Advanced SEO knowledge plays a huge role in boosting businesses and widening brand presence in a way nothing else probably can. But SEO is a constantly evolving field.
Not only are there established terminologies that have been around since the beginning of search engines themselves, but new terms also continue to come up almost every other day.
Staying acquainted with the most important terminologies can be a challenge, but it can also be the thing your business needs to thrive. To make it easier on you, we have provided a recap below of some of the most important SEO terminologies that every business owner should know in 2022 and beyond.
Google Algorithm
Google algorithm is the complex set of rules used to serve results from search indexes when a query is made. The aim of the algorithm is to deliver the most relevant and helpful results by employing a series of factors to rank web pages and determine which of them is the most appropriate for the user’s search queries.
Backlink
A backlink is an incoming link pointing from one website to another. Backlinks play a huge role in the Google algorithm as they are one of the most predominant factors used to determine authority and quality. Naturally, a website with more high-quality backlinks tends to rank higher than one without.
On-Page Optimization
On-Page optimizations refer to the system adjustments webmasters must make on the pages of their websites to ensure they rank as high as possible. Examples of on-page optimizations include optimizing headers, making use of alt attributes, interlinking, optimizing page speed, and so on.
Off-Page Optimization
Off-page optimizations refer to the SEO actions that are taken outside of your website. Building backlinks from high authority websites and generating social signals on popular social media sites are examples of off-page optimization.
Authority Site
An authority site is one known for remarkably high-quality content and recognized by search engines as such. Authority websites dominate the first pages of search engine results for the most popular keywords in the niche.
Anchor Text
An anchor text is the text, or series of texts, inside which a backlink is inserted. Anchor texts are very important when placing a backlink because they give the search engine bots and crawlers a deeper understanding of what the linked page is all about.
Black Hat SEO
Black Hat SEO is a term used to refer to any form of search engine optimization practices that are not encouraged by Google or any other search engine. Usually the aim of black hat SEO is to subvert the lengthy process of proper link building.
In black hat SEO, webmasters may pay for links, build their own private blog networks, or run bots that spam links on websites. All of these practices are frowned upon by Google and can get you penalized.
Keywords: Optimization, Research, Analysis
Keyword optimization is the use of appropriate keywords that are capable of helping you rank without much competition. Keyword research and analysis is the process of using tools to find these keywords.
Link Diversity
Link diversity involves building a wide array of links in different categories of websites. For instance, having only comment backlinks is not considered a diversified link profile, but having multiple links coming from authority sites, social media, profile links, comment links, links from Edu and Gov websites is considered a diversified link profile.
Local SEO
Local SEO is the practice of optimizing your business to show up on the first pages of search engine queries for keywords related to a particular locality. Local SEO offers a number of advantages including higher visibility, better conversion and a huge boost in reputation.
Branded Keywords
Branded keywords are keywords that include the name of your brand and other related words or phrases.
Indexing and Deindexing
A website is said to be indexed when it has been crawled by a search engine bot and added to the list of pages available to be displayed on the result pages. A website is said to be de-indexed when it has been taken off this list. Deindexing can happen due to a number of penalties or algorithm updates.
Dofollow and Nofollow Link
Backlinks that are marked as nofollow do not pass across any link juice to the website they point to and as such are not as effective in boosting ranking. Follow or dofollow backlinks, however, pass across link juice and are important for boosting rankings.
Mobile Friendliness
Mobile friendliness is one of the key criteria capable of improving search engine rankings. A website is said to be mobile friendly if it is optimized for use on mobile phones.
Guest Posting
Guest posting refers to the act of providing content to be posted on another website, usually an authority site. The aim of most guest posts is to secure a link back to the content provider’s websites. The arrangement is beneficial for both sides as one party gets content while the other gets backlink.
Negative SEO
Negative SEO is the malicious act of sabotaging another person’s search engine rankings by performing threatening black hat SEO strategies on their behalf.
Blog Commenting
Blog commenting refers to the act of commenting on multiple blogs and embedding a backlink back to your own site in these comments. Blog comments are usually not an effective way of getting backlinks but they can be good for link diversification if they are not done in a spammy and overly aggressive manner.
SERP
SERP is an acronym for search engine result pages. The aim of SEO is to get your website near the top of a SERP as much as possible for as many keywords as possible.
Social Signal
Social Signal refers to hits your business gets from social media activities. Although not as important as backlinks and keyword optimization, social signals also play a role in boosting SERP ranking for your website.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO refers to optimizations done to a website that helps its overall technical performance. Optimizing a website for higher page speed is an example of technical SEO.
White Hat SEO
White Hat SEO refers to any form of search engine optimization practices that are natural and are encouraged by Google or any other search engine. Usually white hat SEO looks to get links naturally and do not attempt to speed up ranking in any “unnatural” way.