SEO Glossary: 200+ Terms & Definitions You Need to Know
In addition to content consistency, another goal of the search algorithm is to evaluate the quality and usefulness of pages. For example, non-useful resources include what Google calls “automatically generated content“, which can be combined content from other pages or even automatically translated text. You can think of a search engine’s index just as a list of all the pages that the bots have crawled. The crawling is done automatically, but one way to help search engines reach all the pages on the site is to submit the sitemap through Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools. In your journey to discover SEO and its meaning, you will come across many acronyms such as SEM, SERP or SEA.
Check any internal links to this page for bounce backs or other errors. Are there links to pages you could add to help visitors find information they need? Could you replace any links or move a link to help guide someone to the next page? Make sure all pages are linked correctly in your header and footer navigation too. A URL slug is the text that comes after the main domain and slash in a web address, like squarespace.com/blog.
Miscellaneous Topics in SEO
It’s about tempting users to visit the page content to learn more. Your meta description tag should end with a soft Call to Action (CTA). To write a meta description for a landing page, focus on clarity, value, and persuasion. This short snippet is your chance to explain what users will get from visiting your page — and why it’s worth their click.
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To review this, many SEO applications allow you to preview how these elements will appear in search to prevent overrunning text. A good rule of thumb is to aim for 60 characters or less for titles and 160 or less for meta descriptions. You may find it easier to start with the core content of the page and let that inform the rest of your on-page SEO strategy. When writing your content, ensure your target keyword is present in your H1 title to aid higher ranking. Incorporate your keywords naturally throughout the rest of your body text, making sure it is present in the first 100 words.
- The search engine index is basically a gigantic library of all the crawled websites with a single purpose – to understand them and have them available to be used as a search result.
- This will enable you to set up an SEO strategy and plan to continue working on this throughout the year.
- By creating more engaging and effective SEO-focused content, you can increase your chances of bringing in more targeted organic website traffic.
- If you check the keyword “vacuum cleaners” a lot of people are searching for it (223,000 average monthly search volume).
Pages with a lot of repeated keywords, even when they lack useful information, ranked better than useful pages. Search engines struggled with synonyms, BHS Links context, and what users actually wanted and so provided unhelpful results. SEO is generally lengthy, typically taking a few months to see noticeable results. However, the timeline can vary depending on the competitiveness of the keywords, the quality of your content, and the overall state of your website. In some cases, such as when technical issues are fixed, results can be seen much faster.
Don’t be fooled by its placement at the end—this step is just as critical as any on-page tactic. A fully optimized GBP acts as a dynamic ambassador for your brand, sending powerful geographic signals to both users and search engines. Embracing Google Business Profile optimization is the final polish that ties your local SEO strategy together and can be a true game-changer. Local SEO and general SEO share a common foundation but differ in focus.