SEO and Digital Marketing terms and definitions

Information architecture (IA) refers to how a website is organised in terms of navigation, page types, URL structure and content organisation.

AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. This is a set of web development techniques which allows data to be sent and received in the background without interfering with the display of a page. AJAX allows content to change dynamically, without the need to reload the entire page.

Natural language is the way that we speak, naturally. With voice search, using mobile devices and smart speakers, search engines use Natural Language Processing to return the best results for voice searches.

Pogo sticking is when a user visits several different websites to look for a result which satisfies their search query, returning back to the search engine in between each one. Pogo sticking is seen by search engines as a signal that the user wasn’t happy with the previous result that they clicked.

The Local Pack refers to the feature on Google’s results page which has a map and a list of three local businesses.

Nofollow links are links with a nofollow HTML tag applied to them. This tells search engines not to follow the link. The opposite of a nofollow link is a dofollow link. No followed links generally do not help SEO in the same way that dofollow links do.

Bundling is used to put multiple HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images and other types of files into neat ‘‘bundles’ to help make web applications run in a more streamlined manner.

Compression is the process of packaging a file so that it uses less disk space and can be downloaded faster.

Crawler directives tell search engines how to behave when crawling and indexing your website. Examples of crawler directives are the robots meta tag, the x-robots tag and the robots.txt file.

The alt tag, also known as "alt attribute," and "alt description", is an HTML attribute applied to images as a text alternative for search engines. The alt tag will be shown if the webpage does not load correctly. Applying alt tags to images can positively affect your search engine rankings.

JavaScript is a programming language to insert content, metadata, links, or other elements, on websites.

In PPC (Pay Per Click), advertisers are charged a certain amount every time a user clicks on the ad.

Website navigation is the way a website connects its web pages to help users navigate the site.

Freshness means the age of published online content.

A link can be absolute or relative. An absolute link shows the full URL of the page being linked, whereas a relative link only shows the part after the domain. Example of an absolute link: http://example.com/folder/filename.html Example of a relative link: ../folder/filename.html Whilst both versions of the link will work, due to potential issues with canonicalisation, it’s generally best to use absolute links rather than relative links where possible.

Search engines pull data from multiple databases to show on the same SERP. It can be videos, images, snippets, shopping catalogs, news, etc.

QDF stands for Query Deserves Freshness and is part of Google’s ranking algorithm. It essentially means ‘search queries which deserve up-to-date results’. QDF is the model which determines when users want the latest information, and when they don’t.

Evergreen content is web content that doesn’t go out of date. The name comes from evergreen trees, which retain their leaves all year round. The opposite of evergreen content is time-sensitive content.

Google's search console has multiple helpful features, such as checking sites for indexing errors, site speed and measuring traffic and performance.

Google has a platform where you can explore data visualizations on the latest search stories, trends, and topics. It also analyzes popularity of the top search queries.

A link can be absolute or relative. An absolute link shows the full URL of the page being linked, whereas a relative link only shows the part after the domain. Example of an absolute link: http://example.com/folder/filename.html Example of a relative link: ../folder/filename.html` Whilst both versions of the link will work, due to potential issues with canonicalisation, it’s generally best to use absolute links rather than relative links where possible.

RankBrain is the name given to the machine learning-based algorithm which has been used by Google since 2015. RankBrain uses artificial intelligence to process search queries and provide relevant search results for users. If RankBrain sees a word or phrase it isn’t familiar with, the machine makes a guess as to what words or phrases might have a similar meaning and filters the results accordingly. This makes it effective at handling unique search queries.

CAC stands for Customer Acquisition Cost. This is the cost of convincing a potential customer to buy a product or service. CAC is calculated by dividing your marketing expenses by the number of customers acquired. For example, if you spent £100 on marketing and acquired 10 customers, then your CAC would be £10.

UI stands for User Interface design. UI considers all the visual, interactive elements of a website to create an intuitive experience which doesn’t require the user to think too much. A UI designer will think about things like icons, buttons, typography, colour schemes, imagery and responsive design. Within web design, there is some overlap with UX, which stands for User Experience design.

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. This is the standard markup language used to create webpages. Here is an example of how HTML is used to define a very basic webpage with a title and a paragraph of text: html <!doctype html> <html> <head> <title>This is a title</title> </head> <body> <p>This is a paragraph.</p> </body> </html>

A hilltop algorithm is used to find documents relevant to a particular keyword topic in news search.

JSON-LD stands for JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data. JSON-LD is one of the two standardised formats (syntaxes) of structured data which can be used with Schema.org to mark up websites. The other is Microdata. JSON-LD uses the Schema.org vocabulary to annotate elements on a page, structuring the data so that it can be understood by search engines.For example, it might be used to show that a particular string of text is an author’s name, and another string of text is a review.

Traffic is the number of people who visit your website.

XHTML stands for Extensible HyperText Markup Language. XHTML is very similar to HTML, but uses a more strict XML-based syntax. From 2001 until about 2011, XHTML was the standard markup language for web development. It has since been superseded by HTML5.

XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. XML is used to define documents with a standard format so that they can be read by any XML-compatible application. In SEO, XML is most-commonly used to create sitemaps.

Programming language can refer to the computer language which is used to code a website. Popular web programming languages include JavaScript, PHP, Python, Java and C++.

A sponsored link is a link which somebody has paid for. In 2019, Google introduced the sponsored link attribute (rel="sponsored”), which is a way of labelling that a link has been paid for as part of an advertising campaign. A sponsored link is similar to a nofollow link in that it does not have the same SEO benefits as a dofollow link.

Seed keywords, (also known as head keywords), are the primary keywords that are most relevant to a business. They typically consist of one or two words. Seed keywords can be combined with modifiers to create long-tail keywords.

The algorithm is a complex computer program used by search engines to extract data and deliver results for a query. Search engines use a combination of algorithms to show ranked web pages via a results page based on various ranking factors and signals.

Reinclusion (also known as reconsideration) refers to the process of asking a search engine to re-index a website that was dropped from the index due to a penalty.

Scrum is a project management technique which is commonly used for web development projects. The workload is organised over a series of short development cycles known as sprints. A scrum task board provides a visual display of the progress of the scrum team during a sprint.

Link baiting is the process of creating content for the purpose of getting other websites to link to it. An example of link bait might be an infographic with lots of helpful information. This provides an attractive piece of content for other webmasters to link to, or embed in their own site with a link back to the source.

Mobile-first indexing means that Google mainly uses the mobile version of each website’s content for indexing and ranking. Prior to 2019, Google mainly used the desktop version of a website to rank a page. This switch to mobile-first indexing is reflective of how most users now access Google Search using mobile devices.

The ‘People also ask’ box is a feature of Google’s search engine results page which has questions relating to the original search query. SEO content writers can use the ‘People also ask’ boxes to come up with ideas for content to include on the page.

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. An SSL certificate is a data file installed on a web server that provides authentication and enables an encrypted connection. An SSL certificate is needed to activate the padlock symbol in the browser and allow the use of the https protocol. This reassures the user that the connection is secure and that personal information cannot be stolen. Websites with an SSL certificate and which use the https protocol generally rank better in search engine results and have a better conversion rate due to enhanced customer trust.

For queries like who, what, where, when, why, and how Google sometimes shows a particular block above the organic search results. This box is a summary of the question asked.

Google Analytics is a web analytics platform used to track and report on audience behavior, content performance and traffic sources.

A robots.txt file tells search engine crawlers which URLs the crawler can or cannot access on a website. It’s mainly used to prevent search engines from wasting crawl budgets on unimportant pages. The robots.txt file doesn’t, however, prevent webpages from being indexed by search engines.

UX is short for User Experience design. UX encompasses all aspects of a user’s interaction with a company and its products or services. A UX designer thinks about how the experience makes the user feel and aims to make it easier for them to accomplish desired tasks. Within web design, there is some overlap with UI, which stands for User Interface design.

Minification, (also known as minimisation) is the process of removing all unnecessary characters from the source code of a webpage. Doing this can reduce page load time and bandwidth usage.

A meta refresh is an HTML meta element which is used to automatically refresh a webpage after a given time interval. It can also be used to redirect users from one URL to another.

Native advertising refers to paid advertisements which match the look and feel of the website they appear on, so they don’t really look like ads. An example of native advertising is Facebook ads, which look a lot like regular posts.

Srcset is a HTML attribute which defines multiple sizes of the same image. This allows the browser to select the appropriate image source to use for different screen sizes.

XML sitemap A list of all the website pages search engines need to know to find them.

Determining the trust of the domain. Quality links and content will provide a high domain trust.

Featured snippets appear at the top of Google’s search results for certain queries. They may take the form of paragraphs, lists or tables. Optimizing your webpages to appear in featured snippets can be a good way to get your pages to rank in the top position.

Faceted navigation is often used by ecommerce websites to allow visitors to filter and sort a list of products based on their attributes such as colour, size, price, etc. When you select different options, the URL changes, which could create millions of different URLs. This can create a problem for SEO if left unchecked.

Favicon is short for ‘favourite icon’. This is the small icon, usually with a logo, which you see at the top of your web browser and sometimes on the Google results page.

Friction occurs when webpage elements inhibit users from completing the desired outcome. An example of friction would be having two different call to action buttons, which asks the user to make a choice, rather than a single call to action. Reducing friction will improve the conversion rate of your website.

Microdata is one of the two standardised formats (syntaxes) of structured data which can be used with Schema.org to mark up websites. The other is JSON-LD. Microdata uses the Schema.org vocabulary to annotate elements on a page, structuring the data so that it can be understood by search engines. For example, it might be used to show that a particular string of text is an author’s name, and another string of text is a review.

Caffeine is the name of Google’s web indexing system. With the launch of Caffeine in 2010, Google completely rebuilt the search engine to make it faster and deliver more relevant search results.

Client-side and server-side rendering refer to the location where the code runs to render a webpage. With server-side rendering, files are executed at the server, and then the server sends them to the browser in a fully-rendered state. With client-side rendering, however, files are executed in the browser. Client-side rendering is a relatively new approach to rendering websites and it can have SEO implications if not implemented correctly.

Closed-loop marketing (CLM) is the use of analytics data to track marketing efforts all the way from the first touchpoint through to the purchase of a product or service. This enables marketers to work out which marketing campaigns or SEO tactics produced the best return on investment.

A conversion path is the sequence of steps a website visitor takes from visiting the website for the first time until they purchase a product or service. A conversion path may include multiple sessions and entries to the website via multiple channels.

A geographic modifier, (also known as a geo-modifier, location modifier or location qualifier), is a part of a search term which references a location. Examples of keywords with geographic modifiers would be “plumber London” or “plumber near me”, rather than just “plumber”.

The Google Sandbox refers to an alleged filter which stops new websites from reaching their full ranking potential for several months after launch. The Sandbox phenomenon has never been officially confirmed by Google, but many SEOs are confident that it exists because of the slow results that are seen when trying to rank new websites.

The Index Coverage Report is a feature of Google Search Console. It allows you to see which URLs have been crawled and indexed by Google and which have not. It also shows why Google has decided not to index particular URLs.

Lazy loading is a web development technique which defers the loading of non-critical resources until the point at which they’re needed. This makes webpages load faster, which creates a better user experience.

In SEO, disavow means to disregard links pointing to your site Within Google Search Console, there’s a Disavow Tool, which allows you to instruct Google to ignore certain links if you’re worried that they may be harmful to your site.

ccTLD stands for ‘country code top level domain’. For example, .fr is the ccTLD for France and .it is the ccTLD for Italy.

Cloaking refers to content presented to search engines which is different to that which is presented to users. For example, many years ago, webmasters would sometimes place lots of keywords in white text on a white background, to try to trick search engines into ranking the page for those keywords. Cloaking is against search engine guidelines and can lead to a penalty.

CMS stands for Content Management System. This is the software application which is used to build and display the content on a website. An example of a CMS is Wordpress.

CPL stands for Cost Per Lead. This is the amount of marketing spend it takes, on average, to create one sales lead.

Panda is the name given to a major Google algorithm change which took place in 2011. This update focused on quality, with the aim of stopping sites with low-quality and thin content from appearing at the top of search results. In response to the Panda Update, web content writers began to focus on creating high-quality pages, rather than large numbers of low-quality or short pages.

Penguin is the name given to a major Google algorithm change that took place in 2012. This update focused on decreasing the rankings of websites with unnatural backlink profiles. In response to the Penguin Update, SEOs reduced participation in black-hat link-building schemes and began disavowing links that were suspected to be spammy or harmful.

A sitemap is a list of pages on a website. There are two types of sitemaps, HTML and XML.

Google will take manual action on a website after a human reviews and confirms if the website has failed to follow Google’s Webmaster guidelines.

The critical rendering path is the sequence of steps a browser follows to convert HTML, CSS and JavaScript into a visible webpage. Optimising the critical rendering path results in faster page load times.

A keyword is the word or combination of words an SEO professional or marketer targets to find what users are searching for.

Anchor text is the text in a hyperlink. Anchor text should be relevant to the page you are linking to rather than just scattering it on any available text.

Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors landing on any single page of your website and leaving without a click on any other links. A high bounce rate, especially when traffic is from Google, can eventually result in a decline in rankings.

Above the fold refers to the webpage content that the user sees initially on their screen before they scroll down.

A nofollow link is a meta tag that signals search engines not to follow any specific outbound links.

A responsive website is a website design that is easily adaptable to the user's screen size regardless of the device.

Black hat SEO means using shady practices, aggressive techniques, and automated programs to trick the search engine into increasing the search engine rankings.

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. The role of a CRM manager is to analyse data about how customers interact with a business to improve customer retention and grow sales.

Hyperlink-Induced Topic Search is a link analysis algorithm which rates web pages. The idea is based on a website linking to relevant sites and vice versa.

Page speed is the time it takes for a web page to load entirely. It is one of the ranking factors.

Rich snippets are results shown in search engines with additional data. They stand out more than standard results and have a higher click-through rate.

Keyword cannibalization is the self-competition occurs when more than one page from the same website ranks for the same or similar keywords.

The title tag is an HTML meta tag that acts as the title of a webpage. The title tag is the title search engines use while displaying search listings.

Lifetime value refers to the ‘worth’ of a customer - it is an estimate of the average revenue that a customer will generate over their time as a customer. For example, if you have a subscription-based business model and the average customer subscribes for 20 months at a rate of £100 per month, then the LTV is £2,000.

Schema is microdata. It can be added to a webpage to create an enhanced description that appears in search results. It helps search engines better understand the information on your website.

A bot, short for robot, is also known as a web crawler and spider. These automated software agents crawl the web content to understand and index it to pull the most relevant results for a searcher's query.

Meta description is the description you need to add to the head section of an HTML document. It acts as a brief explanation of a page's content.

A link to the webpage originating from an external website. For example, if we at AccuRanker were to link to Google, that would be an inbound link for Google.

A quality link is a backlink originating from a high-quality source.

Authority refers to the signal search engines use to assess web pages and websites for ranking purposes.

The process of improving the quality or quantity of conversion on a website is CRO. Popular CRO tactics include A/B testing for website design, images, call-to-action, price, copy, and messaging.

When a search engine removes a webpage or website it is known as de-indexing. It can be either temporary or permanent, depending upon the reason.

Off-page SEO refers to all places outside of a website. For example: link building, content marketing, social media marketing, and reviews etc.

On-page SEO refers to all the activities that take place within a website. For example: HTML code, website navigation, information architecture, and URL structure.

Search intent is the user’s intent when conducting a search on a search engine. Each keyword has an intent. And search intent assists you in understanding why a keyword is searched. The intent falls into four categories: transactional, commercial, navigational, and informational.

Meta tags are the information that appears on the web pages to explain the search engine content. Title tags and meta descriptions are the most used types of meta tags.

UGC stands for user-generated content. Content created by users or customers, such as blog posts, videos, comments, reviews, etc.

User experience is the feeling users are left with after engaging with a brand. It covers interaction with the company, its product and/or services.

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. It is a string of characters leading to a particular web resource.

PBN stands for Private Blog Network. A PBN is a network of authoritative websites used to build links to a single website for the purpose of ranking higher on search engines’ results pages. PBNs are against Google’s guidelines.

DOM stands for Document Object Model. The DOM is the steps the browser takes after receiving the HTML document to render the page as pixels on your screen. You can use the ‘Inspect Element’ function in your browser to see what the DOM looks like and change it yourself to see how changes affect the rendered version of the page.

API stands for Application Programming Interface. An API is a piece of software which allows two applications to talk to each other. An example of an API could be when you use a flight comparison website. The flight comparison website will use an API to gather data from each airline’s database and deliver it to the website so that it can be displayed to the user.

An unnatural link is any link that Google identifies as deceptive or malicious. One unnatural link can result in a manual action on your website.

TrustRank is a concept by which search engines combat web spam as part of their algorithms. It’s a measure of so-called ‘trust signals’ which help search engines to decide whether or not core ranking signals like links and content are legitimate.

UGC Link stands for User Generated Content Link. In 2019, Google introduced the UGC link attribute, which is a way of labelling a link that has been placed by a user, such as a user comment or a forum post. A UGC link is similar to a nofollow link in that it does not have the same SEO benefits as a dofollow link.

Dynamic content, (also known as adaptive content), is web content that adapts to individual users based on their behaviour or characteristics. An example of a website that delivers dynamic content is Facebook. Every user sees different content, although the layout of this content is generally the same.

A domain name registrar is a company which handles the reservation of domain names and assigns IP addresses to those domain names. Examples of well-known domain name registrars are GoDaddy, Namecheap and 123 Reg.

A zero-click search is when the answer for a search query is directly within the SERPs.

CRO stands for Conversion Rate Optimisation. CRO involves understanding what actions visitors take on a website and what’s stopping them from completing your desired goals.

E-A-T stands for Expertize, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It is the concept from the Google Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines.

Time on page is an estimation of how long a user spent browsing a particular webpage.

Keyword density is the number of times a keyword appears within the content of a webpage.

Async is short for ‘asynchronous’, which means ‘at the same time’. In web development, it means that when a page is loading, the browser doesn’t have to wait for a task to finish before moving on to the next one - they all happen at the same time.

Image carousels (also known as content carousels or sliders) are a website design feature which has multiple rotating images. Sometimes, Google also uses carousels on the results page.

DNS stands for Domain Name System. This connects URLs with their IP address. When you type a domain name into a browser, the DNS sends a query over the internet to match the domain with its corresponding IP, which is used to retrieve the website’s content.

A link leading to the 404 not found page is a broken link. You will see a link broken when one of the following occurs: A website goes offline A web page is removed without adding a redirect The destination URL changed without adding a valid redirect link

Each time a web server receives a request for content, either by a user or by a robot such as Googlebot, it’s recorded in a log file. SEOs can analyse these log files to see how search engines are crawling their sites. Log file analysis can show areas where crawl budget is being wasted, find pages that aren’t being crawled often, and find errors such as 404 and 500 errors.

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP is used to transfer files between a client and a server on a computer network.

AMP stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages. AMP is an open-source, stripped-down form of HTML which allows pages to load very quickly on mobile devices.

.htaccess stands for hypertext access. The .htaccess file is a configuration file which controls how a web server responds to requests, Some common uses for the .htaccess file include: Controlling which users can be allowed to access the files contained in a directory Creating seo-friendly URLs Setting 301 redirects Calling a custom-designed 404 page.

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. These files are used to form the layout of webpages, defining layout, colors, and fonts.

A deep link is pointing to any webpage other than the homepage or the content within a mobile app.

Long tail keywords are specific phrases that are longer than usual and show higher purchase intent.

Voice SEO is the optimization of keywords for Google searches using the voice assistant.

Webspam is a strategy that exists solely to manipulate or deceive search engine algorithms and/or users.

YMYL stands for Your Money or Your Life. It is a quality rating score that focuses on the impact it can have on the search user's health, financial stability, safety, or happiness. Site categories considered as YMYL include: Fitness and nutrition Finance News and current events Civics, law, and governments Shopping

Taxonomy is the structure of a website that is easy for users to navigate.

A webpage is a document that exists on the World Wide Web, where anyone can view it.

A rel=canonical element, (also known as a canonical link or canonical tag), is a piece of HTML code which helps to prevent duplicate content issues. rel=canonical is used in a piece of code which looks like this: This element can be placed in all versions of a webpage to tell search engines which version of a URL is the correct one to be included in the index.

Vertical search is a hyper-specialized search is where the focus is on a specific topic, such as the type of media or content. For example: Amazon (shopping), BBC (news), YouTube(video), etc.

Latent semantic indexing (LSI) is a method to retrieve information to help search engines recognize the proper context of words and documents.

Link building is a process of getting a link from other websites to help increase your organic visibility and ranking.

The X-Robots-Tag is a tag which enables you to issue directives such as noindex and nofollow to search engine bots. It is an alternative to the meta robots tag. The X-Robots-Tag is a part of the HTTP header. It has some advantages over the meta robots tag in that it is more flexible as it can be used to block certain file types such as certain images or videos.

Google keyword planner is a keyword research tool by Google to help you research keywords for search campaigns. You will need a Google AdWords account to run it.

Schema markup is a vocabulary of tags that can be added to HTML to improve the way that search engines read and understand webpages. Specific to websites for physical businesses such as shops, restaurants and clubs, local business schema specifies attributes like the address, opening hours and reviews to help the website to appear in rich snippets on the search engine results page.

LSI stands for Latent Semantic Indexing. This is a concept used by search engines to find the hidden (latent) relationships between words (semantics) to improve understanding (indexing). LSI explains how search engines can understand that a search term and web content can mean the same thing, even if they don’t use the same words. Rather than matching search queries exactly to words on a page, search engines use complex calculations to identify context and synonyms.

UTM code, (also known as the UTM parameter), stands for Urchin Tracking Module code. To give you some back story, Urchin Software Corporation was acquired by Google in 2006, and their software was the start of what we now know as Google Analytics. UTM codes are text strings which can be added on to URLs to enable tracking via web analytics software such as Google Analytics. There are five standard parameters: utm_medium - identifies the channel e.g. organic, paid, email, affiliate, social utm_source - identifies the website that sent the traffic e.g. Google, Facebook utm_campaign - identifies the marketing campaign e.g. summer sale utm_content - identifies what specifically was clicked e.g. banner ad, text link utm_term - identifies search terms e.g. shoes

Keyword stuffing is adding too many keywords beyond what is natural to a webpage to increase search rankings. This tactic is against Google's Webmaster guidelines and can be penalized by Google.

Branded keywords are queries with a brand's name. For example: “adding a custom emoji in Loom" is a brand search query of the company Loom.

A citation is a mention of your brand online. This may or may not include a link to your website.

Ways to measure how users interact with web pages and content. A few examples of engagement metrics are: Click-through rate Conversion rate Bounce rate

If a script is render blocking, it means that it’s keeping a webpage from loading as quickly as it could. It’s recommended to remove or defer scripts which interfere with the loading of any content that sits above the fold. Removing or deferring render-blocking scripts improves page load speed which makes for a better user experience.

A backlink is an external link from any other subdomain linking to any page on your domain. Backlinks play a significant role in SEO. So, the more backlinks you get from reputable websites, the easier it gets for you to achieve higher rankings.

Doorway pages, (also known as portal pages, gateway pages or jump pages), are webpages which are created specifically to rank highly for a particular keyword and then funnel users to another page which hosts the main content. An example would be to have multiple pages targeted at specific cities, with each one taking users through to the same page. Doorway pages usually offer a bad user experience and so this is not a technique which is recommended by Google.

Microformats (which can be found at Microformats.org) is a vocabulary of tags which can be added to HTML to improve the way that search engines read and understand webpages. It is an open-source alternative to Schema.org Microformats markup can be used to facilitate rich snippets in search results. These results often appear more prominently than standard search results, and so can have a higher click-through rate.

Breadcrumbs are a navigational element that helps users understand where they are on a website. For example: home > features > pricing > checkout

Caching is when a version of a webpage is saved. Caching is used in web development to make pages load faster. When a user visits a page, files are cached. Then, when the next person visits, the website can display the saved files which will load more quickly due to the cache. Sometimes, a cached copy of a page is displayed by your browser. This explains why sometimes you might make a change to a webpage in your CMS, but your browser still shows you the old, cached version. Google also has a cache of the last time it visited each page. You can see the cached version of a webpage by finding it in the search results and clicking on the little triangle and then clicking ‘Cached’.

Hummingbird is the name given to a major Google algorithm change which took place in 2013. This update improved the accuracy of natural language queries, making improved use of context and meaning over individual keywords. In response to the Hummingbird Update, web content writers began to optimise their sites with natural language, rather than forced keywords.

SSI stands for Server Side Includes. Server Side Includes allow web developers to include some limited dynamic content within static HTML pages. An example of an SSI would be a ‘last updated’ field which automatically plugs in the date that the page was amended. SSIs may also be used to create headers and footers which are applied to every page on a website. This enables you to easily make changes to the header and footer by editing a single file which is applied across every webpage.

URL parameters are a way to pass information about a click through a URL. Here’s an example of a URL with URL parameters: http://example.com?product=1234&utm_source=google URL parameters appear after a question mark symbol (?) in a URL. Each URL parameter contains two parts - a key and a value. The key and the value are separated by an equals sign (=). In the example, ‘product’ is a key and ‘1234’ is a value. If you have multiple URL parameters, these are joined by an ampersand (&). In the example, ‘product=1234’ is the first URL parameter and ‘utmsource=google’ is the second URL parameter. In the example, the parameter ‘product=1234’ would modify the content to show a certain product to the user. The parameter ‘utmsource=google’ would track that the user had come from Google.

A call-to-action (CTA) is a critical component of digital marketing. CTAs are designed to encourage users to take a specific action, such as making a purchase, downloading an app, or filling out a form. They play a crucial role in converting website visitors into customers and are an essential part of any successful marketing strategy. The primary goal of a CTA is to drive engagement and convert visitors into customers. Effective CTAs are specific, actionable, and easy to understand. They should be placed prominently on a website and be accompanied by clear, concise messaging. The CTA itself should be easy to find and follow, with a noticeable color that stands out against the background of the website. One of the key elements of a successful CTA is its placement. It is recommended to place CTAs above the fold, meaning on the portion of a website that is visible without scrolling. This placement increases the visibility of the CTA and ensures that it is seen by as many visitors as possible. In addition, it is important to place CTAs in multiple locations on a website, such as in the header, footer, and throughout the body of a page. The language used in a CTA is also critical. CTAs should use language that is clear and concise, with a strong sense of urgency. For example, instead of using vague language such as "click here," a CTA should use language such as "Download Now" or "Get Started." This type of language clearly communicates the action that the user should take, and is more likely to result in conversions. In addition to language, the design of a CTA is also important. CTAs should be eye-catching and easy to locate. A common design for a CTA is a button, with a contrasting color that stands out against the background of the website. The button should be large enough to be easily clickable, with enough white space around it to ensure that it is easy to find. One of the most important aspects of a CTA is its relevance. The CTA should be relevant to the page it is located on and should align with the overall goals of the website. For example, a CTA on a product page should encourage visitors to make a purchase, while a CTA on a blog post should encourage visitors to read more articles or sign up for a newsletter. Another factor to consider when designing a CTA is the tone of the website. The tone of a website should be consistent throughout, and this includes the tone of the CTAs. For example, a website with a serious tone should use serious language in its CTAs, while a website with a fun, lighthearted tone should use language that reflects this. Finally, it is important to measure the success of CTAs. This can be done using metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and bounce rates. These metrics can help determine which CTAs are performing well and which need improvement. By regularly monitoring and analyzing these metrics, it is possible to optimize CTAs and increase conversions. In conclusion, a CTA is a crucial component of any digital marketing strategy. It plays a vital role in converting website visitors into customers and is an essential part of any successful marketing plan. To be effective, a CTA must be well-designed, well-placed, and relevant to the website. By measuring its success, it is possible to optimize CTAs and increase conversions, driving engagement and success for a business.

If you have duplicate content on different pages of your website, search engines won’t know which one to index. The correct URL, which you want to be indexed, is known as the ‘canonical’ URL. You can inform search engines of which version is the canonical URL by using a canonical tag in a piece of code which looks like this: The canonical tag can be placed in all versions of a webpage to tell search engines which URL is the canonical URL to be included in the index.

CTR stands for Click-Through Rate. In search engine marketing, this refers to the ratio of the people who saw a link on the search engine results page to those who clicked it to visit the website. For example, if you had 100 impressions and 5 clicks, your CTR would be 5%.

Rich snippets, (also known as rich results) are normal Google search results with additional data displayed. A normal search result shows a title, a description and a URL. A rich snippet, however, may have other features such as review stars, product prices, event dates, images or videos. The extra data usually comes from structured data in the page’s HTML.

Schema markup (which can be found at Schema.org) is a vocabulary of tags which can be added to HTML to improve the way that search engines read and understand webpages. Schema markup can be used to facilitate rich snippets in search results. These results often appear more prominently than standard search results, and so can have a higher click-through rate.