SEO is a very talked-about topic, but do you understand the language? SEO might fly right over your head if you don’t know what the important terms mean and how to use each one in your online strategy.
Here is a glossary of 10 SEO terms you should know with tips on using each one in your optimization game plan.
Alt Attribute
The “alt” or alternate attribute is your way to tell Google what each image is on your site. The alt text is a description of the image (or its context on the page) and appears on the page when an image cannot be displayed. Alt tags are frequently left off of websites but are a very important for SEO.
Not only do they give site visitors more information about the image, alt descriptions also tell search engines what the image is. Keep in mind that Google crawlers can’t read images, but they can read text. Give a good description of the image, relate it to the content of the page, and Google will display it in its image search results for related queries. This is an important place to use keywords that you want to rank for, when appropriate. Don’t “stuff” your alt attributes with keywords – we know that Google will penalize that sneaky SEO tactic.
Code Sample:
<img src=”http://www.website.com/alt-example.png” alt=”Keyword”>
Anchor Text
Anchor text is the visible text you have hyperlinked in your page content. In other words, it is the clickable text that is typically underlined in blue or another color. It is very important to include a relevant keyword in the anchor text of a hyperlink. The relevancy of the anchor text to the website or page that is hyperlinked to helps tell Google and other search engines how relevant that website is to the keyword(s). Google sees a hyperlink to a website as a “vote” for that website. By placing a hyperlink with descriptive anchor text, you are telling Google that the linked-to website should rank higher for those keywords.
Backlink
A backlink, or an inbound link, is a hyperlink from an external website that links back to your site. Google views an inbound link as a “vote” for your website. Depending on the quality of the site linking to you, Google will weigh the value the backlink and then will consider that weight when determining your website’s PageRank.
Keep in mind, especially with the launch of Google’s Penguin, that the quality of the websites linking to you is very important. If you pay for links back to your site rather than build them organically with compelling content, Google will penalize your site – the opposite of what you should be shooting for with SEO.
Header Tags
A Header tag is HTML that applies more size and weight to specific text on a page. H1, H2, H3, and so on are used to create a hierarchy of important information on a page. Blog and page titles are typically wrapped in H1 tags, signifying the title is the most important text on the page. For example, the title of this post, “Be in the Know About SEO” is wrapped in an H1 tag.
Code Sample:
Be in the Know About SEO [Terminology Tuesday]
Internal Link
An internal link is a hyperlink on a domain that links to another page on the same domain. They are a way to help site visitors further navigate your site, to show Google the hierarchical structure of your website pages (if you don’t have a hierarchy, you need one), and to help Google rank the content on your site based on that hierarchy and the influential power of each hyperlink.
Long Tail Keyword
Keywords are an essential part of SEO, but what many websites falter on is making sure to focus on long tail keywords. Chances are, if your keyword is something very short and generic, you will find yourself drowning in a sea of other websites trying to rank for the same term. A “long tail keyword” refers to the strategy of targeting longer and more specific keyword phrases that are lower in search demand in order to increase ranking probability. For example, “Search Engine Optimization” will be searched more often than “Search Engine Optimization for small business.” The broader term with the higher search demand will be more competitive to rank for.
Meta Description
A meta description is metadata set in the header of a website’s HTML that provides a description of the current website page. This description is what will appear in Google search results for that page. It is important to use your keywords in the meta description to increase your website’s chances of ranking for those terms.
Meta Keywords
Meta keywords, another form of metadata placed in the header of a website’s HTML, is a place to include important keywords that are relevant within the context of the page. These keywords should not just be specific to the website as a whole, but to the individual page’s content. While meta keywords are not as significant in the SEO game as they used to be, some less-mainstream search engines still rely on them so it is good practice to include them in your optimizing process.
Meta Tags/Metadata
The term meta tags refers to the containers of metadata assigned in the header of a website’s HTML. Meta descriptions and meta keywords are examples of meta tags. The information inside of each of these tags is known as metadata.
Title Tag
A page’s title tag refers to the title that appears at the top of your browser and that will also be displayed in Google Search results. You should try to include important keywords in your Page Titles because it is the most important on-page SEO element.
Utilize these terms and tips in your SEO strategy and you’ll be on your way to higher ranking website!
And remember, content is the most important part of good SEO. Download our FREE Content Creation Kit to get started with good, optimized content for your website and SEO strategy.