SEO Glossary
SEO Glossary
30 essential SEO terms: short definition, real-world example, and a link to the relevant SEOLOK tool. Browse alphabetically or search.
B
Backlink
A link from an external website pointing to yours. Google treats quality backlinks as a signal of authority and trustworthiness; links from high-authority sites improve rankings.
Example: A news site linking to your blog post as a source.
Try in SEOLOK: Backlink Monitoring →Bounce Rate
The percentage of visitors who leave a site after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate may indicate a content mismatch or poor user experience.
Example: 65 out of 100 visitors leaving without clicking anything → bounce rate 65%.
Try in SEOLOK: Google Analytics Integration →C
Canonical Tag
An HTML tag that tells Google which version of a page is the "master" when duplicate or near-duplicate URLs exist. Prevents duplicate content penalties.
Example: When both /product and /product?color=black exist, /product is marked canonical.
Try in SEOLOK: Site Audit →CTR (Click-Through Rate)
The percentage of times a page is clicked when it appears in search results. CTR measures how compelling your title and meta description are.
Example: 30 clicks from 1,000 impressions → CTR 3%.
Try in SEOLOK: Search Console Analytics →Core Web Vitals
Google's three main page experience metrics: LCP (load time of the largest element), INP (interaction responsiveness), and CLS (visual stability). They are a ranking factor.
Example: A page with LCP under 2.5 s and CLS under 0.1 is rated 'good'.
Try in SEOLOK: Core Web Vitals Checker →Crawl
The process by which search engine bots visit web pages and record their content. Pages that are not crawled cannot be indexed.
Example: Googlebot crawls seolok.com weekly and adds new pages it discovers to the index.
Try in SEOLOK: Site Audit →D
Domain Authority (DA)
A score from 1–100 developed by Moz that predicts how likely a site is to rank on Google. It is strongly correlated with the quantity and quality of backlinks.
Example: A site with DA 60 will generally outrank a DA 35 site for the same keywords.
Try in SEOLOK: Backlink Monitoring →G
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
The practice of ensuring a brand's content appears in AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Mode — the AI-era extension of traditional SEO.
Example: Your brand being mentioned when a user asks ChatGPT 'what is the best SEO tool?'
Try in SEOLOK: AI Visibility Tracking →H
H1 Tag
The HTML tag that defines a page's main heading. Each page should have exactly one H1, and it should include the target keyword.
Example: <h1>London Solicitor | XYZ Law Firm</h1>
Try in SEOLOK: Site Audit →I
Impressions
The number of times a page appears in Google search results. A page earns an impression even if it is not clicked.
Example: A page with 50,000 impressions and 1,500 clicks has a CTR of 3%.
Try in SEOLOK: Search Console Analytics →Index
Google's database of crawled pages it considers eligible for ranking. Pages with a noindex tag or that are inaccessible are excluded.
Example: A newly published page won't appear in search until Google shows it as 'Indexed' in Search Console.
Try in SEOLOK: Site Audit →Internal Link
A link from one page on a site to another page on the same site. Internal links help Google understand site structure and distribute link equity.
Example: Linking the text 'what is a site audit?' in a blog post to the /site-audit page.
Try in SEOLOK: Site Audit →K
Keyword
A word or phrase users type into search engines. Keywords are the foundation of SEO — targeting the right ones determines where your organic traffic comes from.
Example: "london solicitor" or "best espresso machine" are keywords.
Try in SEOLOK: Keyword Opportunities →Keyword Cannibalization
When multiple pages on the same site compete for the same keyword. The pages undercut each other's rankings.
Example: Both /seo-what-is and /seo-guide being optimised for 'what is SEO'.
Try in SEOLOK: Keyword Cannibalization Checker →L
Landing Page
A page designed for a specific purpose, typically the destination for paid or organic search traffic. It has a focused message and a clear CTA.
Example: A dedicated /seo-services page created for visitors arriving from a 'seo agency' search.
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
The time it takes for the largest visible element on the page to load. Part of Core Web Vitals; under 2.5 seconds is 'good'.
Example: A page whose hero image loads in 3.8 s needs LCP improvements.
Try in SEOLOK: Core Web Vitals Checker →M
Meta Description
The short page summary shown under the title in search results. It does not directly affect rankings but can improve CTR; ideal length is 120–155 characters.
Example: "Track your Google rankings, monitor competitors. Try free."
Try in SEOLOK: Site Audit →N
noindex
An HTML meta tag or HTTP header that prevents a page from being included in Google's index. Accidentally applied to important pages causes invisibility.
Example: A page whose robots meta tag says "noindex" will not appear in search results.
Try in SEOLOK: Site Audit →O
Organic Traffic
Visitors who arrive from search engine results pages without clicking on paid ads. It is the primary target metric for SEO efforts.
Example: A site ranking on page one for 'london seo agency' gains visitors without ad spend.
Try in SEOLOK: Search Console Analytics →P
Position Zero
See Featured Snippet. Content Google displays as a direct answer above the standard blue links.
Example: A conversion calculator shown at the top of a 'kg to pounds' search result.
Try in SEOLOK: Rank Tracking →R
robots.txt
A text file hosted on a web server that tells search engine bots which URLs they may or may not crawl.
Example: Disallow: /admin/ in robots.txt prevents bots from crawling the admin panel.
Try in SEOLOK: Site Audit →Rank (Search Ranking)
The position a web page occupies in search results for a given keyword. Position 1 receives the most clicks.
Example: seolok.com appearing in position 3 for the query 'what is seolok'.
Try in SEOLOK: Rank Tracking →S
Schema Markup (Structured Data)
JSON-LD or Microdata code that helps Google understand page content and display rich results such as star ratings, prices, and FAQ boxes.
Example: Adding product schema so Google shows price and stock status directly in search results.
Try in SEOLOK: Site Audit →SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
The page of results returned by a search engine. It may include organic results, ads, featured snippets, knowledge panels, and maps.
Example: A 'coffee near me' Google SERP includes a map pack, reviews, and organic listings.
Try in SEOLOK: SERP Preview →Sitemap (XML Sitemap)
An XML file that lists all important URLs on a site. It helps Google discover new pages faster.
Example: seolok.com/sitemap.xml lists all blog posts and feature pages for Google to crawl.
Try in SEOLOK: Site Audit →SSL / HTTPS
The security protocol that encrypts website traffic. Google applies a small ranking disadvantage to non-HTTPS sites, and Chrome shows a 'Not secure' warning.
Example: A site using https:// shows a padlock in the browser and is considered secure.
Try in SEOLOK: Alerts →T
Technical SEO
All work that ensures a site is correctly crawled, indexed, and rendered by search engines, independent of content.
Example: Page speed optimisation, broken link repair, and canonical tag implementation are technical SEO tasks.
Try in SEOLOK: Site Audit →Title Tag
The HTML tag that defines the main title shown in browser tabs and search results. It is an important ranking factor; ideal length is 50–60 characters.
Example: <title>London SEO Agency | XYZ Digital</title>
Try in SEOLOK: Site Audit →U
URL Structure
The format of a web page's address. Short, descriptive, keyword-containing URLs are better for both user experience and SEO.
Example: seolok.com/en/seo-glossary is good; seolok.com/en/page?id=42&cat=3 is bad.
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