Chapter 9: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
link
A URL embedded on a web page. If you click on the link you will be taken to that page
rotobs.txt
A file written and stored in the root directory of a website that restricts the search engine spiders from indexing certain pages of the website
XML sitemp
A guide that search engines use to help them index a website, which indicates how many pages there are, how often they are updated, and how important they are
hyperlink
A link in an electronic document that allows you, once you click on it, to follow the link to the relevant we page
usability
A measure of how easy it is for a user to complete a desired task. Sites with excellent usability fare far better than those that are difficult to use
link bait
A technique for creating content that is specifically designed to attract links from other web pages
flash
A technology used to show video and animation on a website. It can be bandwidth heavy and unfriendly to search engine spiders
Universal Resource Locator (URL)
A web address that is unique to every page on the internet
backlink
All the links on other pages that will take the user to a specific web page. Each link to that specific page is known as an inbound/backlink. The number of backlink influences your ranking, so the more backlinks the better
HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
Certain HTML tags are used to structure the information and features within a web page
PageRank
Google's secret algorithm for ranking web pages in search engine results pages
heading tags
Heading tags are standard elements used to define headings and subheadings on a web page. The number indicates the importance, so H1 tags are viewed by the spiders as being more important than H3 tags. Using target key phrases in your H tags is essential for effective SEO
search engine spiders
Programs that travel the web, following links and building up the indexes of search engines
meta tags
Tags that tell search engine spiders what exactly a web page is about. It's important that your meta tags are optimized for the targeted key phrases. Meta tags are made up of meta tiles, descriptions, and keywords
alt text
The "alt" attribute for the IMG HTML tag. It is used in HTML to attribute a text field to an image on a web page normally with a descriptive function, telling a search engine or user what an image is about and displaying the text in instances where the image is unable to load. Also called Alt Tag
canonical
The canonical version is the definitive version. In SEO, it refers to a definitive URL
domain name
The easy to read name used to identify an IP address of a server that distinguishes it from other systems on the WWW
home page
The first page of any website. The home page gives users a glimpse into what your site is about very much like the index in a book
internet protocol (IP) address
The internet protocol address is an exclusive number that is used to represent every single computer in a network
keyword frequency
The number of times a keyword or key phrase appears on a website
landing page
The page a user reaches when clicking on a paid or organic search engine listing. The pages that have the most success are those that match up as closely as possible with the user's search query
app store optimization (ASO)
The process of optimizing mobile and web applications for the specific web stores in which they are distributed
anchor text
The visible, clickable text in a link
key phrase
Two or more words that are combined to form a search query, often referred to as keywords. It is usually better to optimize for a phrase rather than a single word
referrer
When a user clicks on a link from one site to another, the site the user has left is the referrer. Most browsers log the referrer URL in referrer strings. The information is vital in determining which queries are being used to find specific sites
keyword rankings
Where the keywords or phrases targeted by SEO rank in the search engine results, if your targeted terms do not appear on the first three pages start worrying
