SEO Terms for Beginners Part 1

A newbie is someone who is new to something and SEO means Search Engine Optimization. If this is you, here are some words you will be hearing and need to be familiar with.

A number of years ago, SEO did not even exist, so in some way we are all newbies. It's just that some are more new than others.

This list of terms, is by no means exhaustive but is meant as a simple introduction to the vocabulary used in SEO. At the rate new terms are appearing, by the time you have finished checking out this list someone will have probably invented a new term, but at least you will have the fundamentals.

So lets begin.

** Above The Fold
This is stemmed from the reference to the top area of a newspaper. Above the fold is used on the web to describe the top part of the page that the visitor can see without scrolling down.

** AdSense
Google's contextual based ad program. Use AdSense, by placing the ads on your website and earning money from when visitors click the advertisements.

** AdWords
Google's pay per click (PPC) advertising campaigns program. Use AdWords when you intend to buy advertisement to send traffic somewhere.

** Algorithm
Algorithms are complex sets of rules based upon mathematical equations. With regard to SEO the algorithm is how the search engines rank web pages in it's search results page. Some SEOers perceive that if they can determine the algorithm, they can obtain higher search engine rankings.

** Anchor Text
Also called link text. Is the blue underlined text on websites that you click to go to another page or website. (Note: The link does not necessarily need to be blue or underlined but this is the traditional norm ).

** Backlink/ Back Link
A link on another page that links to the page you are viewing. Also known as inbound link.

** Click Through Rate (CTR).
Often used in Web marketing to detail the percentage of users who click on a link or advertisement. IF a page has 100 visitors and 12 click on the link then the page has a CTR of 12 %.

** Cloaking.
The strategy used by some web sites to send one page to a search engine for indexing while serving an entirely different page to everyone else. What the search engine sees and what you see are two different things. It needs to be noted that the strategy of cloaking can find your site shut out from the search engines.

** Conversion Rate (CR).
The percentage of website visitors that give your most wanted response (MWR). The CR is a vital measure of the overall performance of your online sales endeavor. If your site is selling an e-book and if 3 out of every hundred visitors buys your book then your internet site has a CR of 3 %.

** CPC.
Cost per click. The absolute cost of an advertising campaign divided by the resulting number of unique site visitors.

** CPM.
Cost per thousand impressions (M= Roman numeral for 1000). A pricing system often used in the banner advertising industry.

** Dead Link.
A link to a site, that no longer exists or has been moved to a different URL. Search engine spiders regularly eradicate dead links.

** Deep Linking.
The practice of linking to the inner pages of another site - as opposed to linking to the homepage.

** Google Bomb/ Google Bombing.
The strategy of using anchor text to make a page show up in the Online search engine Results Pages (SERPs) under keywords that are out of context for that web page. It should be noted that Google is taking steps to stop this practice.

** Hand Submission.
The technique of visiting each search engine and directory and submitting the registration form manually in contrast to implementing a software application. Some systems will not accept computerized submissions. Same as Manual Submission.

** Heading Tag.
A HTML tag illustrated by, etc, to H6. These tags signify a text size with H1 being the biggest. The heading tags may have relevance in SEO with search engines appearing to appoint more weight to keywords within heading tags.

** Hidden Text.
Text on a web page that shows up to spiders but not to human site visitors. The objective is to load the page with keywords without obstructing from the visitor's encounter. This is mainly done by making the text the same color as the background. Most search engines can now discover hidden text and look at it as a method of spamming. Pages that contain hidden text are penalized or even de-listed.

** Hit.
One hit is one inquiry for a file on a web server. A site visitor opening a page with 3 images will in the process generate 4 hits.

** Hot Linking.
The system of displaying images files, video files etc. on a web site when those files are on another (usually someone else's) server. Effectively the site displays content that exhausts someone else's bandwidth. Hot linking is generally regarded unethical unless prior permission is secured.

** HTML.
Hypertext Markup Language is the key language used to write web sites. Consists of tags.

** HTTP.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol is the most usual transfer protocol used to facilitate communication between servers and internet browsers.