The Unofficial Alphabet of SEO

More and more, Google is improving its search function to give results that cater best to humans rather than just focusing on mechanized results. The more sophisticated Google’s engine gets, the closer to human it becomes and the better it is for end users. Regardless of changes coming and going, some things will always be the same, so we’ve compiled an alphabet list search engine optimization terms that we think will effectively stay, remain implemented, or have had a huge impact in the industry at its core.

A is for Algorithm

It’s the heart of how Google operates. Algorithms are parameters and signals that Google uses to determine the quality of a website and how it fares with other websites to get ranked.

B is for Backlinks

Backlinks are the backbone of off-page optimization. Interlinking different websites to point to a single website and give it referential authority is how websites get crawled, pointed, and ranked. Backlinks are, in themselves, incoming hyperlinks.

C is for Content

Of course, at the heart of human-friendly SEO is the content itself. It has to be fresh, relevant, keyword-rich, and original to deliver the most human content.

D is for Duplicate Content

This is one of the black hat SEO techniques that’s sure to bring rankings down. It’s the opposite of original and fresh content.

E is for External Links

It’s any link that points to any other website outside of where it comes from. External linking is a part of the process of backlinking.

F is for Forum Participation

One of the best ways to create links as well as make dialogue about your website is through participating in forums, maybe even drop a few links if it’s necessary, too.

G is for Google

Because of course, G is going to be for the biggest and smartest search engine in the world—Google.

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H is for HTML

It’s the primordial language of search engines.

I is for Index

The process by which search engines jot done a website and every other webpage outside of it that refers to it using backlinks.

J is for JavaScript

JavaScript used to be a big problem in SEO in that it seemed like JS-developed websites are hard to optimize or get crawled by search engines. But that’s behind us now; most websites, regardless of the language used for development, can now be optimized.

K stands for Keywords

These are the word strings that users input into search engines. These are either short tail (very general searches like “fried chicken recipe”) or long tail (more specific queries like “recipe for KFC fried chicken”). Keywords are one of the most basic elements of SEO.

L is for Link Building

Link building is the catch-all term for any effort done to connect pages through hyperlinks in and out of a website for referential SEO purposes.

M- META descriptions

These are descriptive snippets that show up in your Google search results for each page of your website as a sort of introduction on what to expect about your webpage.

N has to be Niche

In line with focusing on specific targeted keywords, SEO efforts have to also focus on content that is specific to a website’s industry; sticking to a niche means exactly this—giving focus on a specific industry in any form of content.

O is for Organic Search

Organic search is the natural, unadulterated, and unpaid flow of a user’s search engine experience.

P means Page Rank

Page Rank is specifically a function of Google; it’s sort of their scoring system in determining how a website fares. This is considering all the categorical filtering it goes through as webpages are crawled and indexed.

Q stands for Quality over Quantity

The mindset of how SEO must be; it doesn’t matter how many links you build, it matters more if they are relevant, unique, fresh, and original.

R generally means Rankings

Ranking is the position that a webpage has in the search engine results page (SERPs). It is pertinent to the keywords of the said webpage that’s being optimized.

S is for SEM

SEM or Search Engine Marketing is the process of purchasing ad spots on Google’s Display Network so that users can find your website regardless of ranking but for a cost.

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T means Title

Titles are the tags that briefly describe a webpage; optimizing titles with keywords is important in improving a webpage’s rank.

U sadly stands for Unethical SEO

This is otherwise known as black hat SEO. It’s any SEO effort that focuses more on getting around the search engine’s protocols to get high rankings. Black hat SEO uses unnatural, deceptive, and non-end-user-friendly means.

V is for Voice Search

Is a search input method using—tada!—your voice! Just call out “Google” on your android, say your query out loud and clearly, and wait for your results.

W is White Hat SEO

It’s the exact opposite of black hat, but more so, it’s the only way that SEO should be done: through honest means that focus on producing content that is relevant and creating webpages that have necessary elements and rich in substance.

X is for XML Sitemap

The XML Sitemap is a piece of code that helps search engine, especially Google, index a website more easily.

Y- YouTube Marketing

In and of itself, YouTube is a search engine on its own. It’s one of Google’s products for video sharing and is also a good way to market your business through the publishing of different video formats.

Z- Zombie Content

It’s as ghoulish as it sounds. Only a little ways from duplicating content, turning a piece of content into a zombie means rehashing the information again and again without better-added value (maybe not even looking at the issue from a different perspective).

So there you have it: a complete but unofficial (yet hopefully helpful) A-Z mini-glossary of SEO related terms. We had a lot of problems with figuring out what to put on J and Z, but as the list implies, we pulled through, and so would your SEO efforts if you keep half of the items on this list in mind!