SEO glossary – part 2

• Headings are brief phrases placed at the start of a section of the website text. They indicate the main subject and sometimes encourage users to read what’s inside the paragraph. HTML heading tags range from <h1> to <h6>, with <h1> being the most important one and <h6> the least. Search engines use them to map out and index the structure and information on your web pages. It’s vital to reserve HTML headings for actual section titles – don’t misuse them to make text appear bigger or bold;
• Headline in SEO it’s the title displayed for a webpage in search engine results. Generally, this headline corresponds to the HTML <title> tag in the page’s header;
• Hidden text (also known as cloaking) is a forbidden method of making the text on a webpage not visible to the user, typically by matching the font color to the background color or setting the font size to zero. Such a practice is considered a black-hat SEO technique (described in the first part of our glossary), as it hides the text from the reader but is still visible to search engines. The aim is usually to insert additional keywords in a manipulative way;
• Homepage is a website’s introductory page, and often, it’s what users first encounter when they visit it. Consider including there a good Call To Action (CTA), a clear indication of what the website is about, and any critical information like awards or industry certifications that make your work unique. Google is more likely to crawl and index pages that are directly connected to the homepage;
• HTML is an abbreviation for Hyper Text Markup Language, which provides website structure. It’s worth knowing that HTML isn’t a programming language because it’s used to display information on websites but not to specify how tasks should be performed step by step or create complex data structures. Understanding this language is essential for optimizing web pages for search engines, as many elements of HTML, such as semantic HTML tags like <header>, aid search engines in grasping the context and hierarchy;
• HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is a security protocol that encrypts data entered and exchanged between users and websites. When you see HTTPS in a URL address, it indicates that the website owner obtained a Secure Sockets Layer – SSL certificate.

• Indexing is the second part of the process that leads to positioning and displaying pages in search engines. It occurs after crawling and involves processing and storing the information gathered during the initial phase and checking content for plagiarism. Once Google determines a page is canonical (meaning it’s original), it’s placed in its index;
• Internal link, as opposed to an external one, is any hyperlink that connects one page of your website to another within the same domain. For users, they serve as a guide to help them access the content they’re looking for. Search engines also use internal links to explore your site, and without them, they won’t be able to access certain pages;
• IP address (IP stands for Internet Protocol) refers to the unique numerical label used to identify a device on the Internet or a local network. It’s a line of numbers ranging from 0 to 255, with dots separating them. People used to think that Google would punish sites sharing an IP with disreputable ones, as many websites, especially smaller ones, share an IP address through shared hosting. However, since then, many Google employees have stated that the company focuses on the individual websites’ quality and content rather than the shared IP addresses of sites on the same server.

• JS (JavaScript) is a programming language widely used to add interactivity to the page. If you are a publisher with a JS-based website or your site has many elements built with JavaSript, you must know how to optimize it so search engines can adequately do their job of crawling and indexing. The only thing is that, unfortunately, JavaScript content is often indexed with delay when compared to HTML pages.

• Keywords‘ main aim is to enhance website visibility in search engine results. They are terms incorporated into digital content and can be found by the publishers through a process called keyword research;
• Keyword cannibalization is an issue that occurs when multiple pages of the same website use the same or similar keywords. In other words, it’s a situation in which they compete against each other. It doesn’t only confuse the audience (when they, for instance, see a similar article title) but also search engines. To prevent this, ensure each page is optimized for unique keywords;
• Keyword research is about finding specific terms that users often look for when using search engines. Try to incorporate keywords that have low competition scores (but are still popular in your niche) into your content. You can accomplish that by using special tools like Ahrefs or Semrush and identifying keywords with low keyword difficulty and high search volume while also finding a low competition gap;
• Keyword prominence refers to how promptly a keyword is placed on a given webpage, especially in key locations like the title, headings, or the beginning of a paragraph. These kinds of keywords help search engines better understand the pages’ topic. The earlier in the text, the keyword is placed, the more importance it may be given;
• Keyword stuffing is a bad SEO tactic that refers to a situation when a keyword is overused in hopes of boosting ranking. This behavior is against Google policies, and it’s considered spammy by the company;
• KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a quantifiable value that aids in indicating the level of success of an activity, like a marketing campaign or strategy. One example of a KPI is the bounce rate, which refers to the percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate can indicate low engagement, signaling to publishers that the site may not effectively capture visitors’ interest.

• Landing page is a standalone web page created to convince someone to take some action, like clicking the Call To Action (CTA) button. It is the destination users reach when they click on a link in emails or ads from platforms such as Google. To make your landing page appear higher in search engine results pages, you need to apply some SEO techniques;
• Long-tail keywords typically consist of three to five-word phrases and tend to have lower competition than general keywords, as they are more suitable for niche audiences;
• LSI keywords (Latent Semantic Indexing) are words that are conceptually related and assist in clarifying content, ensuring that search results are relevant and not influenced by multiple meanings of a word or abbreviation. For instance, the term “scale” can denote either a scale on a map or a bathroom scale, illustrating the importance of context in understanding its intended meaning.

• Meta description is an HTML attribute that is a short statement that summarizes a page’s content and can appear on the search result page (however, it’s not guaranteed). It’s vital for SEO, as this summarization is often the first thing that users stumble upon. Often, it’s around 155 characters long and should be unique and include key phrases;
• Meta keywords are meta tags integrated into the header section, visible to search engines but not to visitors. Search engines once used them as the ranking factor but stopped due to spammy practices of keyword stuffing;
• Meta tags are special HTML elements, snippets of code that provide information about your website to search engines. They are inserted in <head> section of a website. Examples of meta tags are nofollow attribute or meta description;
• Mobile-first indexing is a practice Google has been applying as more people use mobile devices to browse the web. Currently, web crawlers prioritize mobile versions of sites when crawling and indexing.

• Nofollow refers to an HTML attribute (meta tag) that can be added to a hyperlink. It signals that the link won’t influence the search engine’s ranking algorithms for the destination page. For instance, if a hyperlink is included on your website primarily for profit (like paid advertisements), you must use nofollow attributes due to Google policies.

• Off-page SEO (also called off-site SEO) refers to the SEO practices that are carried out outside the website with the aim of improving its rankings. It’s relevant to the E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) concept by helping establish credibility and authority through strategies like link building (backlinks), guest posting, and social media activities that aim at increasing brand exposure;
• On-page SEO (also called on-site SEO) is the practice of optimizing individual web pages to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic. An example of this can be keyword optimization or working on internal linking structure;
• Organic traffic (also called search traffic) is created “naturally” by unpaid means – visitors find your website as a result of their query through search engines. It’s worth underlining that this kind of traffic is considered to be the best one digital publishers can get – here you can see how to increase your website traffic;
• Orphan page can’t be indexed because it lacks any internal links from other pages on the website. Search engine crawlers have no way of discovering it, so it’s important to link it properly as you find out about one.

• PR (PageRank) is one of the algorithms created and used by Google to assess webpage importance with the aid of links pointing to it. It checks the quality and number of links and is still used as a ranking factor, although its influence has lessened over time as Google’s ranking algorithms have evolved to incorporate a broader range of factors;
• Page speed is the time that it takes for a web page to load, which can affect User Experience and SEO rankings. It can be assessed through different metrics, with Google Core Web Vitals‘ Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) being a leading one. This metric measures the duration from the first millisecond of loading to the complete rendering of the largest element on the page;
• PAA (People also ask) is a section on Google search results that has the form of an expandable list featuring the most frequently asked questions by search engine users with fragments of websites containing the most accurate answers;
• PHP (Personal Hypertext Preprocessor) is a programming language that helps to develop dynamic web pages. While it doesn’t directly impact SEO, you can enhance your site’s efficiency and speed with it, which can indirectly boost its search rankings position;
• Pogo-sticking describes a browsing pattern where users quickly jump “bounces” from one website to another, often spending only a few moments on each page before moving on to the next. It’s commonly thought in the SEO industry that pogo-sticking affects a site’s ranking, but Google has repeatedly confirmed this is not the case. Often, users might just not be searching for anything specific.

• Quality content offers meaningful, relevant, readable, and helpful information addressing users’ needs and search queries. This type of content ensures users come back for more. When writing for the web, always imagine yourself in your audience’s shoes, providing them with double-checked pieces of information. Google prioritizes content prepared like that;
• Query is something that users type into the search bar in hopes of finding what they are looking for. There are three main query types:
  • informational query usually starts with “what”, “how”, and “when”. Users typically want to get some needed definitions or specific information,
  • navigational query happens when someone is searching for a specific website or product like “Starbucks”,
  • transactional query is when a user is searching for a particular product to buy but hasn’t decided where to get it from. An example of such a query can be “Samsung fridge” or “blue flip flops”.

Look at you go – two-thirds of the way through!

The finish line is in sight! There is just one part of the glossary left – stay tuned for the third part! To make sure you won’t miss it, you can visit our blog and keep track of our LinkedIn posts and updates!