SEO Glossary

A change to Google's ranking system that alters how pages are evaluated and ordered in search results. Major named updates (Panda, Penguin, Helpful Content) tend to cause significant ranking shifts across many sites.

The clickable, visible text of a hyperlink. Anchor text passes context about the linked page to search engines. Over-optimised exact-match anchor text can trigger Google's spam filters.

A third-party metric (not Google's) estimating a site's overall link strength. Moz calls it Domain Authority (DA); Ahrefs calls it Domain Rating (DR). Higher scores generally correlate with better ranking potential, but they're proxies - not ranking factors themselves.

A link from one website to another. Backlinks from authoritative, relevant websites act as votes of confidence and are one of Google's most important ranking signals. Not all backlinks are equal - context, authority, and relevance all matter.

The percentage of visitors who leave a site after viewing only one page. High bounce rates aren't automatically bad - a blog post where users read and leave satisfies intent. Context determines whether it's a problem.

An HTML element (rel="canonical") that tells search engines which version of a page is the "official" one when multiple similar or duplicate URLs exist. Prevents duplicate content issues without removing pages.

Whether search engine bots can access, navigate, and read a website's pages. Issues like blocked robots.txt rules, broken JavaScript, or excessive redirects can prevent pages from being indexed.

Google's user experience metrics: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP - loading speed), Interaction to Next Paint (INP - responsiveness), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS - visual stability). All three are official ranking signals as of 2024.

The percentage of people who see your search listing and click on it. CTR is influenced by your title tag, meta description, URL structure, and any rich results (star ratings, FAQs) shown alongside.

A tool in Google Search Console that lets you tell Google to ignore certain backlinks pointing to your site. Only use it for clearly toxic or spam links - misusing it can harm rankings more than the links themselves.

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust - Google's framework for evaluating content quality. Strong E-E-A-T signals (real authors, credentials, citations, reviews) are especially important for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics like health and finance.

The highlighted box that appears at the top of some Google results, pulling a direct answer from a web page. Claiming the featured snippet ("position zero") dramatically increases click-through rates for informational queries.

The practice of optimising content to be cited and recommended by AI-powered search tools - ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Copilot. GEO focuses on structured, authoritative, citation-friendly content rather than traditional keyword density. See: What is GEO?

Google's free tool for monitoring a site's presence in search results. Shows impressions, clicks, average position, crawl errors, Core Web Vitals, and manual actions. Essential for any SEO work.

A Google algorithm update (2022-2024) targeting content written primarily for search engines rather than people. Sites publishing low-quality AI-generated or keyword-stuffed content saw significant ranking drops.

Whether a page has been discovered, crawled, and stored in Google's index. A page must be indexed before it can rank. Check indexation status in Google Search Console or by searching site:yourdomain.com.

Links between pages on the same website. Good internal linking distributes "link equity" across the site, helps Google understand site structure, and guides users to related content. Often under-utilised as an SEO lever.

A word or phrase that users type into a search engine. In SEO, keywords are the foundation of content strategy - identifying what your audience searches for and creating content that satisfies that intent.

A metric (usually 0-100) estimating how hard it is to rank in the top 10 for a given keyword, based on the authority and content quality of current ranking pages. Lower KD = more achievable for newer or smaller sites.

The underlying goal behind a search query. The four main types: informational (wanting to learn), navigational (looking for a specific site), commercial (researching before buying), and transactional (ready to purchase or act).

The process of acquiring backlinks from other websites. Effective strategies include creating linkable assets (research, tools, guides), digital PR, broken link building, and outreach. Quantity alone doesn't matter - quality and relevance do.

A longer, more specific keyword phrase with lower search volume but often higher conversion intent. For example, "SEO agency for SaaS startups Brisbane" vs. "SEO agency." Long-tail keywords are usually less competitive and more profitable per click.

An HTML tag providing a brief summary of a page (recommended ~150-160 characters). Not a direct ranking factor, but it influences CTR because it appears as the snippet text under a search result title. Google often rewrites it, but a compelling meta description is still worth writing.

Visitors who arrive at a website by clicking an unpaid search result. Unlike paid traffic (Google Ads), organic traffic compounds over time - well-ranked pages continue delivering traffic without ongoing spend.

How quickly a web page loads and becomes interactive. Measured by Core Web Vitals. Faster pages rank better and convert better - Google's research shows that as page load time increases from 1s to 10s, the probability of a mobile bounce increases 123%.

Google's original algorithm (patented by Larry Page) that ranked pages based on the quantity and quality of links pointing to them. While Google now uses hundreds of signals, link-based authority remains a foundational ranking factor.

A file at the root of a website (yourdomain.com/robots.txt) that tells search engine crawlers which pages to access or ignore. Accidental misconfigurations in robots.txt can block an entire site from Google - one of the most common technical SEO mistakes.

Structured data added to a page's HTML to help search engines understand its content. Enables rich results (star ratings, FAQs, product prices, event dates) in search listings. Schema won't make you rank higher, but it can significantly increase CTR.

See: Keyword Intent. What the person typing a query actually wants - the answer they're looking for. Matching content to search intent is the single most important on-page SEO factor.

The page Google (or other search engines) show in response to a query. Modern SERPs include organic results, paid ads, featured snippets, AI Overviews, People Also Ask boxes, image carousels, and more.

The HTML element that specifies a page's title, shown as the blue clickable link in search results. The most influential on-page SEO element. Should include the target keyword, ideally near the start, within ~60 characters.

The degree to which a website is seen as a comprehensive, expert resource on a specific topic. Built by creating clusters of deeply-researched, interlinked content around a theme, rather than isolated posts targeting individual keywords.

How web addresses are formatted. SEO-friendly URLs are short, descriptive, and include the primary keyword: /seo-glossary is better than /page?id=4821. Avoid changing URLs on live pages without proper 301 redirects.

SEO practices that comply with Google's Webmaster Guidelines - creating genuinely useful content, earning links through merit, and prioritising user experience. The only approach that's sustainable long-term.