Use this SEO glossary to find one of over 200 terms used in the digital marketing industry. The terms listed here aim to be comprehensive – covering every aspect of the practice of SEO. From A to Z, we’ve got you covered whether you’re looking to understand technical terms, SERP features, bespoke services, or the SEO tools used by marketing professionals.
So, whether you’re curious about a term you read on one of our pages, or you’d just like to understand some of the key tools used in SEO, use the search bar below to get started and to locate your term.
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- 200 OK StatusThe 200 OK status code is one of the most common HTTP response codes. It indicates that the request was successful and there is no error. If a page cannot be found, then this could be the result.
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- 301 Redirect301 redirects are permanent, so they only need to be set up once. They can signal to search engines that a page has been permanently moved or removed, which can help boost website traffic in the process.
- 302 RedirectA 302 redirect is a permanent redirect, meaning that you are telling the browser to permanently send visitors from one page to another. In other words, it's a more permanent solution to 301 redirects.
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- 404 Error, Page Not FoundA 404 error is an HTTP status code, which means there is no resource available at the server for the URL requested.
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- Above the FoldAbove the fold refers to the visible portion of a webpage. Above the fold content is what a user sees without scrolling and has a greater chance of being read or clicked.
- Affiliate MarketingAffiliate marketing is a legitimate and potentially lucrative way to build a career. For businesses, affiliate marketers can be valuable partners to grow your audience.
- Alexa RankAlexa is the most popular website ranking system in the world. Track your site's Alexa rank, country rank, and page views.
- Alt Text/TagALT text - Text that is displayed on the screen which cannot be read by a computer, and is typically used to provide context for pictures or other multimedia.
- AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)AMP is a Google project aimed at making the web better for everyone. It is an open source initiative that helps publishers reach their audiences faster by providing them with tools, best practices and guidelines to build mobile-friendly content.
- Anchor TextAnchor text is the text highlighted by a hyperlink. The words highlighted are crucial for SEO, informing Google’s crawling bots about the content of the site linked to.
- API (Application Programming Interface)An API is a way for programmers to use software without having to understand how it all works. It's like a user-friendly interface that lets you control the program.
- App IndexingApp indexing is a way for Google to crawl and index your app content. If you have an app, then you can use App Indexing to help users find your app content on Google.
- App Packs (App Boxes)The App Pack is a Google mobile SERP feature that displays relevant apps at the top of a search page.
- Autosuggest (Autocomplete)Autocomplete or autosuggest is a feature in which Google suggests the rest of the query after what has been typed by the user, with a drop down list of possible terms.
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- Backlinks (inbound links, votes, inlinks)Backlinks are the result of someone linking to your website from their site. They can provide an indication of popularity and relevance, but it's not a guarantee that they will improve your rankings in SERPs.
- Black Hat SEOBlack Hat SEO is a term used to describe practices by webmasters who try to manipulate search engine rankings in ways that are not in keeping with the intent of the search engines.
- BookmarksIt allows a user to navigate to a site more quickly than they would be able to do so manually, by typing all or part of the website's name
- Bots (Robot, Spider, Crawler)Robots, spiders, and crawlers are different types of software applications. One of the most common is a bot which is software designed to run automated tasks over the internet. They are often used to index or scrape content on websites.
- Bounce rateBounce rate is the percentage of visitors to a website who visit only one page. A high bounce rate indicates that visitors are not satisfied with your website.
- BreadcrumbsWebsite breadcrumbs reveal the nesting of webpages within one another in a hierarchy. They’re used to help web users find relevant content, showing up on SERPs.
- BreadcrumbsWebsite breadcrumbs reveal the nesting of webpages within one another in a hierarchy. They’re used to help web users find relevant content, showing up on SERPs.
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- Cached LinkA cached link is a copy of a web page that is stored on the Internet Archive's servers, and appear next to certain search results on Google.
- Cached PageA cached page is a type of backup that web browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox can create to store a copy of a page for offline use.
- Call to Action (CTA)A call to action, often abbreviated as a "CTA," is a step that you want your readers to take. It's your way of guiding their actions after they have read your content.
- Canonical TagThe canonical tag is used to designate a single page as the original page, or the page that should be indexed by search engines.
- Carousel (SERP Feature)Sliding carousels are an interactive format that Google Search uses to present users with a number of different content options.
- ccTLD (Country Code Top Level Domain)A CCTLD is the country code TLD of a country, assigned by the International Telecommunications Union.
- CitationsA citation is a mention of your company, product, or service in an online publication. Citations increase the ranking of your site on search engines
- Click FraudClick fraud is an advertising scam that occurs when a person or company clicks on an ad with no intention of buying the product.
- CloakingCloaking is a “Black Hat” technique used to hide what users see on webpages from Google’s crawlers. It’s against search engine guidelines in most cases. Here’s why engaging in cloaking could damage your SEO.
- Comment SpamComment spam is a form of search engine spam because it is a comment that does not offer any value to the conversation.
- Content Management System (CMS)A content management system, or CMS, is a software application that helps people organize and manage the content on their websites.
- ConversionA conversion is a desirable result on a website that leads to an action such as completing an order, filling out a form, or simply clicking on a link.
- Conversion RateA conversion rate is the percentage of visitors that take a desired action on your site.
- CookiesCookies are very small files that a website saves on a visitor's computer and uses to recognize repeat visits.
- Cost Per Click (CPC)CPC, or cost per click, is the amount of money an advertiser pays every time somebody clicks on their advertisement.
- CPMCPM, or Cost Per Mille, is an important metric for online advertisers. Use it to work out the ROI of your projects and to hone your marketing prowess.
- Crawl BudgetA crawl budget is how often the search engine crawls your website and how much time they spend on your site.
- Crawl DepthA Google crawl depth is the number of web pages indexed by Google after a specific page has been crawled
- Crawl ErrorsGoogle crawl errors are errors that prevent Google from accessing a page.
- Crawl ErrorsGoogle crawl errors are errors that prevent Google from accessing a page.
- Crawl FrequencyThe Google crawl frequency is the number of times that Google crawls a webpage in a given period.
- Crawl RateGoogle crawl rate is the number of pages a web crawler has crawled or the number of URLs that have been indexed for a site.
- CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are a style sheet language used to describe the look and formatting of HTML documents.
- CTR (Click Through Rate)Click-through rate (CTR) is the measure of how many clicks an advertisement or link receives from its viewers.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is a Google Core Web Vitals performance issue that can be detected by Google PageSpeed Insights.
- CybersquattingCybersquatting is the practice of registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from someone else's trademark.
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- Deep LinksDeep links are those that take the user to a specific page on the website, rather than going to the homepage.
- Direct Answer (aka Quick Answer, Answer Box)Google's Direct Answer is a feature that provides users with a factual answer directly on the search engine result page.
- Disavow BacklinksBacklinks help boost SEO performance, but spam or low-authority backlinks can see a site demoted. Google’s Disavow is there to help remove those links – here’s how.
- Discover More PlacesThe feature can be seen on Google Search, Google Maps and Google Earth. It shows more places of interest nearby.
- DNS Server (Domain Name System Server)A DNS server is a computer system that translates domain names into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses
- Domain NameA domain name is the address of a website and is a necessary part of the process of establishing a web presence.
- Domain Name RegistrarsDomain name registrars work to act as a bridge between the user and the domain name system, which assigns domain names.
- Domain Name System (DNS)A domain name system (DNS) is what translates a domain name into an IP address.
- Doorway Page (aka Gateway Page)A doorway page is a page that is designed to rank well in search engines, but doesn't provide a valuable answer to the user's search query.
- Duplicate ContentDuplicate content is content that appears more than once across a single website. Duplicate content can be a sign of poor resource management, low trust, or a lack of quality control.
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- FaviconA favicon is a small icon that appears next to the URL in a web browser. Favicons are used to help identify a website and make it more memorable.
- Featured SnippetA featured snippet is a search result that is specially formatted to include a summary of the answer, extracted from a web page.
- Fetch as GoogleFetch as Google is a tool in the Fetch and Render extension that lets you see how your site appears to Google.
- File Transfer Protocol (FTP)The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the system by which data is transferred between computers.
- First Contentful Paint (FCP)Google's First Contentful Paint metric takes an average of the time until the browser displays something to the user.
- First Input Delay (FID)First Input Delay measures the time between the user's initial input and when they see the result of that action on screen.
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- Google Analytics ToolGoogle Analytics is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about website traffic.
- Google Analytics Tracking CodeGoogle Analytics Tracking Codes are a small snippet of JavaScript used to send traffic data to Google Analytics.
- Google Cached LinksGoogle will cache web pages to help ensure that the most up-to-date version of a web page is served to all of its users.
- Google Cached LinksGoogle will cache web pages to help ensure that the most up-to-date version of a web page is served to all of its users.
- Google DanceGoogle Dance is an SEO slang term of the rank volatility that can occur when Google’s algorithm updates.
- Google FontsGoogle Fonts is a collection of open-source fonts that can be used on the web.
- Google For JobsGoogle For Jobs allows job seekers to search for and apply to jobs with a single click.
- Google Home Service AdsGoogle Home Service Ads are a way for Google customers to find and book local service providers that are available for hire.
- Google Hummingbird UpdateThe Hummingbird update was designed to improve Google's understanding of long-tail queries and contextual searches.
- Google JuiceGoogle juice is a term used to describe the ranking power a website has.
- Google MapMakerGoogle MapMaker was a web tool that allowed users to add, edit and update features on Google Maps.
- Google My Business DirectoryGoogle My Business is a free and easy way to manage your business information on Google and across Google products and services.
- Google OptimizeOptimize by Google is a powerful web analysis and personalization tool that helps you understand how to create more compelling user experiences.
- Google Panda UpdateGoogle Panda is a Google algorithm that was released to demote websites that contain poor-quality content, as well as to demote websites that appear to be manipulating Google’s ranking system.
- Google PenguinGoogle Penguin is one of Google's many algorithms, first released in April 2012 in order to identify and filter out spam webpages from search results.
- Google Penguin UpdateGoogle's Penguin algorithm update was designed to reduce rankings for sites that violate Google's webmaster guidelines for spammy links.
- Google Pigeon UpdateGoogle's latest algorithm update, Pigeon, is designed to provide better local search results.
- Google Play StoreThe Google Play Store is a free app store and entertainment hub for Android devices.
- Google Possum UpdateThe Google Possum algorithm update was designed to address the problem of low quality sites ranking highly in search engine results pages (SERPs).
- Google PostsGoogle Posts is a new way to share updates with followers. It's available on Google+, Android, and as a mobile app for iOS and Android.
- Google SandboxThe Google Sandbox Myth is a misconception about Google's search engine algorithm that has been around for years.
- Google Search Console (Webmaster Tools)Google Search Console is a free service that helps you monitor and maintain your website, from off-page optimization to site-wide errors.
- Google Travel Rank TrackingGoogle Travel Rank Tracking is a free service that provides you with your Google search engine rank for specific keywords related to your website.
- Google TrendsGoogle Trend tool is a free service from Google that lets you see how popular a particular search term or topic is over time.
- Google Webmaster GuidelinesThe Google Webmaster Guidelines are the set of standards created by Google to ensure that the best practices in web design, development, and content are being followed.
- GooglebotGooglebot is a web crawler. It follows links and indexes pages for search engines to make it easier for users to find what they're looking for.
- gTLDs (Generic Top Level Domain)Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) is the top level domain of a web address.
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- Hamburger ButtonThe Hamburger button is a three-line icon that typically appears in the top left corner of a mobile app's screen.
- Head Tag (in HTML)An HTML head tag is a tag that is used in the "head" section of a webpage.
- HitsWeb page hits were all the rage in the early days of the internet, but have since been replaced by far more granular, valuable data.
- Hotel PackA Google Hotel Pack is a suite of Google services that offers a complete package for hotels. These include search advertising, web analytics, and rich customer insights.
- Hreflang TagHreflang tags are a way to declare to Google and other search engines that content on your site is available in more than one language.
- HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)The HyperText Markup Language is a markup language used to create webpages. It helps present content on the web.
- HTML HeadingsHTML headings tags are used to create different web page sections, and should be used for specific content.
- HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)The Hypertext Transfer Protocol or HTTP is the application protocol for transferring hypertext between clients and servers on the World Wide Web.
- HTTP HeadersHTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) headers contain metadata about the object you're retrieving from a server.
- HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure)HTTPS (standing for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is an encrypted protocol through which HTML pages are sent.
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- IframeIframes are useful windows on a webpage that can host content from other sites – such as YouTube videos, Instagram posts, or tweets.
- Image ThumbnailImage thumbnails are a small, low-resolution preview of an image that can be clicked on to view the larger version of the same image.
- Images BoxThe image box SERP feature is a new search result format that presents images from the search results page in a large, central image box.
- Incognito Mode (Private Browsing)Most browsers have an incognito or private browsing mode that limits the data collected about your browsing session and prevents it from being stored in your browser history.
- Indexed PagesIndexed Web Pages are web pages that have been discovered by search engine crawlers and added to their databases.
- Internal LinkInternal links are links that connect different pages on your website. They help users navigate your site and make it easier to find information,
- IP AddressAn IP Address is a unique number that identifies a specific computer on the internet.
- iTunes App StoreThe iTunes App Store is a digital distribution platform, developed and maintained by Apple Inc., for mobile apps on iOS.
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- JavaJava is a programming language used widely across the internet to support dynamic web elements. Here’s how it can be fine-tuned to enhance your technical SEO.
- JavascriptJavascript is one of the web’s key programming languages but coding it incorrectly can cost you in technical SEO terms. In order to avoid common mistakes, and understand how Java operates, here’s a quick guide to coding Java the right way.
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- KeywordKeywords are the words and phrases that potential customers might search for to find your business.
- Keyword CannibalisationWhen you have duplicate and competing keywords on a website, this can be known as keyword cannibalization.
- Keyword DensityKeyword density is a measure of how often a keyword or phrase is repeated on a given web page.
- Keyword PlannerThe Google Keyword Planner Tool helps you find new keywords and synonyms based on the ones you already rank for.
- Keyword PlannerThe Google Keyword Planner Tool helps you find new keywords and synonyms based on the ones you already rank for.
- Keyword ResearchKeyword research helps websites unearth the best keywords to drive traffic and visibility. This research is supported by a number of powerful web-based tools, the best of which we’ve listed here.
- Keyword StuffingKeyword stuffing is a technique that attempts to give pages higher rankings in search engine result pages by inserting the same keywords over and over again.
- Knowledge GraphThe Knowledge Graph is a knowledge base that Google uses to organize information.
- Knowledge PanelGoogle's Knowledge Panel displays snippets of information about a topic that you search for in a Google search.
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- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)The largest contentful paint is a measure of the render time taken for the largest visible contentful area of a page to load.
- Link BaitLink bait is a term used to describe content that is created for the sole purpose of attracting links.
- Link BuildingLink building is a process of acquiring links pointing to your website. These links are obtained by creating content, participating in social media or commenting on other blogs.
- Link CondomLink condom, also known as link protection or link shielding, is a service that protects your website from bad links.
- Link ExchangeA Link Exchange (also called a Link Swap) is an arrangement in which two webmasters agree to exchange links on their sites.
- Link FarmA link farm, also known as a "link network", is a collection of sites with hypertext links pointing to the same web page.
- Link HoardingLink hoarding is a black hat SEO technique that consists of creating spammy links to sites on an internet forum that are unrelated to the site's content.
- Link Juice (Link Love)Link juice is the online term for PageRank, which is a measurement of how much a certain page's links are worth.
- Link PopularityLink popularity is the number and quality of other websites that link to a particular website.
- LinksHyperlinks, also known as links, are the connection points on a webpage that take you to other webpages.
- Local FinderGoogle Local Finder is the best way to find the most popular search results near your location.
- Local PackGoogle's Local Pack is a type of Google search result that lists local businesses according to map location.
- Local SEOLocal SEO is the process of optimizing your website to rank on the 1st page of Google for a search term and geographic location that is relevant to your business.
- Long-Tail KeywordLong-tail keywords are phrases with more than two words. They're also more specific, often using modifiers to narrow down a search.
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- Machine LearningMachine Learning is the branch of artificial intelligence (AI) that gives computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed.
- Manual Action PenaltyA manual action penalty is a human-executed action that's taken to penalize a site for a violation of Google's Webmaster Guidelines.
- Meta DescriptionWebsite meta descriptions are used to inform web users on search engines about the content of webpages.
- Meta KeywordsMeta keywordsare is an HTML tag that helps search engines categorize what your page is about.
- Meta TagsA meta tag is a structured data element that appears in the head section of a webpage.
- MetadataPut simply, metadata is data that describes data. It’s a labelling system designed to help machines and humans understand what is contained within a packet of data.
- Mirror SiteA mirror site is a duplicate version of your website that's hosted elsewhere.
- Mobile SEOMobile SEO is a term used to describe the optimization of a website to suit the needs of mobile devices.
- Mobile-First IndexingGoogle's Mobile-First Indexing is a change to the search engine's indexing system, where sites are ranked higher in search results if they're easier to navigate on mobile devices.
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- Natural Language ProcessingNatural language processing is the ability of a computer to understand human speech in the form of sentences.
- News Aggregation SitesNews aggregation sites collect stories from other news sources and display them to readers in an easy-to-read format.
- NofollowThe nofollow attribute is an HTML tag that tells search engine crawlers not to follow a link.
- NOINDEXThe noindex meta tag tells search engines not to index the page and show it in search results.
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- Online Reputation ManagementOnline reputation management is the process of managing, monitoring, and defending one's digital reputation.
- Organic LinksOrganic links are the ones that you get from other websites. They happen when another website includes a link to your site with no restrictions in their content.
- Organic Search ResultsOrganic search results are the natural, un-paid search results for a keyword on Google.
- Organic TrafficOrganic search traffic (sometimes called natural or unpaid search) is the traffic that's driven to a website because of unpaid placement on a search engine results page.
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- PageRank (PR)Pagerank is a ranking system that Google developed to rank web pages.
- PagespeedThe Google PageSpeed Insights Tool is a free and easy-to-use tool that provides webmasters with a score (from 0 to 100) that reflects the performance of their site on mobile devices.
- Pageviews (Impressions)The term Pageview is used to describe the amount of traffic to a website.
- People Also AskThe People Also Ask (PAA) SERP feature is a Google Search feature that displays similar questions to the one you typed into the search box.
- Phone FeatureA call icon is displayed next to a listing on Google Maps that allows you to call the business.
- Phone FeatureA call icon is displayed next to a listing on Google Maps that allows you to call the business.
- PPC (Pay Per Click)PPC is an advertising model that enables advertisers to bid for ad placement on search engine result pages.
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- Rank TrackingRank tracking is the process of monitoring how well your website is ranking for various keywords in search engines.
- RankBrainRankBrain is Google's third-generation artificial intelligence system that is used to process search queries.
- RedirectsA redirect is a web page that loads in place of another web page.
- Referrer StringA referrer string is a piece of information that a website sends to another website when the user clicks on a link.
- Related SearchThe Related Search feature on Google is a clever way to find more relevant information about a topic.
- Responsive Web DesignResponsive web design is a web design approach aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience.
- Return on Investment (ROI)The ROI is the ratio of the return from an investment to the cost of the investment.
- Reviews (Stars)Star ratings in Google Search are a way for people to quickly evaluate and compare local listings that are displayed on the search results page.
- Rich CardsThese are previews of websites that provide more information about a particular result.
- Robots.txt FileA robots.txt file is a simple text document that you can use to control the behavior of search engine crawlers in your site directory.
- RSS FeedRSS feeds gather posts relevant to a user into one single feed. Adding an RSS file to your website could help you reach more people online.
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- Search BoxA search box is an empty text field that allows the user to type a query for the website.
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)Search engine marketing, or SEM, is the process of acquiring traffic by getting your site shown on search engine results pages (SERPs).
- Search OperatorsA search operator is a string of characters that you can use to format your query in different ways.
- SEO ToolbarsThe SEO toolbar is an application that is designed to help your website rank higher in search engine results.
- SEO-Friendly URLWhen it comes to SEO, having a site map and URLs that are search engine friendly are very important. Your site map helps the search engines crawl your website, while URLs help tell them which content is more valuable.
- SERP (Search Engine Results Page)SERPs are the pages that show up when someone types in a query into Google or any other search engine.
- SERP FeaturesGoogle SERP Features are a simple way to get the most out of your search results page.
- SERP VolatilitySERP volatility is a measure of the unpredictability of rankings within a given period of time.
- Server Log FilesServer log files are a log of all the activity that is happening on a server.
- Server Log FilesServer log files are a log of all the activity that is happening on a server.
- Service Area Business (SAB)A Service Area Business is a company that provides products and services to customers within a designated geographic area. SABs are free to define their service area, but they're often limited to an area smaller than a city or county.
- Similar Link (on Google)Google shows a list of pages with similar content to the one you're viewing. It's designed to help you find other pages on the web about your topic.
- SitelinksSitelinks are links to different pages on a website that are shown in the search results.
- SitemapA site map is a list of pages on your site and their relative importance. Use sitemaps to make it easier for visitors to find what they're looking for, and to ensure that search engines can find all the information they need.
- Social BookmarkingSocial bookmarking sites, such as Reddit and Pinterest, can help boost a website’s traffic and profile. Here’s how to engage with them so that you’re always on-trend and in step with your audience.
- Social Media Marketing (SMM)Social media marketing (SMM) is an internet marketing strategy that involves using social media networks.
- Soft 404 ErrorA soft 404 error occurs when a URL is configured to return a 404 status code.
- SpamdexingSpamdexing is the method of creating large volumes of content and links in order to manipulate a site's ranking in Google.
- Spider TrapWeb spider traps are small and discreet devices that you can use to prevent web crawlers from crawling your site.
- Structured MarkupStructured markup is used to identify a document's content and enable it to be parsed by a machine.
- Structured SnippetsStructured snippets are search engine results page (SERP) snippets that provide direct answers to a searcher's question.
- SubdomainA subdomain is a secondary website that is rooted within the parent domain.
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- TF-IDFTF-IDF is a statistical measure of how important a word is to a document in a collection of documents, relative to the whole collection.
- Things to Do / Top Sights (SERP Feature)The Things to Do SERP feature shows the user local points of interest, including restaurants, museums, and popular hangouts when a destination is searched for.
- Time on PageYour time on page metric tells you how long visitors are spending on your site. This can be an important measure of engagement, especially when looking at bounce rates and conversion rates.
- Title (Page Title)A meta title is a short, often catchy phrase that summarizes a web page's content. It appears in the browser tab and search engine results pages (SERPs).
- Top News (News Box)Google Top Stories is a new search feature that displays top news stories and breaking developments - including local news - on the SERP.
- Top-Level Domain (TLD)A Top-Level Domain (TLD) is the last part of a domain name, after the dot. TLDs are required for all domains.
- Twitter Feature (SERP Feature)Twitter boxes are a feature of Google search that displays a list of people who have tweeted about the search term.
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- Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs)The Uniform Resource Identifier, or URI, is a string of characters used to identify a name or a resource.
- URL (Uniform Resource Locator)A URL, or Uniform Resource Locator, is the web address for a page on the Internet.
- URL ParameterA URL parameter is a part of a web address such as an ampersand (&), question mark (?), or hash (#). The URL parameter usually contains information that the webpage needs to work correctly.
- User Generated Content (UGC)User-Generated Content, or UGC for short, is content that is created by members of a website's community.
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- Video Thumbnail (SERP Feature)Google's video thumbnail SERP feature is a new way to find, preview, and watch videos without leaving the search results.
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- Web 2.0Web 2.0 is a term used to describe the web's transition from a place where documents are created and read to a place where people collaborate and create together.
- Web 3.0Web 3.0 is a decentralised version of the internet that corporations or governments do not control.
- Web ScrapingWeb scraping is used by bots to help categorise and index webpages. You can use it too, to gather information about your market, your competitors, and your niche.
- White Hat SEOWhite hat SEO is an ethical form of search engine optimization (SEO) which follows the guidelines and best practices for search engines to allow a website to rank higher in a search engine's results page.
- WhoisA whois directory is a database that contains information about domain ownership.
