Algorithms.
A search algorithm is, in short, the incredibly complex
mathematical formula that a search engine uses to
"rank" web sites for keywords. Based on a huge
number of variables and calculations, algorithms are among
the most closely-guarded secrets on the internet. Why?
Imagine if they were leaked - suddenly the
less-than-honest would have a very specific guideline to
follow in climbing to the top of search results in a
less-than-organic way, ruining the quality of Google's
search results and their entire competitive advantage with
it.
Bot or Bots. See also
"crawlers"
Crawlers. Googlebot, for
example, is a search engine crawler. Googlebot
periodically traverses the web in record time, indexing
content, links - everything contained in page source code
- and storing it in Google's search index. Then, when a
user visits Google and enters a search phrase, the index,
filtered by the algorithm, is what the user gets. Please
note: there is some delay in this process since the
results you're getting are from the index and not the live
web.
Directories. When
webmasters realized just how much power inbound links have
in determining search rankings they quickly set out to do
two things: 1) get inbound links and 2) set
up web sites where other webmasters could achieve inbound
links (meaning big traffํc revenues for the site). Hence
the directory farms you'll find today. Link building has
been a priority on the lํst of any SEO-savvy webmaster
for years, and as a result "quick fix"
directories that allow streamlined listing submissions get
a ton of traffํc. However, Google and the other major
search engines are on to this tactic, and the word among
SEO "experts" is that the benefits of listing
your site at directories are diminished if not gone.
Frames. Frames are a way
of laying out a website with multiple documents in one
browser window. Essentially, there is one main document
which contains the frameset tag - this document specifies
the dimensions/placement of the frames and also the
documents that will "populate" those frames.
From an SEO standpoint the use of frames for your layout
is not recommended. Since frames do not use links in the
same way, and since links may point to one frame from
another, they may cause serious problems for crawlers.
Additionally, there are almost no uses for frames that
can't either be 1) duplicated with other methods or
2) thrown away without much fuss. If your site was
built with frames and you're thinking you don't want to
rebuild - it might be tough luck if you're interested in
optimizing for search. Consider it a learning experience -
build yourself a CSS-based layout.
 |
Gateway Pages.
Also "doorway pages." Although there isn't a
real consensus about what these pages are, their function
is always cited as their definition. In other words, these
pages are created to "rank well in search
engines" by playing to the algorithms. Often viewed
as "spammy," "gray hat" or even
"black hat." However, any page written with
search in mind, and geared towards search, can be
construed to be a "gateway page." The difference
between a page well-optimized for search and a
"gateway page?" No clear lines there, but
quality of content is probably the determining factor.
HTML. Okay, most of you
probably know this one, but there are probably some of you
who don't. HTML stands for Hyper-Text Mark-up Language,
and it is the core building block that has made the web
the greatest modern tool for business, social,
informational, political and any other causes. Search
engines look exclusively at a web page's HTML code to
determine its relevance. Therefore, it's a good idea to
pay attention to HTML and familiarize yourself with proper
tagging techniques if you're hoping to get a good handle
on SEO.
Link Popularity. Inbound
links are probably the most important optimization point
for web pages. Number, quality, trust - these are all
factors that affect the value of an inbound link. Going
back to the HTML root of search, link popularity (in terms
of quantity) measures how many pages point to your site
using anchor text ( link
text ).
Link Building. In short,
the process of gaining links at other web sites pointing
in to pages on your own.
Link Baiting. The process
of generating high-quality content on your pages that
users will appreciate and link to voluntarily.
Meta Tags. Meta tags are
found at the top of a page's source code. They are used to
specify certain things that might not be found in the page
content. They also allow webmasters to put up certain
"flags" that search engine crawlers can react
to. There are many Meta tags available for use, and many
of them can help with SEO to a great extent and for a
variety of purposes. However, Meta tags are no longer used
in the way they originally were - as a place to stuff
keywords to drive your site up in rankings. Some
webmasters out there are still doing this, but they are
decidedly behind the times and unaware of the impending,
or already cast-down, penalties.
Robots. See also
"crawlers."
Search Engines. If you
don't know what a search engine is congratulations on
finally making it out from under that rock. Search engines
are essentially programs that scan an existing index of
the web based on a query of search terms, or keywords,
that a user enters. However, the word more commonly refers
to companies as a whole - Google, for example, controls a
search engine, while Googlebot is the crawler that gathers
content for its index, but most users and webmasters think
of a search engine as the whole package.
Search Engine Marketing.
Most often this refers to Pay-Per-Click marketing in which
an advertiser bids on chosen keywords and writes several
ads to be displayed should their bid achieve placement.
These ads are displayed in the "sponsored"
section of search engine result pages (SERPS). However, in
some circles this term is used to refer to any action
taken to gain rankings both paid and organic.
Search Engine Optimization.
This one is open to interpretation. It is quite often used
to encapsulate a huge amount of different tactics. On-site
optimization, off-site optimization (link building, etc)
and many other techniques all feasibly fall under the SEO
blanket. However, there is an obvious difference between
optimizing a page's code to be clean and search friendly
and writing link bait that will be popular and get linked
to.
Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
The pages resulting from a search engine query run by a
user. Webmasters review these pages to determine where
their pages are ranking for certain search terms.
