The world of SEO is defined by code and acronyms. If a concept has been established with a simple title, you can be sure it will have an acronym by Tuesday. You can SEM and PPC, find the right CMS, SMO for your SEO and make sure you SMM, all for better results on SERPs. Even for an experienced web surfer, keeping up with the mind-boggling array of terms and codes can be difficult.

In the interest of clearing up any possible confusion, here is a list of some of the more common acronyms that are used in the world of SEO:

SEO – Search Engine Optimisation. The first and most important term. Search engine optimisation is the implementation of a number of tactics to make a website more appealing to search engines.

SERPs – Search Engine Results Pages. The aim of SEO is to boost a site’s ranking in these.

SMO – Social Media Optimisation. This involves techniques designed to attract publicity from social media.

SMM – Social Media Marketing, also Social Media Monitoring. The first definition of SMM is similar to SMO, although SMM involves more aggressive campaigns to draw attention to the business, such as virals. Social media monitoring is the process of monitoring social media networks as part of managing a business’ online reputation.

SEM – Search Engine Marketing. SEM aims to increase the visibility of a business through paid advertisements on web pages.

FFA – Free For All. Also known as link farms, FFA sites feature a large number of links and are used to boost a site’s backlinks. They are generally considered to be a bad idea and against search engine rules.

PPC – Pay per Click. This is a form of advertising charged per time a person clicks on the link within the ad. Related terms include CPC, or cost per click, CPM, or cost per thousand, and CPA, or cost per action, which all refer to the calculation method for advertisement charges.

HTTPs – Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. HTTPs pages are used to provide a secure page and are common on e-commerce systems. They are mentioned in SEO circles because they create potential duplicate content problems.

URL – Uniform Resource Locator. The address of a website. A URL can be made up of alphabetical characters and numbers, with some symbols permissible. URLs can contain keywords, and are a valuable medium for SEO. Talk to your consultant to see if SEO Consult can help optimise your URLs or other areas of your site.

RSS – Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. Both definitions refer to the web feed format which is used by most sites that publish frequent content. RSS feeds allow subscribers to be given content without having to constantly check back with a site they are interested in.

New acronyms are created all the time in this acronym-loving world. This is just a short list of the more common terms that a casual visitor to the SEO world will come across. For further explanation of SEO terms and codes, talk to us at SEO Consult or watch this space.

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