Glossary

A

Advanced Search Operators

Advanced search operators are special commands you can add to a search query to narrow, expand, or refine results. They help you…

B

Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. Search engines often treat them as signals of trust and authority,…

Black Hat SEO

Black Hat SEO refers to a set of search engine optimization tactics that try to manipulate rankings by breaking search engine guidelines…

C

Cloaking

Cloaking is an SEO tactic where a website shows different content to search engines than it shows to human visitors. This is…

Crawl Budget

Crawl budget is the amount of time and attention a search engine crawler is willing to spend on your site within a…

Crawling

Crawling is the process search engines use to discover content on the web. Automated programs called crawlers (also known as spiders or…

D

De-Indexing

De-indexing is when a search engine removes a page, or sometimes an entire site, from its index so it no longer appears…

F

Featured Snippets

Featured snippets are highlighted search results that appear near the top of a search engine results page and aim to answer a…

G

Google My Business Listings

A Google My Business listing is the name many people still use for what Google now calls a Google Business Profile. It…

Google Search Console (GSC)

Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that helps you understand how your website appears and performs in Google Search.…

H

H1 Tag

An H1 is the primary heading on a webpage, usually the most prominent title that describes what the page is about. In…

H2 Tag

An H2 is a secondary heading on a webpage that breaks the content into major sections under the main H1 title. In…

HTML

HTML, short for HyperText Markup Language, is the standard language used to structure content on web pages. It tells browsers and other…

I

Image Carousel

Image carousels are a search results feature that displays a horizontal row of images users can scroll through to explore a topic,…

Indexing

Indexing is the step where a search engine processes a page it has crawled and decides whether to store it in its…

J

JavaScript

JavaScript is a programming language used to make websites interactive and dynamic. It can load content after a page opens, update what…

L

Local Pack

The local pack is a prominent search results feature that shows a small set of nearby businesses for location based searches, such…

Long Tail Keywords

Long tail keywords are search queries that are more specific and usually longer than broad, high volume keywords. Instead of targeting something…

M

Meta Robots Tags

Meta robots tags are instructions placed in a page’s HTML that tell search engines how to crawl and index that page. You…

N

Noindex Tag

A noindex tag is a directive that tells search engines not to include a specific page in their search index, meaning it…

P

PageRank

PageRank is a link analysis algorithm originally developed by Google to estimate how important a web page is based on links. The…

R

RankBrain

RankBrain is an AI system Google uses to help understand how words relate to concepts, so it can interpret searches beyond exact…

Reciprocal Link

Reciprocal links are links exchanged between two websites, where Site A links to Site B and Site B links back to Site…

Robots.txt

robots.txt is a simple text file placed at the root of a website that gives crawlers instructions about which parts of the…

S

Search Query

A search query is the word or phrase someone types into a search engine to find information, products, services, or specific websites.…

Sitemap

A sitemap is a file that lists the important URLs on your website so search engines can discover and crawl your content…

T

Topical Authority

Topical authority is the credibility your website builds around a specific subject area, based on how thoroughly and consistently you cover that…

U

URL Folders

URL folders are the directory like sections of a website’s URL that help organize content into a clear hierarchy. For example, in…

URL Parameters

URL parameters are extra pieces of information added to the end of a URL, usually after a question mark, that help a…

User Intent

User intent is the goal someone has when they type a query into a search engine. It is the why behind the…

W

White Hat SEO

White Hat SEO refers to search engine optimization practices that follow search engine guidelines and focus on improving the experience for real…