SEO & Search Engine Marketing - What it all means...

Algorithm - A set of mathematical equations or rules that the search engines use to rank the content of a website based on a particular query. (Basically how the search engines score your site to determine if it should be on the first page or on the 10th page of the search listings.

Analytics - Used to study visitor behavior on a site, as well as which keywords are bringing visitors to a site. Our favorite for basic site analytics is www.google.com/analytics. It is robust for smaller sites and best of all...it's FREE!

Backlinks - All links from other sites pointing to a particular website, (hopefully yours); also called inbound links. This is an important factor the search engines use to determine your popularity on the Internet.

Banner Ad - An image type ad pointing back to another site. These are typically affiliate links where the site posting the Ad earned revenue for the clicks or the sales.

Black Hat vs. White Hat SEO Tactics - Black hat is doing things to trick the search engines, very risky and can cause your site to be banned from the search engines. White hat tactics are when the rules of the search engines are follow and the site is optimized correctly. We only use white hat tactics. Call us if you want an example of either to understand this concept better.

Bounce Rate - In analytics this refers to the percentage of people who never move from the page they clicked to. In other works that click the link to the site and leave without looking at other pages. We are always trying to lower the bounce rate by making website more interesting.

Campaign - Ad advertising program, which could be pay-per-click, affiliate programs, print ads or other types of promotional activities.

Click Through Rate (CTR) - The average number of click-throughs for hundred ad impressions, expressed as a percentage to determine which keywords buyers use and what online advertising attracts them.

Conversion - The percentage of visitors who make a desired action. Not always easily determined.

Cost Per Click (CPC) - The cost that the search engines charge advertisers when user click on a "sponsored link" or a pay-per-click ad. Unlike organic search clicks, which are FREE when the user clicks on them.

Crawler (Spider) - The electronic component of a search engine that gathers listings from crawling though websites. The spiders send copies of the websites to the search engine database for reference.

Directories - A type of search engine, which is a website on the Internet that other sites are listed in to be searched in particular categories. Directories are used to gain popularity on the Internet by creating backlinks to your site.

Indexed Pages - The collection of information a search engine has that a searcher can search for something against. This means the search engines have looked at your pages and recorded the information. We have ways to make this happen more quickly.

Keyword - The word or words a searcher enters into a search engine's search box.

Link Popularity - A count of how "popular" a page is, based on the number of backlinks coming to it.

Meta Tags - Are the descriptive terms used within the HTML of a webpage that provide a summary of that page's content for the search engine spider.

Organic Search Optimization - This is done through creating relative titles, copy and links to bring your page to the top of the search engines organically or naturally.

Organic Listings - Listings that the search engines do not sell, free links. Site pages have to earn these listings by be relevant to the search performed.

Paid Listings - Pay-per-click listing on the top and along the right side of the SERP, search engine rank page. These ads are paid for by bidding on keyword phrases with the search engines.

Paid Search vs. Organic Search - Paid search is where the search engines collect money for every click to your site, these are represented in the sponsored section of the SERPS. Organic search cost money to do it right, but every click is free.

Reciprocal Link - A link exchange between two sites. We do not use this much, call us 760-443-1609 to see why.

SERP - Search engine results page. When a searcher types in a keyword into a search engine these are the results.

RSS - Real simple syndication, is a format for syndicating new or other content related to your website. Users can add your RSS feed to their favorites and they automatically get updates that you post to your site.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - The process of choosing targeted and relevant keywords related to a page on a site and driving traffic to that site based on those keywords.

Search Engine Optimization Consultants - Someone who analyzes website as to their relevancy with regards to what they are promoting. SEO consultants offer solutions to improve organic search engine rank.

SEM - Search Engine Marketing, the umbrella term for all search engine marketing activities, including pay-per-click and organic search.

SEO - Search Engine Optimization, organic search activities.

Title Tag - The title tag is the most important overall component of search engine optimization.

XML Sitemap - A form of inclusion where the search engine is "fed" information about pages via XML, rather than gathering information through crawling the pages. All of our clients have XML sitemaps associated with their sites.

Tip #155: Avoid scams!! Learn your definitions when speaking to SEO consultants so you can't be fooled. We'll give you the details.

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