Glossary of Common SEO Terms

Introducing our brand new series all about SEO! You'll learn foundational things that you can easily implement in your business even if you're a complete beginner. We brought in SEO expert, Mariah, to break things down for you.

The “Index”: The database search engines use to store and retrieve information gathered during the crawling process. Think of “the index” as just a really big filing cabinet. The content in the “filing cabinet” has been discovered and deemed “good enough” to serve up in search results. Not all pages on your website will make it into the index.

Algorithm: A formula, set of criteria, or rules used to rank websites in search results. Often referred to as the Google Search Algorithm.

Keywords: The term “keyword” is a bit misleading because a “keyword” is NOT limited to a single word. Keywords are words & phrases that people type into search engines to find information on a specific topic. Any term used in a search via search engines, regardless if it’s a single word or a long phrase, is considered a keyword.

Seed keywords: primary keywords. They typically consist of just one or two words. These are typically pretty generic. Think “Copywriter” “Designer” or “Soy Candles” – These are usually what most people think of when they hear the word “keyword”.

Long-tail keywords: Longer and more specific keyword phrases that typically consist of 3+ words. They’re searched less frequently relative to seed keywords but typically convert better. Think “soy candles” vs. “lavender scented soy candle”. (also referred to as “keyphrase”)

Keyword Stuffing: When a target keyword or keyphrase is used excessively throughout the content on a page to increase keyword density in a way that feels manipulative or “over the top”. Your keyword should be worked into your content NATURALLY. So if you’re mentioning the target keyword in every sentence, that’s a little much. Keyword stuffing can result in a Google penalty.

Meta description: A short summary of a webpage that appears in search results. Typically 150-160 characters long. The meta description should entice searchers to click on that result.

Title tag: The title of a webpage that appears in search results and as the text on browser tabs. This can also be referred to as the SEO Title. It’s typically 60-65 characters long. 

Search volume: The number of times a keyword or keyphrase is searched per month.

Keyword difficulty: A metric of how easy or hard it will be to rank on Google for a specific keyword in organic search, on a scale of 1-100. 1 = easy to rank for. 100 = extremely difficult to rank for.

Click-through rate (CTR): Percentage of clicks for a search result, in relation to how many times that result was viewed. Calculated by impressions divided by clicks (Impressions/Clicks = CTR) – you can find this in Google Search Console. Example: If a page was seen 100 times in search results, and clicked on 40 times, you would have a 40% click-through rate.

Backlink: A hyperlink from another person’s website back to yours is a backlink to YOUR website. If you have an external link on your website, linking out to someone else’s website, that’s a backlink for THEIR website. Think of backlinks like “word of mouth” for Google. They’re like a recommendation from one website to another.

ALT Text: A bit of HTML code that is added to an image so the search engine bots can understand what the image is of. This is the text that appears when you hold your mouse over an image on a website, and it’s also used by screen readers to help the visually impaired understand images on a web page. (also referred to as ALT tag or Image Alt tag).

See the full SEO glossary here!

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Love this? Continue with the rest of the SEO Series below!

What is SEO and Why It's Important for Your Business

Your Foundational SEO Checklist

How MemberVault Stacks Up with SEO

How to Know if Your SEO Strategy is Working

Ways to Continue to Optimize Your SEO

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This SEO article series is written by SEO expert, Mariah. Want to learn more? Check out the additional resources below!

⚡️ Mariah's YouTube channel has a ton of free tutorials: https://youtube.com/@MariahMagazine 

⚡️ Free SEO Tools Masterlist: https://mariahmagazine.com/seo-tools (If you want an inside look at the SEO tools that I use on the regular)

⚡️ Free Blog post SEO checklist: https://www.mariahmagazine.com/seo-checklist-for-blog-posts/ (If you’re creating blog posts for SEO)

⚡️ SEO Titles & Meta Descriptions Guide (Use code MEMBERVAULT for 20% off!): https://www.mariahmagazine.com/seo-titles-meta-descriptions-guide/