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A–Z index · 78 terms

The SEO glossary, from Algorithm to Zero-click.

Every SEO and AI-search term you keep running into, defined in plain English — searchable and sorted A to Z.

A

AI Overviews Google AI-generated answers shown at the top of some results. Algorithm The set of rules a search engine uses to rank pages. Alt Text Text that describes an image for screen readers and search engines. Anchor Text The clickable, visible words of a hyperlink. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) Optimising content to be the direct answer in AI and voice results. Authority How trustworthy and expert a site or page is seen to be.

B

Backlink A link from another website pointing to yours. Black Hat SEO Tactics that break search-engine guidelines to game rankings. Bounce Rate The share of visits where someone leaves without further interaction.

C

Canonical Tag An HTML tag naming the preferred version of duplicate pages. Click-Through Rate (CTR) The percentage of people who click your result after seeing it. Conversion Rate The share of visitors who complete a desired action. Core Web Vitals Google metrics for loading, interactivity and visual stability. Crawl Budget How many pages a search engine will crawl on your site in a given period. Crawler A bot that discovers and reads web pages.

D

Dofollow A normal link that passes ranking signals. Domain Authority A third-party score predicting how well a domain can rank. Duplicate Content The same or very similar content on multiple URLs. Dwell Time How long a visitor stays on a page before returning to the results.

E

E-E-A-T Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Entity A distinct, well-defined thing — a person, place, brand or concept. Evergreen Content Content that stays relevant and useful long after publishing.

F

FAQ Schema Structured data that marks up a list of questions and answers. Featured Snippet A short answer Google pulls to the top of results, above the links. Focus Keyword The main term a page is built to rank for.

G

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Optimising to be cited by AI answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Google Search Console Google free tool for monitoring your site in search. Googlebot Google web crawler.

H

Heading Tags HTML tags H1 to H6 that structure a page. Hreflang An attribute telling Google which language and region a page targets. HTTPS The secure, encrypted version of HTTP.

I

Impressions How many times your result was shown in search. Indexing Storing a page in a search engine database so it can rank. Internal Link A link from one page on your site to another.

J

JavaScript SEO Making JavaScript-heavy sites crawlable and indexable.

K

Keyword A word or phrase people type into search. Keyword Cannibalization When several of your pages compete for the same keyword. Keyword Density How often a keyword appears relative to total word count. Keyword Difficulty An estimate of how hard it is to rank for a keyword. Keyword Research Finding the terms your audience actually searches for.

L

Landing Page A page built to receive traffic and drive one action. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) How fast the main content of a page loads. Link Building Earning links from other sites to build authority. llms.txt A proposed file that points AI crawlers to your best content. Long-tail Keyword A longer, more specific and lower-volume search phrase.

M

Meta Description The snippet of text summarising a page in search results. Meta Title The clickable headline of a search result; a page title tag. Mobile-first Indexing Google indexing the mobile version of your site first.

N

NAP (Name, Address, Phone) A business core contact details, used in local SEO. Nofollow A link attribute telling search engines not to pass ranking signals. Noindex A directive telling search engines not to index a page.

O

Off-page SEO Signals from outside your site that affect rankings. On-page SEO Optimising elements on the page itself. Open Graph Meta tags that control how a page looks when shared on social. Organic Traffic Visitors who arrive from unpaid search results. Orphan Page A page with no internal links pointing to it.

P

Page Speed How quickly a page loads and becomes usable. PageRank Google original algorithm for scoring pages by their links. People Also Ask (PAA) The expandable related-questions box in Google results. Pillar Page A broad hub page that links to related, deeper articles.

Q

Query The actual words someone types or speaks into search.

R

Ranking Your position in search results for a query. Redirect Sending users and search engines from one URL to another. Rich Snippet A search result enhanced with extra information from structured data. Robots.txt A file telling crawlers which parts of a site they may access.

S

Schema Markup Structured data that helps search engines understand your content. Search Intent The goal behind a search query. SERP The Search Engine Results Page. Sitemap A file listing your site important URLs for search engines. Slug The readable part of a URL that identifies a page.

T

Technical SEO Optimising the infrastructure that lets a site be crawled and indexed. Topical Authority Being seen as a go-to source on a whole subject.

U

URL The web address of a page. User-Generated Content (UGC) Reviews, comments and forum posts created by users.

V

Voice Search Searching by speaking to an assistant like Siri or Alexa.

W

White Hat SEO Ethical SEO that follows search-engine guidelines.

Y

YMYL Your Money or Your Life — topics that affect wellbeing or finances.

Z

Zero-click Search A search answered on the results page, with no click to a site.