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Basic SEO Terminology – Part 1

In this blog post we are going to define some of the fundamental SEO terminology for those who are new to SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). We plan on releasing a blog post every month, discussing essential SEO terms, so keep your eyes peeled.

Adwords – Googles pay per click advertising service which allows you to place adverts on search result pages by paying for them.

Algorithm – Program used by search engines, such as Google & Bing, to decide what results to produce when a user makes a search.

Alt Tag – HTML attribute that is applied to images to provide a text description for search engines.

Analytics – Program that gathers information about the usage of a website and analyses the data. Google Analytics is a popular example of this.

Back Link – A link to your website from another website

Bounce Rate – The percentage of users who land on your website then leave without navigating to another page.

PPC (Pay Per Click) – advertising model were the advertiser pays a fee each time one of their advertisements is clicked. Google Adwords is an example of PPC advertising.

Web Crawler/Spider – An internet bot that methodically browsers the web, indexing web pages for search engines.

Sitemap – An XML file that lists a websites pages. It tells a search engine about the content your website has and how often it gets updates. It makes it easier for search engines to find out about your content therefore giving it a better chance of appearing in search results.

CPC (Cost Per Click) – The price that is paid per click for a PPC advert.

Indexed Pages – The pages of a website that have been indexed by a search engine.

Landing Page – The page that the user first lands on from clicking on a link in search engine results.

Black Hat SEO – SEO techniques and tactics that focus on search engines and not the end user. The strategies are usually aggressive and don’t abide by search engines best practices/guidelines.

White Hat SEO – SEO tactics and techniques that focus on the audience and follow search engine rules and guidelines. Also known as ethical SEO.

SERP – Search engine results page

Authoritative Domain – A website that is trusted highly by search engines. Usually has lots of incoming links from related trusted websites. BBC news is an example of this.

Keyword – The word that a user enters into a search engine. Websites

Conversion Rate – The process of increasing the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action. For example, filling out a form or buying a product.

Long-tail Keyword – Longer and more specific keywords that users search for. Users are more likely to use them when they are closer to the point of purchase or are searching for something really specific. For example, the phrase “nike trainers” would be seen as a normal keyword whereas “Nike roshe run black” would be classed as a long-tail keyword.

Impression – When a user views a webpage or social media post once.

If you are interested in our SEO services, and would like to chat a member of our team about what we can do for your website, then send us an email to hello@ctrlaltcreate.co or call us on 0793 9006 826.