200
An HTTP status code signifying a successful web page access event.
301
An HTTP status code that represents a permanent redirect of one URL to another. This is useful for pointing out permanently moved web pages to search engine spiders.
302
An HTTP status code that signifies a temporary redirect of one URL to another.
404
An HTTP status code signifying an error that occurs as a result of a web page not being found on the server.
Accessibility
Accessing web pages on different internet browsers and multiple platforms, this especially concerns individuals with disabilities such as being visually impaired.
AdSense
Google’s contextual advertising publishing system sourcing PPC ads from AdWords.
AdWords
Google’s pay per click advertising program, the industry’s first and largest Internet advertising business.
Algorithm
This is a defined set of rules used by search engine to rank web pages.
Alt Attribute
An alternative label for an image used in HTML; mainly for the benefits of people using non graphical browsers.
Anchor Text
Words used within a link are called anchor text. This text helps search engines determine the relevancy between source and targeted pages.
ASP
An acronym for Active Server Pages, a proprietary Microsoft technology used to create dynamic data-driven websites.
Auto Discovery
A statement in the robots.txt file that enables search engine spiders to automatically read the website’s sitemap.
Back Links
Internet links from other web pages to a web site or page. Back links are also called inbound links and these links are an important element for many search engines on ranking specific keywords.
Black Hat SEO
This term refers to using deceptive or unethical techniques to get high rankings in search engines; for example hidden text, cloaking and link farms. Don’t do this!
Blog
Short for web log. A journal or diary organised chronologically as a series of posts on a website.
Bot
Short for robot/software robot, a program designed to perform an automated set of operations such as visiting and reading websites.
Cache
Copies of web pages stored locally on the user's hard drive or within a search engine's database.
Call to Action
This is a marketing message that directs visitors to act in some specific manner such as requesting a brochure.
Click Through
The act of clicking an online ad, consequently redirecting the user to another web page.
Click Through Rate (CTR)
The rate at which people click on an ad.
Cloaking
The deceptive practice of serving varying content to search engine spiders and humans with the purpose of tricking search engines into indexing content that is not visible to humans.
Cookie
A cookie is a small piece of information sent to a browser by a web server. Cookies are used to remember information about a visitor to be used at later date.
Cost per Action (CPA)
The cost incurred by the advertiser as a result of an action, such as a signup.
Cost per Click (CPC)
The cost incurred by the advertiser as a result of a single click on the ad.
Crawler
Another noun for search engine spider, a computer program that regularly visits websites in order to read and index them for the search engine.
Database-Driven
A website or service deriving data from a database on the fly in response to requests for web pages.
Directory
This is a web site containing links to other web sites or pages. Normally directories are managed by human editors. Examples of directories are DMOZ (Open Directory), Yahoo, BOTW (Best of the Web) etc.
Doorway Page
A page specifically designed for search engines to draw traffic and then unethically redirect this traffic to another web site or page. Also known as gateway page, bridge, page or entry page.
Dynamic Page
An HTML page generated on the fly (usually by a scripting language engine such as ASP or PHP) as a result of a request for data. (See Database-driven)
Firefox
A free web browser, design and developed by Mozilla Foundation.
Flash
A web based animation technology created by Macromedia Corporation.
Gateway Page
Please see doorway page.
Google Analytics
Free analytics service provided by Google that generates statistics of web site traffic.
Google Dance
A fluctuation in the Google rankings as a result of an algorithmic update.
Google XML Sitemap
This service provided by Google through Webmaster Console to accelerate and ensure indexing of sites especially with dynamic URLs.
Heading Tag
An HTML tag used to write the heading of a web page. Heading tag(s) are one of important elements of on-site optimisation, as search engines pays special attention to text marked with a heading tag.
Hidden Text
This text is visible only to search engines bots and not to the human eye.
HTML
Hypertext Markup Language. A markup language used to create and format web pages.
Hyperlinks
Clickable link in text or an image on a web page that takes you to another location within the same document, web page, web site or to a completely different location.
Inbound links (IBL)
Please see Back Links.
Internet Explorer
Microsoft’s Web browser that displays HTML and related document types.
Interstitial Ad
An advertisement on a web page that is displayed briefly before a requested web page is loaded.
IP Address
Internet Protocol Address, a unique number assigned to every device connected to the Internet.
JavaScript
A scripting language produced by Netscape for use within HTML.
Keyword
A word or phrase used as a search engine query.
Keyword Density
The repetition of a keyword compared to others in the whole document. If a keyword was listed 10 times out of word count 100, keyword density will be 10%.
Link Building
This is the process of getting high quality inbound (incoming) links for a website.
Link Farm
A collection of web sites or pages solely built to boost the link popularity of a web site for search engines.
Link Popularity
Refers to the total number of inbound links to a particular web site by different search engines such as Google, MSN, Yahoo etc.
Meta Description
This is an HTML tag to describe web page content that allows search engines to display a description / snippet of your web page.
Meta Keywords
This is an HTML tag to describe the related keywords in your document.
Mozilla Firefox
See Firefox.
Outbound Links
Hyper text links takes a user to an external web site.
Page Title
This text appears within the <TITLE></TITLE> tag and displayed on top of the browser screen.
PageRank
A Google patented method for measuring page importance or relevance; ranges from 0 to 10, 10 being the best. PageRank is a Google link analysis algorithm and should not be mixed up with high rankings.
Page View
Number of time a web page or search ad is served to viewers.
Query
A keyword or phrase entered into a search engine as a request for search results.
Reciprocal Linking
The process of exchanging links between two web sites. Swapping links within topical web sites could help to increase the link popularity.
Robots.txt
A text file located in the root directory to restrict search engine spider’s access to certain files or folders of a web site.
SEO
Acronym for Search Engine Optimisation, a technique used to enable websites to rank better in search engine results for relevant keywords.
SERP
Acronym for Search Engine Results Page. The page a search engine generates in response to a query, listing the search results.
Spam
With respect to search engine optimisation, is an activity designed to trick search engines to get high rankings; for example, hidden text, cloaking and doorway pages. Don’t do this!
Spider
A spider is an automated computer program used by search engines that access web sites and following the links present on the page, the analysis of which is stored in the search engines database. Also called search engine bots.
Splash Page
A preliminary page that shows graphics or links to the actual website content.
Static Page
When encountered in the context of a web page, an HTML document that does not change, existing as a distinct file on the server.
URI
Uniform Resource Identifier – a superset of the URL, identifying a resource by both name and location.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator – An address specifying the location of an HTML page, an email address, or an FTP host.
URL Rewrite
A technique to transform a dynamic URL in order to make it appear static and search engine friendly.
Visitor
A human that visits a website, initiating what is known as a session and maintaining it for a discrete length of time.
Web 2.0
A term used to describe a new generation of Web services and applications with an increasing emphasis on human collaboration.
Web Browser
Software that is used to view or browse HTML documents and related Web pages.
White Hat SEO
Ethical search engine optimisation techniques that are encouraged by the search engines.
XML
Extensible Markup Language, a data markup language characterized by definable hierarchical markup tags.