In the agency world, it’s not uncommon for industry-specific jargon and overuse of abbreviations to dominate conversations. This can often leave listeners feeling confused and disconnected. At Dagmar Marketing, we don’t operate this way. We want all of our clients to fully understand what we’re doing and how campaigns are performing. Our goal is to pull back the curtain of SEO so that business owners can feel comfortable and confident in their results.
Below are some common SEO terms and their definitions.
Glossary of Common SEO Terms
SERP: Search Engine Results Page. Your SEO agency will work to get your website high on the first search results page, especially to position #1.
Rank: You’ll often hear this about your site’s position in the SERPs. The lower the number, the higher the rank.
Organic: This term means natural search results; in other words, results that are not paid for through advertising.
Optimize: To enhance a website’s content and structure, making it easier for search engines to understand and rank higher in search results.
Algorithm: How Google and other search engines determine which sites rank and in what order. Algorithms are updated frequently to provide the best results for the user’s search query.
Title Tag: This piece of HTML gives a title to a specific page. The title tag is visible in the browser tab and clickable in the SERP to take the user to the page. Google recommends 50-60 characters in a title tag, but it is not a hard-and-fast rule. Sometimes, even if title tags are properly optimized with organic keywords, Google will rewrite title tags in search results.
Meta Description: This is a short summary of a page that is shown in search results. The description should be compelling and encourage the user to click. It should include organic keywords, and Google recommends a length of around 160 characters. As with title tags, Google may rewrite the meta description.
Heading: Headings, also called “H tags”, are similar to article titles and subtitles, and help to give a web page structure. Headings signal to Google the main topic of the page, and when optimized with keywords, play a role in organic rankings. Note that headings are sometimes synonymous with page titles, which should not be confused with title tags.
Organic Keywords: This is the foundation of a good SEO campaign. Organic keywords are the top searched words and phrases with the most search volume that align with your website’s offerings. The purpose of organic keywords is to optimize your website’s title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and content with relevant, high-traffic keywords.
Search Volume: This is an important measurement that is used when determining which organic keywords to use in SEO optimizations. A good SEO agency will research a variety of keywords to find which variation has the most searches for your area. In the example below, two very similar keywords are shown for Orange County, CA, but one has much more search volume than the other. In this case, the higher search volume keyword, “probate lawyer,” will most likely be used as the top keyword on a website’s probate service page.
Featured Snippet: This is often seen at the top of SERP and it provides answers to search queries. These take up more “real estate” on the search results page, therefore they can offer more visibility to searchers and also improve your brand recognition and trustworthiness. Below is an example of a featured snippet result:
Sitelinks: These are generated by Google and appear as hyperlinks beneath the organic result. These are dependent on the Google algorithm and are intended to help users directly navigate a website from the search results page.
Organic Traffic: When examining the effectiveness of an SEO campaign, organic traffic is one of the key metrics agencies will look at. This metric shows the number of website visits from unpaid search results.
Impressions: This refers to how often your website is shown in search results. This can also be referred to as “online visibility.” Below is an example of steady impression growth:
Conversions/Key Events: Conversions, now called “Key Events” in Google Analytics, are the lead-generating elements on your website. Examples can be form fills, first-time callers, webchat interactions, etc.
These are just a snapshot of terms you may encounter as you step into SEO. If you have questions about how your website can rank higher on the SERP or how you can gain more organic traffic and leads, contact us! We’ll be happy to talk with you about your goals and how Dagmar Marketing can help.
Susan Sisler
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