Whether you're an SEO beginner, a digital marketer, or a business owner managing your own website, understanding SEO terminology is key to success. This glossary includes 250+ essential SEO terms, updated for the latest trends in 2025—from core concepts like "backlinks" and "SERPs" to advanced ideas like "semantic indexing" and "crawl budget."
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SEO Glossary: 200+ Terms Explained
Here is a comprehensive A-Z glossary of 200+ essential SEO terms and definitions, ideal for marketers, content creators, business owners, and SEO professionals.
A
Above the Fold: The portion of a webpage visible without scrolling.
AdWords: Google’s advertising system, where businesses bid to display brief ads.
Algorithm: A set of rules used by search engines to rank web pages.
Alt Text (Alternative Text): Text added to images for accessibility and SEO.
AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages): A Google-backed project to speed up mobile web pages.
Anchor Text: The clickable text in a hyperlink.
Authority Site: A website that is trusted by its users and search engines.
Auto-Generated Content: Content created by bots, often penalized by search engines.
Attribution Model: A rule that determines how credit for conversions is assigned to touchpoints in conversion paths.
A/B Testing: Comparing two versions of a webpage or ad to see which performs better.
Algorithmic Penalty: An automatic penalty by search engines for violating ranking guidelines.
Audience Segmentation: Dividing users into groups based on behavior or demographics for targeted SEO and marketing.
B
Backlink: A link from one website to another.
Baidu: The leading search engine in China.
Bing: Microsoft’s search engine.
Black Hat SEO: Tactics that violate search engine guidelines.
Blog: Regularly updated web content, useful for SEO.
Bounce Rate: Percentage of visitors who leave a site after viewing one page.
Branded Keywords: Keywords that include a brand name.
Broken Link: A hyperlink that points to a non-existent page.
Breadcrumbs: A Navigation aid showing a user's location on a site.
Bot Traffic: Non-human traffic, often from search engine crawlers or spam bots.
Bounce Exchange: A tool to reduce bounce rate using exit-intent popups.
Brand Mentions: References to your brand online that may or may not link back to your site.
C
Cache: A stored version of a web page.
Canonical Tag: Prevents duplicate content by indicating the preferred version of a URL.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): Percentage of users who click a link.
Cloaking: Showing different content to search engines than to users.
CMS (Content Management System): Software to manage digital content (e.g., WordPress).
Content Marketing: Creating and sharing content to attract users.
Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who complete a desired action.
Crawl Budget: The number of pages a search engine will crawl on a site.
Crawler: Software used by search engines to index web pages.
Core Web Vitals: Metrics that measure the user experience on a webpage.
Content Audit: A process of evaluating and improving existing content.
Core Update: Major changes to Google’s core algorithm affecting search results.
D
DA (Domain Authority): A Moz metric predicting how well a site will rank.
De-indexed: A page or site removed from a search engine’s index.
Deep Link: A link to a specific page within a website.
Directory: A site that lists other sites.
Disavow File: A file submitted to Google to ignore certain backlinks.
Dofollow Link: A link that passes SEO value.
Domain Name: The address of a website.
Duplicate Content: Content that appears in more than one location online.
Data Layer: A JavaScript object used to pass information to tag management systems.
Drip Campaign: A marketing strategy involving automated, scheduled emails or content.
Data Studio: Google’s data visualization tool often used in SEO reporting.
Domain Rating (DR): A metric by Ahrefs indicating website backlink strength.
E
E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
Editorial Link: A naturally earned link from content.
Engagement Rate: How actively users interact with content.
Error 404: Error when a page cannot be found.
External Link: A link that leads to a different website.
Exact Match Domain (EMD): A domain name that exactly matches a keyword phrase.
Exit Rate: The percentage of users who leave your site from a specific page.
Entity SEO: SEO approach focused on concepts/entities rather than keywords.
E-commerce SEO: Optimization of online store platforms for search engines.
Event Tracking: Monitoring specific actions like downloads or clicks using analytics tools.
F
Featured Snippet: A summary answer shown at the top of search results.
Fetch as Google: A tool to see how Google views your page.
Footer Link: Links placed in the footer of a webpage.
Fresh Content: Recently updated or newly published content.
Funnel: The journey a customer takes from awareness to conversion.
Faceted Navigation: Filtering options on eCommerce/category pages.
Feed Optimization: Structuring product or data feeds for better visibility in search.
First Input Delay (FID): A Core Web Vitals metric measuring interactivity.
Freshness Algorithm: Google's method of ranking newer content higher for timely searches.
G
Google Analytics: A tool to track and report website traffic.
Googlebot: Google’s web crawler.
Google My Business: A Tool for managing a local business listing on Google.
Guest Posting: Writing articles on other websites for backlinks.
Google Trends: A tool showing the popularity of search terms over time.
Geo-targeting: Delivering content based on geographic location.
GMB Insights: Analytics within Google My Business.
Google Penalty: A punishment reducing a site’s visibility in search results.
Google Discover: A feed of suggested content shown to users on mobile.
H
Header Tags (H1–H6): HTML tags for structuring content.
Hidden Text: Text that is not visible to users but readable by search engines.
Hreflang Tag: HTML tag for indicating language and regional targeting.
HTML Sitemap: A sitemap for users.
HTTPS: A secure version of HTTP.
HARO (Help a Reporter Out): A platform for earning press and links.
Heatmap: Visual representation of where users click or scroll.
Head Term: A popular search term with high competition.
HTML Compression: Minimizing code to improve page load speed.
I
Image Optimization: Enhancing images for speed and SEO.
Inbound Link: A backlink from another website.
Indexing: Adding web pages to a search engine’s index.
Internal Link: A link that points to another page on the same website.
Impression: A view or display of a webpage or ad.
Indexability: The ability of a page to be indexed by search engines.
IP Address: A unique string identifying a device on a network.
Index Bloat: Having too many low-quality or irrelevant pages indexed by search engines.
Interaction to Next Paint (INP): An experimental user interaction metric from Google.
J
JavaScript SEO: Optimizing content rendered through JavaScript.
JSON-LD: A structured data format supported by Google.
Jump Link: A link that jumps to a specific section on a page.
JavaScript Rendering: The process of search engines executing JavaScript to understand content.
K
Keyword: A word or phrase used in search queries.
Keyword Cannibalization: Multiple pages targeting the same keyword.
Keyword Density: The ratio of keywords to total words.
Keyword Research: Identifying valuable keywords for SEO.
Knowledge Graph: Google’s system that enhances search results with facts.
Keyword Stuffing: Overusing keywords in content to manipulate rankings.
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators): Metrics used to measure success.
Keyword Gap Analysis: Comparing keywords targeted by competitors vs your site.
Knowledge Panel: A summary box about a topic that appears on the right side of Google search results.
L
Landing Page: A standalone page for a marketing campaign.
Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI): Understanding content using related terms.
Link Building: The Process of acquiring backlinks.
Local SEO: Optimizing a site for local search.
Long-Tail Keywords: Longer and more specific keyword phrases.
Log File Analysis: Evaluating server logs to understand search engine crawler behavior.
Link Equity: Value passed from one page to another through links.
Link Reclamation: Finding and fixing broken or unlinked brand mentions.
Local Pack: The boxed area in Google showing local business listings.
M
Meta Description: A summary of a webpage.
Meta Tags: Snippets of text describing a page’s content.
Mobile-First Indexing: Google’s practice of indexing the mobile version of content first.
Moz: An SEO toolset provider.
Manual Action: A penalty applied manually by a Google reviewer.
Meta Title: The title of a page as seen in search engine results.
Minification: Removing unnecessary characters from code to improve load speed.
Multilingual SEO: Optimizing content for multiple languages.
N
NAP: Name, Address, Phone Number — important for local SEO.
Negative SEO: Malicious attempts to harm a site’s rankings.
Noindex Tag: Tells search engines not to index a page.
Nofollow Link: A link that doesn’t pass SEO value.
Navigation Menu: The set of links that help users move through your site.
Natural Link: A backlink given without request or payment.
Natural Language Processing (NLP): How search engines interpret language in search queries and content.
O
Off-Page SEO: SEO activities outside the website.
On-Page SEO: SEO elements on the website itself.
Organic Traffic: Visitors who arrive via unpaid search results.
Outbound Link: A link from your site to another.
Open Graph Tags: Meta tags used for social sharing previews.
Opt-In Form: A form used to collect user information, like emails.
Orphan Page: A page not linked to from anywhere else on your site.
Organic Reach: The number of people who see your content without paid promotion.
P
Page Authority (PA): A Moz metric predicting a page’s ability to rank.
Page Speed: The time it takes to load a page.
Panda Update: Google update targeting low-quality content.
Penguin Update: Google update targeting spammy links.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click): Advertising model where you pay per click.
Position Zero: The topmost result, often a featured snippet.
Page Experience: Google's signal combining Core Web Vitals with mobile-friendliness, HTTPS, and more.
Pagination: Dividing content across multiple pages.
Pogo-Sticking: When users quickly return to search results after clicking a result.
Press Release SEO: Optimizing PR content for visibility in search engines.
Q
Quality Content: Content that is relevant, valuable, and well-written.
Query: A word or phrase typed into a search engine.
QDF (Query Deserves Freshness): Google’s preference for fresh content for trending queries.
Qualified Traffic: Visitors who are more likely to convert.
Query Refinement: When search engines suggest better or additional search queries.
R
Ranking Factor: A variable used to determine search engine rankings.
Redirect: Forwarding from one URL to another.
Referral Traffic: Traffic from sources outside search engines.
Responsive Design: Design that works on all device sizes.
Robots.txt: A file that tells search engines which pages to crawl.
Rich Snippet: Enhanced search result with additional data like ratings.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): The revenue gained from advertising versus spend.
RankBrain: Google's AI-based ranking algorithm that interprets search queries.
S
Schema Markup: Code that helps search engines understand your content.
Scraped Content: Content copied from other sites.
Search Intent: The reason behind a user’s search query.
Search Volume: The number of times a keyword is searched.
SERP: Search Engine Results Page.
Sitemap: A list of pages on your website.
Slug: The part of a URL identifying a specific page.
SSL Certificate: Provides a secure connection.
Structured Data: Organized code that helps search engines interpret content.
Sitewide Link: A link present on every page of a site.
Search Console: A Google tool that helps monitor and maintain site presence in search results.
Scroll Depth: How far users scroll down on a page, important for engagement tracking.
Spam Score: A spam score is a metric, primarily used in SEO, that estimates the likelihood of a webpage or domain being penalized by search engines like Google.
T
Technical SEO: Optimization dealing with crawling, indexing, and site architecture.
Thin Content: Content with little or no value.
Title Tag: The main title of a webpage is displayed in search results.
Traffic: The number of visitors to a website.
Trust Flow: A Majestic metric for link quality.
Time on Page: The average time users spend on a page.
Tag Manager: A Tool used to manage tags (snippets of code) on a website.
Topic Cluster: A content strategy involving interlinked pages around a core theme.
Topical Authority: Demonstrating deep expertise on a subject through comprehensive content.
Time to Interactive (TTI): A performance metric showing how long a page takes to become fully interactive.
U
UGC (User-Generated Content): Content created by users.
UI (User Interface): The visual layout of a website.
URL Structure: The format of URLs for SEO friendliness.
Usability: How easy it is for users to interact with a website.
UTM Parameters: Tags added to URLs to track campaigns.
UX (User Experience): The overall experience a user has with a website.
User Journey: The series of interactions a user takes from discovery to conversion.
Unnatural Link: A link created solely to manipulate search rankings.
V
Voice Search SEO: Optimization for spoken search queries.
Visibility: How often and prominently your site appears in search.
Viral Content: Content that is widely shared.
Video SEO: Optimizing video content for search engines.
Value Proposition: The unique value offered by your content or service that appeals to searchers.
W
Web 2.0: User-generated content platforms.
Webmaster Tools: Now called Google Search Console.
White Hat SEO: Ethical SEO tactics.
Word Count: The number of words on a page.
WordPress: A popular CMS for websites.
Website Audit: A complete analysis of all the factors affecting a website's visibility.
Web Vitals: Performance metrics essential for user experience.
WebP: An image format providing superior compression for faster load times.
White Label SEO: SEO services provided by one company and rebranded by another.
X
XML Sitemap: A sitemap format readable by search engines.
X-Robots-Tag: HTTP header for controlling crawling and indexing.
XML-RPC: A protocol used by WordPress that can be exploited for brute-force attacks.
Y
Yandex: A major search engine in Russia.
YouTube SEO: Optimizing videos to rank on YouTube and Google.
YMYL (Your Money or Your Life): Pages that impact a user’s health, finances, or safety.
Yield Optimization: Adjusting strategies to improve ad or organic performance.
Z
Zero-Click Search: A search result that answers the query on the results page itself.
Zone File: A file that defines domain names and IP addresses in DNS.
Zero Result SERP: Search results with no organic listings, just direct answers or ads.
This glossary is continually evolving as search engines update algorithms and best practices change. Keep this resource bookmarked to stay informed.
