How-toOctober 11, 202614 min read2340 words
Core concepts
The foundational vocabulary. If an SEO conversation uses one of these terms without defining it, this is what the person probably means.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) — the work of making a website easier for search engines to understand and more likely to show to the right user. Includes technical, on-page and off-page work.
- SERP (Search Engine Results Page) — the page Google shows after a search. Can include organic listings, ads, the Local Pack, People Also Ask boxes, AI Overviews and more.
- Organic — the free, non-paid results. Different from paid search ads.
- Paid / PPC (Pay Per Click) — the sponsored results above and below organic. You pay Google each time someone clicks.
- Crawl — when a search engine bot (Googlebot, Bingbot, GPTBot) visits a page to read it.
- Index — the search engine's stored database of pages it has read. "Indexed" means the engine has your page available to show in results.
- Ranking — where a page appears in results for a specific query (position 1, 2, 3, etc.).
- Query — what a user types or speaks into search.
- Keyword — a word or phrase a page is optimized to rank for. Overlaps with query but refers to the SEO target, not the user input.
- Impression — one display of your listing in a search result, regardless of whether the user clicked.
- CTR (Click-Through Rate) — the percentage of users who clicked your listing after seeing it (clicks ÷ impressions).
Local SEO terms
The vocabulary specific to local service businesses.
- Local Pack — the box of three business listings with a map that appears at the top of Google results for local commercial searches.
- GBP (Google Business Profile) — the free business listing Google maintains. Formerly called Google My Business.
- NAP (Name, Address, Phone) — the three fields that must be consistent across your website and all citations. Even small inconsistencies hurt local rankings.
- Citation — a mention of your business on another website that includes your NAP. Yelp, BBB and Angi are classic citation sources.
- Local pack ranking factors — the signals Google uses to decide the three businesses in the Local Pack: relevance, distance and prominence (reviews, authority, consistency).
- Service area — the geographic area a business serves. Can be a radius or a list of cities/zip codes.
- Local Services Ads (LSAs) — a specific Google Ads product for certain local verticals, with the "Google Guaranteed" badge.
- Review velocity — how often new reviews arrive. A direct local ranking signal.
- Review recency — how recent the most recent reviews are. A direct local ranking signal.
On-page and content terms
What the page itself contains.
- Title tag — the HTML title of a page, shown as the clickable blue link in search results. 50-60 characters is the sweet spot.
- Meta description — the short summary shown under the title in search results. 120-155 characters. Not a direct ranking factor but affects CTR.
- H1 — the main heading on a page. Should appear once per page and match the user's expected topic.
- H2, H3 — subheadings that structure the content. Phrasing H2s as questions matches how both Google and AI engines parse content.
- Alt text — the written description of an image. Used by screen readers and by Google to understand what the image shows.
- Canonical tag — the HTML tag that tells Google which version of a URL is the preferred one when duplicates exist.
- Schema markup / structured data — standardized JSON-LD code that labels your content for machines (LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage, Review, etc.).
- Rich results / rich snippets — enhanced search listings (star ratings, pricing, FAQ expansions) powered by schema markup.
- FAQ schema (FAQPage) — the specific schema type that lets Google show expandable Q&A on your search listing.
- Internal link — a link from one page on your site to another page on your site.
- Anchor text — the clickable words of a link. A direct relevance signal for the target page.
Technical SEO terms
The plumbing underneath the content.
- Sitemap (XML sitemap) — a file listing all pages on your site, usually at /sitemap.xml. Helps search engines discover your pages.
- Robots.txt — a file at /robots.txt that tells crawlers which pages they are allowed to access.
- 301 redirect — a permanent redirect from one URL to another. Passes almost all link equity to the destination.
- 302 redirect — a temporary redirect. Does not pass full link equity. Rarely the right choice for SEO.
- 404 error — page not found. Normal for genuinely deleted pages. Costly when caused by broken links.
- 410 Gone — more explicit "this page is permanently gone." Used for intentionally removed content.
- Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) — Google's three measurements of page experience: loading speed, interactivity and visual stability.
- Mobile-first indexing — Google crawls and ranks based on the mobile version of your site, not the desktop version.
- HTTPS — the encrypted version of HTTP. Required for ranking since 2014.
- Crawl budget — the limited capacity Googlebot has to crawl pages on your site per day. Large sites with poor efficiency can run out before important pages are crawled.
Off-page and authority terms
Signals built outside your website.
- Backlink — a link from another website to your website.
- Referring domain — a unique website that links to you. "100 backlinks from 10 referring domains" is weaker than "20 backlinks from 20 referring domains."
- Domain authority (DA / DR) — third-party scores (Moz's DA, Ahrefs' DR) estimating a domain's overall link authority. Not an actual Google ranking factor but a useful proxy.
- Nofollow link — a link tagged to tell Google not to pass authority. Still useful for referral traffic.
- Dofollow link — the default link. Passes authority.
- Link building — the discipline of earning or soliciting backlinks.
- Guest post — a blog post you write for another publication, usually with a link back to your site.
- HARO / Qwoted — services connecting reporters with expert sources. Produce high-authority press links when done well.
- PBN (Private Blog Network) — a network of fake blogs built to pass links to money sites. Against Google's guidelines; triggers manual actions.
AI search and GEO terms
The vocabulary of the newer discipline.
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) — the discipline of making your business cited inside AI-generated answers (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity).
- AI Overviews — Google's AI-generated summary that appears at the top of some SERPs, citing a few sources.
- Citation (AI context) — when an AI engine names your business or links to your website inside an answer.
- AI crawler — bots run by AI companies (GPTBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot) that read websites for training and real-time retrieval.
- shortAnswer — a brief 60-120 word direct answer at the top of a page, formatted for AI engine extraction.
- Grounding (Gemini) — the mechanism by which Gemini checks real-time web sources before answering.
Metrics and reporting terms
What agencies report on.
- Sessions — individual visits to your site, measured in Google Analytics.
- Users — unique visitors, measured over a time period.
- Bounce rate — percentage of users who left after one page. Context-dependent (not always bad).
- Conversion — a user completing a desired action (call, form submit, booking).
- CPL (Cost Per Lead) — total marketing spend divided by number of leads.
- CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) — total marketing spend divided by number of paying customers.
- LTV (Lifetime Value) — the total revenue a customer generates over their lifetime with you.
- ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) — revenue divided by ad spend. SEM metric; sometimes used loosely in SEO.
Frequently asked questions
What is the single most important SEO term for a local business owner to understand?
Local Pack. It is the box of three business listings with a map at the top of Google results, and it steals the first three organic positions for most commercial local searches. If you understand the Local Pack and nothing else, you understand what local SEO is actually trying to win.
What is the difference between organic and paid search?
Organic results are the free, algorithmically-ranked listings. Paid results are ads you pay Google per click for. Both appear on the same results page; most searches include both.
What is Google E-E-A-T?
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. A framework Google uses to evaluate content quality, especially for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics like health, finance and legal. Not a direct ranking signal but a lens Google's raters use.
What is link equity?
The authority that passes from one page to another via a link. Internal links pass equity between pages on your site; backlinks pass equity from other sites to yours.
What is cannibalization in SEO?
When two or more pages on your site compete for the same query, splitting the ranking signal and causing all of them to underperform. Fix by consolidating or by making each page target distinct intent.
What is a money page?
A page whose primary purpose is to convert visitors into customers (contact, book, buy). The highest commercial priority pages on any site, usually service pages, pricing pages and city pages.
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