SEO Glossary
Here’s a quick SEO glossary for the most commonly used terms that float around in SEO land!
301 Redirect - A method used to redirect permanently moved websites from an old URL to a new URL.
Algorithm - A mathematical formula used to rank web pages in the search engines. Algorithms are constantly changing to display the most relevant website results for users.
Authority - The credibility of your site in the search engines. A combination of high quality SEO, domain age, links and good content can help build a site’s overall authority.
CMS – Stands for ‘Content Management System,’ which allows users to easily update a site’s content through an easy editor.
Domain Age - The age that your site has been in existence. An old site can be ‘trusted’ more in the search engines, which can contribute your site’s authority.
Footer Links - Internal text-based links that are placed at the bottom of a page and links to other internal web pages.
Freshness Bonus – Occurs when new content is regularly added to your site. This attracts the attention of search engines, and can improve the possibility of the search engines crawling your site more frequently. And if it’s interesting, people will be crawling to read it too!
FTP – Stands for ‘File Transfer Protocol,’ which is a method of transferring local data to web servers and vice versa.
Geo-targeting - Geo-targeting is the process of making your keywords targeted to a geographic region. This is a good strategy to implement for your keywords, particularly if your site is competing in a competitive and established digital marketplace. Geo-targeted keywords (eg SEO Brisbane), can provide more relevancy for your site and it also usually means your users are more ‘purchase-ready.’
Google PageRank - Also simply known as PR, PageRank is a metric, on a scale of 0-10, for ranking a page based on its quality and quantity of links. PageRank was a primary factor on which Google’s algorithm was based.
Keyword - A word or term that your target market types into a search engine to find your website. Keywords can be generic, branded, long-tailed and/or geo-targeted. They should be selected based on your consumers’ mindset, relevant to the content on your site and how competitive your industry is.
Link Building – The action of getting other websites to link back to yours.
Meta Tags - Includes the meta title, meta keyword and meta description text that is inserted into the code of your site’s pages. The meta title and description for your site may appear on the search engines results pages (SERPs).
Referrals - Are those visitors that arrive at your site via a link from a third-party page. Link building can increase site referrals.
SERPs – Search Engine Results Page.
Title Tag - Title tags are inserted in the code of your site’s pages and appear at the top of your web browser. Title tags are important for SEO and should be unique to each page.
Website – Hopefully you’ve got this one covered!
Popularity: 17%
Read MoreGoogle Eyes World Domination
There’s no doubt that Google has changed the way the world’s online information is gathered and stored. Google state that their mission is to make the web’s aggregated information “universally accessible and useful.”
It would appear that this is quite a simple mission statement for a company that already dominates over 85% of the planet’s search market share and has 620 million daily visitors to Google.com.
But Google are taking the ‘usefulness’ and functionality of online information so much further.
Google owns mobile phone software that works like a computer, communication platforms that allow you to contact everyone you do (or don’t yet) know and apps that can answer every question or situation you may face.
Here’s a sugarcoated overview of Google’s most impressive acquisitions and projects:
Google Chrome – OS
Google Chrome is an open source Operating System that has been designed to work exclusively with web applications. Google Chrome integrates application and standard web pages into a single tab and “is aimed at users that spend most of their computer time on the internet.” Google’s Chrome OS has an expected release for the second half of 2010 and is free to the public.
Google Chrome – Web Browser
Google Chrome has been designed to work with Web Applications and aims to improve ‘security, speed and stability’ when surfing the net, through its Application performance and JavaScript processing speed. Google Chrome currently holds 5.61% of the web browser market share, a big feat since its release in September 2009.
Google Wave – Personal Communication Software
Google Wave will be the new Facebook. Big call, I know but this web-based service creates a unified personal communication platform via voice, text, photos, videos, maps, and other digital tools. The aim is for multiple users to set up a collaborative environment known as a “wave” and then edit the content and add replies, just like a wiki.
Android – Mobile Software
Bought by Google in 2005 and announced in November 2007, Android is a open-source mobile phone operating system that will have enough apps to run your life, nearly. There are over 20,000 android phone applications available and over 60,000 new android phones are shipped daily.
Google Goggles – Android App
Google Goggles is an android application that allows phone users to search Google via pictures they take on their mobile phones. Google use various image recognition back ends such as object recognition then returns relevant search results. See the following video:
YouTube – Video Sharing
Google bought YouTube in October 2006 for $1.65 billion; not a bad deal for a garage project! If you didn’t already know how massive YouTube is, this video sharing platform dominates nearly 40% of the online video market share in the USA. With 20 hours of video uploaded every minute, YouTube will have no problems broadcasting the Indian Premier League this month.
So how did Lord Google gain its Googlopoly? They simplified accessing the web, built trust with users’ and managed to release technologies at the right pace for the market and society. Not to mention that most Google products are free; a surefire way to increase popularity.
With 45% of Google’s products still in Beta, I’m pretty sure that Google’s world domination is just getting started. Just Google it.
Popularity: 30%
Read MoreSEO and SEM: Working Together for Better Results
How do you tell whether your website would benefit more from being displayed in the organic or cost-per-click listings on the search engine results page?
Every company has different targets, keyword rankings and goals that it is striving to achieve with their website, so undertaking in one or the other can be sufficient for your site’s traffic, enquiries and sales.
But if you want the best of both worlds, put simply, your site can benefit from both as there are numerous advantages of appearing in both paid and unpaid listings.
Around 55-65% of users will click on the organic search engine listings, and around 35-45% will click on the paid search engine results (depending on whose research you believe).
The unpaid, organic listings can increase a site’s keyword rankings by undertaking Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). The majority of users will choose to follow the organic listings, as these results are seen to be less biased and can be perceived as being more relevant to the keywords that the user is looking for.
The catch for engaging in SEO is that most companies do not guarantee results and it can take months to start seeing traction on keywords, especially in competitive industries. Online competitors could have an authoritative advantage in the search engines if their sites have been around for longer and hold the keyword positions that your site is trying to target.
This is where dabbling in Search Engine Marketing (SEM) as well as SEO, is handy.
SEM creates the paid, “sponsored” links that appear usually on the right-hand side of the search engine results page and are virtually instantaneous. This allows your site to emerge on the first few pages in Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines, while SEO is doing its ground work to get noticed.
The benefits of creating an SEO and SEM synergy include:
Market Penetration
Engaging in both SEO and SEM allows search engine users to be ‘captured’ at all stages of the buying process. Users that are in the problem recognition or information search stages of the buying process are more likely view organic listings. On the other hand, users who are closer to making a purchase decision or are evaluating alternative products and services are more likely to click on SEM advertisements.
A Stronger Web Presence
SEM paid listings provides visibility for competitive keywords that a site may find hard to rank initially through SEO.
Greater Measurability
Having a site’s SEO keyword ranking statistics and the SEM traffic, keyword and conversion statistics allows for a greater level of accountability and the ability to cross-reference results. These results can also be measured and reviewed over time and can help drive traffic and sales for your site by focusing efforts on top-performing keywords.
Build Credibility
Research shows that users associate the ‘Top Ten’ organic page results with companies that are the industry leaders. Couple this with some catchy Google AdWords or other cost-per-click advertisements and a site will appear to have the online industry covered.
Popularity: 22%
Read MoreThe Law of Attraction: How to Attract Your Markets Online
Global messages are being relayed faster than ever and if you can talk the language of the web, users and search engines will respond. It’s vital to put attention and energy into your digital marketing strategy if you wish to attract attention back.
More and more users are being drawn to alluring information that has something to offer and conversing about topics in online groups rather than being influenced through traditional mass-marketing mediums that can haphazardly pump out information.
Just like traditional marketing, it is important to target your markets online. For example, if you’re engaging in SEO, there is no point in targeting high-volume, generic keywords that have little to do with your site’s actual content or what you offer online in a bid to get high traffic to your site. Once users land on your page, they bounce straight off again because it’s not what they’re looking for. It’s simple; don’t try to attract the wrong crowds!
Even after you attract the right crowd, it’s vital to engage your market and encourage them to connect and interact with other users. It is this two-way dialogue and significant content that will keep people actively involved with your site.
Put newsworthy and valuable information that is pertinent to your target market, coupled with the right digital marketing tools that harmonises with an alive and kicking website, and you will find that the right market will gravitate to you. Put your feelers out there because like will attract like.
To create a gravitational presence online, ensure you have:
- Researched your target market – Know exactly who your market is, where they are, how they search for information, what they are looking for etc
- A visible website – Implement search engine optimisation techniques or a Google AdWords campaign to make sure that you can be found and are noticed
- Killer content – Provide relevant, unique and updated content that will draw in users and is search-engine friendly
- Fulfill your users’ needs – Why are they on your site? Needs are varied and can include informational, transactional, social and for entertainment value
- Tools to talk – give your customers and users a platform to interact with each other, the community and you. Let them ask questions, give advice and provide invaluable feedback
- Help your content travel – implement multi channel marketing techniques such as social bookmarking, RSS feeds and other social networking tools that help people to connect. This will give your information and message a path to travel.
Popularity: 19%
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