long tail keyword:
This is a longer keyword phrase — made up of three or four words – that is highly specific to your business.
Meta description:
A brief write-up that describes the contents of a webpage. It is often displayed on the search engine results just below the title of the page.
PageRank:
This is a number between zero and 10 that Google assigns a webpage to indicate the SEO quality.
Spider:
The computer program that crawls the Internet and collects information about websites for search engines.
Still confused? Search engine optimization is complex and it only gets more and more competitive each day. The best thing you can do for your digital marketing campaign is to hire an SEO specialist to handle the dirty work.
