SEO Terms to Know

I have been in marketing and content development for years but have never considered myself an SEO expert. I have been able to pick up on tidbits here and there, but overall my knowledge is just what I’ve been able to teach myself. I was recently given the opportunity to attend some SEO training and realized I knew more than I thought I did, I just didn’t know the correct terminology for it all. Here are a few of the basic terms that will help you stand out on Google, Yahoo!, or Bing searches, as well as in your next SEO meeting.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Utilizing keywords to improve the visibility of a website in search results.
2. Head Terms: Short keywords/phrases that are associated with a lot of competition but there are a lot of results for them.
3. Long-Tail Keywords: Less people are searching for these because they are longer and more detailed phrases, but the more detailed they are the closer the searcher is to purchasing.
4. Phrase Match: These are the keywords that you need to include in your content, but when they are searched they can be in any order, just as long as they are included.
5. Negative Keyword: A word or phrase that you don’t want to include. This will help keep the search results directed to only people who are searching for exactly what you’re offering.
6. SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages): After you search a keyword/phrase, a list of 10 organic searches will be listed and sometimes up to 10 paid search campaigns.
7. PageRank: This determines the importance of your page in search results. The more keywords and inbound links you have, the higher your rank should be.
8. Meta Tags: Keywords that describe who created the page (company), how often it is updated (most recent post), what the page is about (keywords about company), and description of the page content (products, industry, company). Search engines use this info when building the index.
9. Keyword Stuffing: Overusing a specific keyword or phrase throughout a single page’s content to manipulate the page’s relevancy. This should be avoided because it’s now considered an “unethical” way to create favorable search results.
10. Title Tags: This is the bold link (title) that will show up in the search results. It’s required on all web pages, should be short (fewer than 70 characters), and include keywords, company name, and description of the page.
11. Anchor Text: These are the words used when you link to another page. It should always describe the page you are linking to. You want to avoid using “click here” so that people actually have an idea of where you are sending them once they click.
12. Backlink: Also known as inbound links. This is when another website links to your website. They send referral traffic to your site. The more backlinks you have the better for your search ranking.