Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a constantly changing field, with new updates, strategies, and terminology coming out all the time. As a business owner or marketer, it’s important to understand basic SEO terminology and how it can impact your website’s performance in search results.
To help you better understand the jargon of SEO, we reached out to experts in the field for their insights on what you need to know.
1. Keywords
Keywords are the words or phrases that people type into search engines when they’re looking for something. As Lee Wilson, Head of SEO at Vertical Leap, explains, “Keywords are the building blocks of SEO – they are the terms we target with our optimisation efforts.”
As such, it’s important to identify the keywords that are relevant to your business and use them strategically throughout your website content to rank higher in search results.
2. Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your site. As Tom Casano, Founder of Sure Oak, explains, “Backlinks are trust signals for search engines. If a high-quality website links to your website, Google sees it as a sign that your website is also high-quality.”
While backlinks can be a valuable tool for improving your SEO, it’s important to focus on building quality links from reputable websites, rather than simply accumulating as many links as possible.
3. Meta Tags
Meta tags are snippets of code that provide information about your website to search engines. As Nick LeRoy, Founder of Nick LeRoy Consulting, explains, “Meta tags help search engines understand what your website is about and what content should appear in search results.”
There are several types of meta tags, including title tags, description tags, and header tags, which should all be carefully crafted to accurately and concisely describe your website content.
4. Crawling and Indexing
Crawling and indexing are two processes that search engines use to understand and categorize your website content. As Brian Dean, Founder of Backlinko, explains, “Crawling is when search engine bots ‘crawl’ your website to find and categorize your web pages, while indexing is when those pages are added to the search engine’s database.”
It’s important to ensure that your website is easily crawlable and properly indexed by search engines, which can involve practices like optimizing your site structure and submitting a sitemap to Google.
5. SERP
SERP (Search Engine Results Pages) refers to the pages of search results that appear after a user enters a search query. As Casey Markee, President of Digital Marketing Depot, explains, “SERP optimization involves optimizing your website to appear higher in search results in order to increase clicks and traffic.”
By understanding how search engines like Google rank and display search results, you can better optimize your website content to appear higher in SERPs and attract more organic traffic.
In conclusion, SEO terminology can seem overwhelming at first, but by understanding these key concepts, you’ll be better equipped to optimize your website for search engines and attract more targeted traffic. Whether you’re handling SEO in-house or working with an agency, a solid grasp of basic SEO terminology is essential for success in today’s digital landscape.