It’s always difficult for a newcomer to penetrate the complex world of SEO. While there are many resources available all over the net on search engine optimisation techniques, the basics rarely get covered. It can take a couple of weeks for a new person to catch up on the essentials simply because the most essential terms are never explained.

Your SEO consultant can be a huge help in demystifying SEO, and you should feel free to talk to us at SEO Consult about any confusing terms. Not every business, however, is comfortable engaging an expert while the subject is completely unknown. It can make good business sense to be able to speak the language in the new country of optimisation.

Viewer – A person who visits your website. Also known as a User.

Algorithm – Although it has other applications, when it comes to search engines an algorithm is the mathematical formula used by the search engines in deciding where to rank individual web pages. The web pages are then listed on the SERPs in ranked order. (For acronym explanations, keep an eye out for our ‘acronym meanings’ post!)

PageRank – The proprietary system used by Google to rank the web pages on its index. PageRank is calculated using Google’s algorithm, based on a number of factors including quality of inbound links.

Crawlers/Spiders/Bots - The programs used by the search engines to trawl the web to obtain information on web sites.

Filters – Filters are part of the software in search engine spiders which look for undesirable characteristics on a webpage. A page that triggers a filter will have its ranking reduced. The exact filters that exist within different search engine spiders can only be guessed at, which is all part of the game of SEO.

Index – The store of information on websites that a search engine gains through trawling the net. A website may be removed from a search engine’s index if it is suspected of breaking the search engine’s rules. For more information on keeping your site search engine friendly, talk to SEO Consult.

Keywords – Keywords can be one word or several, constituting a phrase. They are the words that are likely to be searched for when someone is searching on your subject. They can also be related to the search terms. Keywords are placed throughout your site to let the search engines know that your site is relevant to that search. It is good to have a range of keywords to cover all of your bases.

Anchor text/anchors – The text that is visible in hyperlinks. Anchor text provides some of the best opportunities for placement of your keywords.

Inbound links/backlinks – Links to your site from other sites. Having these helps to establish the popularity of your site, this is why developing inbound links is often part of an SEO campaign.

Outbound links – Links to other sites from your sites. These can be necessary to develop your relationships within the internet community.

Internal links – Links within your site, anchored either within content hyperlinks or through your navigation. Your internal links are a valuable resource for your site and are a great place for your keywords.

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