Search Engine Marketing Glossary

A Glossary Of Key Terms Associated With Search Engine Marketing

Algorithm: Algorithms are sets of rules, which search engines use to “rank” websites

Back Links: Internet links pointing to a web page. Often used to measure “link popularity”.

Banned: Web pages which are removed from a search engine’s index due to the owner violating search engine guidelines or spamming.

Click through Rate (CTR): The percentage of clicks on a link in relationship to the number of times a link was viewed.

Cloaking: Any method of getting a search engine to record content date for a URL that is different from what a viewer would ultimately see. Most search engines have clear rules and guidelines that warn webmasters indexed websites may be banned or penalized. Spamming is taken very seriously and not recommended for long-term search engine positioning success.

Conversion Rate: The ratio that measures the relationship between a visitor and buyer.

Cost Per Click (CPC): A method of pricing online advertisements. Advertisers pay the publisher an amount based on the number of clicks an ad receives.

Crawler: Also referred to as a spider or robot. A crawler is a program that follows links to web pages.

Directories: A type of search engine where listings are gathered via humans, rather than automated crawlers or spiders. Directories are typically listed in alphabetical order or by categories rather than “rank” by relevance.

Doorway Page: A page developed specifically to rank highly in search engines for particular keywords. Doorway pages may act as an entry point to the main content of a website.

Index: The database used by a search engines to collect information on a website that is used to “rank the relevancy” for a search query.

Inbound Link: A link to your website, from a site outside of your site.

Keywords or keyword phrases: A word or a phrase used in a performing a search.

Link Popularity: A measurement of the quantity and quality of back links or links on the Internet linking to a site.

Link Text: The text part of a link.

Listings: Refers to the listings on a search engine’s results page in response to a search.

Meta Search Engine: A search engine that displays results from multiple search engines.

Meta Tags: Information tags, placed in a website to describe various aspects about a Web page. Meta tags. This information provides information to the search engine robots and browser software.

Meta Description Tag: An html tag placed in a website to provide a description of the website for search engine listings. Not all search engines use this tag in their listings.

Meta Keywords Tag: Used to define the primary keywords of a Web page and provide search engines with ranking information. Not all search engines support this tag.

Organic Listings: Listings that search engines do not sell (unlike paid listings). Instead, sites appear solely because a search engine has deemed it editorially important for them to be included, regardless of payment. Paid inclusion content is also often considered “organic” even though it is paid for. This is because that content usually appears intermixed with unpaid organic results.

Outbound Links: Links to a site or sites, outside of your site.

Paid Inclusion: A search engine marketing program that guarantees website listings for specific keyword search terms for a fee.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC): Programs that provide listings that are ranked according to the bid amount. Advertisers pay only when a visitor clicks on the listing or ad.

Rank: The positioning or ranking of a website in a search engine results for specific search queries.

Reciprocal Link: One webpage link is reciprocated by an outside webpage link.

Robot: Also referred to as a spider or crawler. A robot is a program that follows links to web pages.

Search Engine: A website that searches a database and gathers and provides information that is relevant to a search query.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM): The process of marketing a web site on search engines, including search engine optimization, submitting your site to the search engines and directories for organic listings, pay per inclusion, pay per click, banner ads or any other marketing programs offered by search engines.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Search Engine Optimization (SE0) is a process applied to a website to increase the number of visitors by gaining high rankings on the search engines. Effective Search Engine Optimization involves hundreds of different variables that should be analyzed and applied in a strategic process.

Search Terms: Also known as Keyword phrases, keywords, and queries. The words or phrases used in performing a search.

Spam: The practice of manipulation (usually excessive) used to influence search engine rankings. Many search engines provide guidelines such as Google guidelines (http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html) to follow and take the violation of their guidelines seriously. Your website may be penalized for banned from the search engines if you practice spam.

Submission: Also known as registration. Submission is the act of submitting a URL to a search engine for inclusion to a search engine’s index. A free submission does not provide automatic inclusion and submission alone does not determine your ranking or positioning. The process can be done manually or automated, however, many search engines will not accept an automated submission.

References:

http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/search_engine_submission
http://www.searchenginedictionary.com
http://searchenginewatch.com/facts/article.php/2156001

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