SEO Glossary

The practice of optimizing website content to appear in AI-generated search results, including Google AI Overviews and other AI-powered answer engines.

A hyperlink on one website that points to a page on another website. Backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors in search engine algorithms.

An HTML element that tells search engines which version of a page is the preferred or "master" copy when duplicate or near-duplicate content exists across multiple URLs.

A set of three specific metrics defined by Google that measure real-world user experience on web pages -- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).

The number of pages a search engine bot will crawl on your website within a given timeframe, determined by crawl rate limit and crawl demand.

A search engine ranking score developed by Moz that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine result pages, measured on a scale from 1 to 100.

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness -- the quality criteria Google uses to evaluate content creators and websites in its Search Quality Rater Guidelines.

A special search result that appears at the top of Google organic results in a highlighted box, providing a direct answer to a user query extracted from a web page.

An AI-generated summary that appears at the top of Google search results, synthesizing information from multiple web sources to provide a comprehensive answer to a user query.

The process by which search engines store and organize web page content in their database so it can be retrieved and displayed in search results.

The practice of creating hyperlinks that connect one page on a website to another page on the same website, distributing link equity and helping users and search engines navigate the site.

A situation where multiple pages on the same website compete for the same keyword or search query, potentially diluting ranking potential and confusing search engines.

The process of grouping related keywords based on search intent and semantic similarity so they can be targeted by a single page rather than creating separate pages for each keyword.

The SEO practice of acquiring hyperlinks from external websites to your own, with the goal of improving search engine rankings and driving referral traffic.

The practice of optimizing a business's online presence to attract more customers from relevant local searches on Google and other search engines.

Specific, multi-word search phrases that typically have lower search volume but higher conversion rates because they capture more precise search intent.

An HTML attribute that provides a brief summary of a web page, displayed below the title in search engine results to help users decide whether to click through.

An HTML link attribute (rel="nofollow") that tells search engines not to pass ranking credit (link equity) through a hyperlink to the linked page.

Website visitors who arrive through unpaid search engine results rather than through paid advertisements, direct visits, or referral links.

A score developed by Moz that predicts how well a specific page will rank in search engine results, calculated on a scale from 1 to 100 based on the page's link profile.

A text file placed in a website's root directory that tells search engine crawlers which pages or sections of the site should or should not be crawled.

A structured data vocabulary (from schema.org) added to web page HTML that helps search engines understand the content and context of a page, enabling rich results in SERPs.

The underlying purpose or goal behind a user's search query -- what they are actually trying to accomplish when they type a query into a search engine.

Search Engine Results Page -- the page displayed by a search engine in response to a query, containing organic results, paid ads, featured snippets, and other search features.

The organizational structure and hierarchy of pages on a website, including how content is categorized, linked, and nested to create a logical navigation path for users and search engines.

An XML file that lists all important pages on a website, helping search engines discover and crawl content more efficiently.

The practice of optimizing the technical infrastructure of a website so search engines can efficiently crawl, render, index, and rank its pages.

An HTML element that specifies the title of a web page, displayed as the clickable headline in search engine results and in the browser tab.

A website's perceived expertise and depth of coverage on a specific subject area, built by creating comprehensive, interlinked content that thoroughly covers a topic and its subtopics.

A search query where the user gets their answer directly on the search results page without clicking through to any website, often through featured snippets, knowledge panels, or AI Overviews.