Did you know that 93 percent of Internet sessions start with a search? With that in mind, it’s easy to see why search engine optimization is such a big deal for your business. Good SEO will help you get your content in front of the people who are already looking for your business.
Before you can claim the #1 spot on Google, though, you need to understand how SEO works. Like other digital marketing areas, SEO can feel a bit overwhelming if you don’t know the lingo. This guide introduces 10 essential SEO terms to help you get started.
1. Know What a SERP Is
One of the most basic SEO definitions to know is SERP. This stands for “search engine results page.” This is the page that Google displays after you type in a query and hit “search”.
SEO specialists often refer to SERPs in connection with your ranking. They might talk about getting to the top of the SERP on Google.
2. All About Metadata
Metadata is another term that crops up often in discussions about SEO. It literally means “data about data”.
So, what is metadata and why is it important for your SEO efforts? Metadata is used to communicate with search engines. It tells their web crawlers what your website content is about.
This is important because it helps search engines better understand your content. With improved understanding, they become better at matching content to search queries.
The end result is your page ranks higher for terms you want to rank for. Search users have an easier time finding the content they want.
3. Defining PPC
Another term you’ll see in connection with SEO is PPC. What is PPC exactly?
It stands for “pay-per-click”. It’s a type of advertising used on many digital platforms like Google Ads and Facebook.
PPC ads are different from other ads, because you’re only charged when someone clicks on the ad. In other models, you might need to buy a certain number of impressions or ads for a certain length of time.
PPC campaigns are often used in connection with search engine marketing, or SEM. SEM and SEO can be used to complement each other.
Suppose you’re in the used car industry. It’s competitive to rank for keywords organically, so you also want to use SEM. To do so, you’d run some automotive PPC campaigns that get your business in front of users, even when your competitors are ranking higher.
4. Defining CTRs
You might hear digital marketing specialists talk about CTRs for any number of reasons. This acronym stands for “click-through-rate”.
CTRs are often used as a measure of success for PPC ad campaigns. They can also be used to measure the effectiveness of a call-to-action on SEO content. In some cases, a CTR may even be applied to various positions in the SERPs.
5. What Are Long-Tail and Short-Tail Keywords?
Any course on SEO basics will talk about keywords. Keywords effectually tell web crawlers what your content is about, so they can match it with user queries. You’ll likely do keyword research to find out what people are searching for, then try to rank.
Over time, keywords have evolved. Today, you might hear SEO experts talk about needing a mix of “long-tail” and “short-tail” keywords.
Long-tail keywords are relatively new. They’re longer phrases or sometimes grammatically correct questions. Short-tail keywords, by contrast, are the more classic word or short-phrase keyword.
Long-tail keywords are becoming more popular. That’s thanks to changes in the way people search. People using voice assistants, for example, will ask grammatically correct questions, such as, “What is the state capital of Texas?”
6. Learn About Sitemaps
Sitemaps are an important part of good SEO. So, what are they?
This is a special document you can add to your website. It can be created by the webmaster, or you can use software to create it.
What does a sitemap do? In effect, it offers a map of all the pages on your website. This makes it easier for a search engine’s web crawlers to index your entire site.
7. Linking Terminology
Link-building is an important exercise in the SEO world, so there’s plenty of SEO terms about links.
An internal link is one that directs to another page on your own site. An external link points to another domain. Outbound links leave your site, while inbound links direct people to your site from another domain.
Nofollow links don’t pass SEO credit to the destination page. You can use them when you link to an external site you don’t want to endorse. You shouldn’t use them when linking internally.
8. What Is a CMS?
In any course on SEO for beginners, you’ll likely encounter the term “CMS”. What does this acronym stand for?
It’s short for “content management system”. It refers to any platform you use to keep your content organized. WordPress is actually a very popular CMS. Another example is Magneto.
The CMS allows you to manage content in a collaborative environment.
9. White and Black Hats in SEO
When you’re talking about SEO, you may hear some people refer to “white hat” and “black hat” SEO tactics.
Black hat tactics are the ones you need to watch out for. SEO experts using them often achieve quick results because these techniques are a little underhanded.
Black hat techniques are likely to get your page penalized by Google. So, you may initially see some traction, but it’s not worth it in the long run.
White hat SEO, by contrast, is approved SEO tactics. There are even some considered “gray hat”, because it’s not clear if they’re considered ethical or not.
10. SEO Terms About Tags
Finally, you’ll hear plenty of talk about tags when you do SEO. Some of the most important are title tags. They display to users in their browser and the SERP.
Dynamic tags are used to generate different meta descriptions, title tags, and more. They generate this information quickly, allowing for different information for different search engines.
Finally, there are alt tags or alt text. This is text you provide on an image so it can be “read” by screen readers and web crawlers alike. It tells these devices what the image is about.
Power Growth With SEO Knowledge
This crash course in SEO terms should get you started. Once you’ve mastered the definitions here, you’re ready to dive into deeper conversation with an SEO expert or do some more research on your own.
SEO is an important part of your digital marketing strategy, and thus it’s an important part of growing your business.
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