SEO Flashcards
(69 cards)
Alt Text
HTML code that provides information used by search engines and screen readers (for blind and visually-impaired people) to understand the contents of an image.
Algorithm
A complex computer program used by search engines to retrieve data and deliver results for a query. Search engines use a combination of algorithms to deliver ranked webpages via a results page based on a number of ranking factors and signals.
Anchor Text
The clickable word or word of a link. This text is intended to provide contextual information to people and search engines about what the webpage or website being linked to is about.
Authority
The combination of signals search engines use to assess website and webpages for the purpose of ranking.
Black Hat SEO
Risky tactics that go against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. NOT good-we will never to black hat SEO tactics.
Bounce Rate
The percentage of website visitors who leave without visiting another page on that website. Bounce rate range widely depending on industry and niche. Although bounce rate can indicate potential content or website issues, it is not a direct ranking factor, according to Google.
Citations
Any mention of your business on the web. Any combination of your company name, phone number, address, zip or postal code, and website URL. Citations in SEO are a key factor in improving your local search results.The value in a citation is the mention of your business online. Google identifies that your business was mentioned through the presence of your accurate & consistent NAP info, and you
get credit for this mention. The more mentions of your business out on the web, the more prominent your business appears to Google, and this will help with your local rankings.
Click-Through-Rate (CTR)
The rate (expressed in percentage) at which users click on an organic search result. This is calculated by dividing the total number of organic clicks by the total number of impressions then multiplying by 100.
Content
words, images, videos, or sounds that convey information that is meant to be distributed to and consumed by an audience. One of the two most important Google ranking factors (along with links). Search engines want to reward content that is useful, informative, valuable, credible, unique, and engaging with better traffic and visibility.
Content is “King”
content is essential for you to have any SEO, digital marketing, or business success.
Crawler
A program search engines use to crawl the web. Bots visit webpages to collect information and add or update a search engines’s index (aka bot, spider, web crawler)
Crawling
The process of gathering information, using a crawler, from the billions of public webpages to update, add, and organize webpages in a search engine’s index.
Directory
A list of websites, usually separated by related categories and maintained by human editors. Depending on the directory, inclusion could be free of paid. In the past, links from directories were highly sought after (e.g., DMOZ), leading to widespread abuse and overall devaluing of this sort of link building.
Domain
A website address – typically ending in an extension like .com, .org, or .net. For example: www.searchenginejournal.com is the domain of this website.
Domain Authority
The overall “strength” of a website, built up over time, which can help a new page rank well quickly, even before that content has earned links or engagement.
A score, between 0-100, SEO software company Moz uses to predict the ability of a website to rank in search results.
Duplicate Content
When a significant amount of content contained on one webpage matches, or is incredibly similar to, content that exists elsewhere on the same website or a completely different website.
EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)
E-A-T- stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. It comes from Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines—a 168-page document used by human quality raters to assess the quality of Google’s search results. EAT is one factor in determining Page Quality. E-A-T is important for all queries, but some more so than others.
Examples: If you’re searching for the correct dosage of aspirin when pregnant, then E-A-T is undoubtedly important. If Google were to surface content on this topic written by a clueless writer, published on an untrustworthy website that lacks authority, then the probability of that content being inaccurate or misleading is high.
E-A-T is also important for queries like “how to improve credit score.” Here, advice from the clueless and unauthoritative is unlikely to be legit and shouldn’t be trusted.
Google refers to these kinds of topics as YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics:
Some types of pages or topics could potentially impact a person’s future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety.
Expertise
This refers to the creator of the main content (MC) on the page. Are they an expert on the topic? Do they have the credentials, if necessary, to back that up, and is this information available to read on the website?
Authoritativeness
This refers to the MC creator, the content itself, and the website on which it appears. The definition of “authoritativeness” gives us a big clue on what this means to Google and websites: “Authoritativeness” means having generally recognized authority. People know you, know your background, and look to you as a leader in your industry. They accept you as a good source of information.
Trustworthiness
The “Trustworthiness” part of E-A-T also refers to the MC creator, the content, and the website. Being a trustworthy expert and source means people can trust you to provide honest, true information that is accurate.
Featured Snippet
For certain queries, usually questions (i.e., who/what/where/when/why/how), Google sometimes shows a special block above the organic search results. This box contains a summary (in the form of paragraph, list, table, or video), as well as the publication date, page title, link to the webpage from which the answer originated, and URL.
Google My Business (GMB)
Google My Business is a free online directory listing that includes a business’ name, address, phone number, hours, images and more. The business listing appears in Google Search and Google Maps.
Googlebot
The web crawling system Google uses to find and add new website and webpages to its index.
Google Search Console
Google’s Search Console offers several helpful features, including the ability to monitor sites for indexing errors and site speed. These pages are also used to communicate manual action notifications.
