SEO Glossary

By erigena, published 19th March 2007

When describing or discussing Search engine optimisation strategies, one must be aware of a multitude of acronys and concepts. Listed below is a SEO glossary.


Algorithm
The mathematical formula that determines how a web page will rank in the results pages of a search engine.

ALT text
The alternative text to describe an image (it may appear when you hover your mouse on top of an image)

Anchor Text
Also known as Link Text, the clickable text constituent of a hyperlink.

Below the fold
Content of a web page that is not seen by the web-page viewer unless they scroll down.

Blind Traffic
Low quality traffic generated by misleading banners or SPAM.

Clustering
In search engine search results pages, clustering is limiting each represented website to one or two listings.

CPA
Cost Per Action.

CPC
Cost Per Click.

CPM
Cost per 1,000 impressions.

CSS
Cascading Style Sheets.

CTR
Click Through Ratio.

Doorway Page
A web page designed to draw in Internet traffic from search engines, and then direct this traffic to another website.

EPV
Earnings Per Visitor.

Filter Words
Words such as is, am, were, was, the, for, do, which search engines deem irrelevant for indexing purposes.

Hit
A single access request made to the server.

IBL
Inbound Link. A link from another site to your site.

LS
LookSmart

ODP
The Open Directory Project

Outbound Link
A link from a page of your site to another site.

Page Views
The number of times distinct pages of a website are served.

PPC
Pay Per Click.

Query
The execution of a search on a search engine.

RFP
Request for Proposal.

ROI
Return on Investment.

SE
Search engine.

SEM
Search engine marketing.

SEO
Search engine optimization.

SEP
Search engine placement.

SERP
Search Engine (Search) Results Page.

Stemming
Word variations. For example, if I entered the query "swim", a search engine that supports stemming might return results that include "swimming" or "swims".

Stop Word
A word which is ignored in a query because the word is so commonly used that it makes no contribution to relevancy. Examples are common net words such as computer and web, and general words like get, I, me, the and you.

Unique Visitor
An instance of a unique site connecting to your server.

URL
Universal Resource Locator.

Resources

  1. 2007 SEO World Championship - The 2007 SEO World Championship .
  2. SEO & Webmaster Tools - Comprehensive list of SEO & Webmaster Tools.
  3. Pagerank Update - Information about the google pagerank Algorithm, as well as pagerank export dates.
  4. Search Engine Optimisation Ireland