Commonly SEO terms and Jargon used by Search Engine Gurus

What does all this SEO jargon mean.

Have you ever been left scratching your head, wondering what the Search Engine Optimizers SEO's or Gurus are talking about.

You are not the only one.

There are so many terms used on the Internet that you almost need a degree just to understand what the experts are saying.

I thought you might like to be enlightened on some of the more commonly used terms.

I have divided my SEO Dictionary into two sections, Search Engine and Web site related terms

The More common Search Engine terms include,

Algorithm. This is the formula used by Search Engines that determines how any web page will rank in the search results.

Blind Traffic. Usually lesser quality traffic to a Web site gained by misleading promotions or search engine Spam.

Clustering. This is where a Search Engine lists more than two pages for the one Web site for any single search query.

CPA. The Cost Per Action. One Action may be to send one visitor to your site and the associated costings.

CPC. The Cost Per Click.

CPM. Cost per 1,000 impressions. Sending 1,000 visitors to your site via Banner or advert views.

CTR. Click Through Ratio. Equates to say, for every 100 Email you send out, you may have 2 people make a positive decision to visit your site, make a purchase etc ...

Doorway or Gateway Page. A web page, specially designed to attract Internet traffic from search engines, then it directs these people to another Web site.

EPV. Earnings Per Visitor. Usually calculated as an average.

Filter Words. Words such as; is, am, an, for, do, was and the. Words that search engines consider irrelevant as keywords. Note, this is different to email filters used by ISP's.

Hit. One single request (visitor) made to your Web site server.

IBL. Inbound Link. An incoming link from another site to your site.

Keyword Research. Research your keywords to optimizing your web pages. Wordtracker.com and Oveture.com provide useful keyword tools.

Keyword Density. The number of times a specific keyword appears on a page compared to the number of words on a page.

ODP. The Open Directory Project (dmoz.org) Used by Google and other directory for many of their Directory listings. One of the best Directories to be listed in and it is free.

OSEO. Organic Search Engine Optimization. To Build a site that ranks high in search engines without spending large amounts of cash.

Outbound Link. An outgoing link from your web page to another site.

Page Views. The number of times the pages of your website are served or viewed as opposed to requests as this may also includes requests for images contained on your pages.

PPC. Pay Per Click. Paying a search engine to send people to your site. One visitor equates to one click.

PR. Google Page Rank, how Google rates your web page from 1 to 10. Aim to get 3, 4 or 5 and you are doing well.

Query. A search for a word or term in a search engine.

ROI. Return on Investment relating to Promoting your site, comparing your investment to your overall income from said site.

SE. Search Engine.

SEM. Search engine marketing. Promoting your site using Search Engines to get visitors to your site.

SEO. Search Engine Optimization. Creating search engine friendly page content to help your page to achieve a high ranking. or Search Engine Optimizer.

SEP. Search engine placement, positioning or promotion. Is your site number one, or on page ten in search listings.

SERP. Search Engine Results Page.

SPAM. Promoting your Web site by keyword stuffing and other deceptive means. The quickest way to have your web site banned from Search Engines.

Stemming. If you search for "painting" in a search engine that uses stemming technology the results will also include results for the words paint, paints and painter.

Stop Word. Words commonly ignored in a search as the word is commonly used and thought irrelevant. Common words such as. got, I, me, you and sometimes larger more common words like computer and Internet as searches including these words literally returns many thousands of results.

A Unique Visitor. When a new computer or person connecting to your Websites server. A unique visitor differs from pages hits or requests.

URL. Universal Resource Locator.

USP. Unique Selling Proposition. Effective advertising that conforms to certain advertising concepts.

That is a very basic list of the more commonly used terms used by the average webmaster or SEO.

Now lets look at some of the more commonly used Web site terms and abbreviations.

API. Application Programming Interface.

ASCII. American Standard Code for Information Interchange.

ALT text. The text that appears when you move your mouse over the top of an image or a picture on a web page.

Anchor Text - Also known as Linking Text, the clickable text of a hyperlink.

Below the fold - The content of a web page that is not seen by the consumer unless the consumer scrolls down.

CSS. Cascading Style Sheets, used with many newer websites to create rules for the items on a website.

html. Hypertext Markup Language. The most common form of coding used to build web pages.

dhtml. Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language.

DNS. Domain Name System or Server.

File. Common Internet File types include .zip .pdf .gif .jpg .png .swf

FTP. - File Transfer Protocol. Used to transfer files from your computer to the server where your website is hosted.

GUI. Graphical User Interface.

http. Hypertext Transfer Protocol. Note that http proceeds the domain name in a URL

ISP. Internet Service Provider. Connects your computer to the Internet.

JS. Java Script, used in conjunction with creating web pages.

MB. Megabyte which is 1,000,000 bytes. A GB or Gigabyte is made up on 1,000 MB

Meta Tags. Meta Description Content, Keywords and Title are used in the head section of websites. There are 50 or 60 other tags but these are the 3 most commonly used. They are very important when it comes to listing your site in Search engines.

Ram. Random Access Memory, Thats what you run out of when you have too many web pages open on your computer.

Stats. Your Web site Statistics.

URL. Uniform Resource Locator. The full IP address or Domain name of your website.

WWW. World Wide Web

Here is one you can use to impress your works mates.

YB. Yottabyte. 5 levels above a Gigabyte. Written down in Bytes as a one followed by 24 zeros. 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

There are many thousands of terms relating exclusively to the Internet, Web sites, computers and Search Engines that had not even been thought of 10 years ago.

Many of the terms I have only covered with a basic description as some of these terminologies would take a page to fully cover.

So its not surprising that it can be very confusing to first time Internet users.

May your week be an enlightened one.

PETER GREEN.

Editor of ~ The INDEX ~ ezine.

[email protected]

http://www.Internet-Income-Index.com

Your Free Weekly Internet Marketing News, Ideas, Resources and Sources Ezine.