301 Status Code

A redirect that takes users from one URL to another with content. If you delete or remove a page from your website, it is beneficial to set up a redirect from the removed page to an existing page.

404 Status Code

A broken page with no content. These provide a poor user experience and should be redirected to a page that exists.

5XX Status Code

A page with no content due to a server error. This could be due to a variety of reasons in which the server can not fulfill a user request.

Alt Text

An internal caption given to each image. Search engines like Google can not “see” images so they use alt text to understand what is in each one.

Average Duration

The average time users spend per session on your website. The longer a user spends, the better your website will score on user experience/answering their questions.

Backlink

Any link on an external website that points to a page on your website. Backlinks help build authority for your website - a pillar of SEO.

Canonical

When two pages are duplicate or near duplicate, Google will not know which one to crawl and index. Therefore, we need to tell search engines which one to index with a canonical tag. This prevents keyword cannibalization.

CLS = Cumulative Layout Shift

A core web vital that measures your website’s visual stability. It is a score given to the largest burst of layout shifts that occur during your page’s load. A layout shift refers to anytime a visual element changes its position or size while loading.

Core Web Vitals

A set of three metrics used by search engines like Google to determine how optimized your website is for user experience (LCP, FID, CLS).

CRO = Conversion Rate Optimization

The process of optimizing the user journey on your website for specific user actions to reduce drop-off and increase conversions and average order values.

Dwell Time

The average time users spend on a specific page after clicking through to your website from Google. There are mixed opinions on whether dwell time is a direct ranking factor.

Featured Snippet

Information that is pulled from a top-ranking page that shows up at the top of the search engine results page. This paragraph, list, or definition is meant to answer a user’s question without them leaving the search engine results page.

FID = First Input Delay

A core web vital that measures your website’s load responsiveness. It is a time-based metric measuring how long it takes for any given page to become interactive by a user.

H1 = Header 1

Each page’s top-level header. A best practice is to ensure every page on your website has one and only one H1 header. This lays out the structure of your content.

Internal Link

Any link that takes users from one of your pages to another page on your website. Internal links structure how users navigate your website.

Keyword Cannibalization

When two pages on your website are ranking for the same keyword. This causes internal competition leading to lower ranking performance.

Keyword Density

The percentage of words on each page that are your target keyword. It is best practice to keep this between one and two percent to prevent keyword stuffing - a black hat SEO technique.

LCP = Largest Contentful Paint

A core web vital that measures your website’s perceived load speed. It is a time-based metric measuring how long it takes for the largest element on your page to fully load.

Meta Description

A short description given to every page that explains its content. This description shows up on search engine results pages and if written correctly, can increase click-through-rates from searchers.

No Index

If there are specific pages on our website that you do not want search engines to show on their search engine results pages, you can place a “no index” tag on them indicating to search engines to leave them out of their index.

Orphan Page

Any page on your website that does not include an internal link pointing to it. There is no way for users to find it through the website. It is also difficult for search engines to find and crawl it as well.

Pillar Page

A page that covers a topic comprehensively and answers all questions users may have around the topic. This page is meant to build authority around the topic, as well as attract backlinks.

Redirect

When a user loads an initial URL but is taken to another URL that contains content.

Rich Results

Additional information shown within your website’s search results that provide searchers with more information about your company or services. It takes up more space on SERPs and can potentially lead to higher click-through-rates.

Robots.txt

An internal website file that instructs search engines on how to crawl your website. Typically the sitemap will be stored here, as well as any pages that you want search engines to not index.

SEO = Search Engine Optimization

The process of optimizing your website by building authority, boosting relevance for target keywords, and improving the user experience to increase visibility on organic search engine results pages.

Sitemaps

An internal file that stores all content on your website. This should be placed in the robots.txt of your website to make it as easy as possible for search engines to find.

SSL = Secure Sockets Layer

Security software meant to encrypt information transferred between a client (website) and a server. It is standard procedure for commercial websites to include this for improved site security.

Structured Data

Additional information about your business, company, or services provided to search engines through a snippet of code. This additional information gives search engines the chance to show “rich results” under your normal organic result leading to more SERP real estate and high click-through-rates.

Title Tag

A title given to each page on your website. This is the title that shows up on search engine results pages and in the tab of each user browser. If optimized correctly, it can help boost relevance for your target keyword.

Topic Cluster

A list of subtopics that fall under one umbrella topic. These subtopics are meant to help plan out future blog posts and pillar pages.

URL = Uniform Resource Locators

The address for where every page on the internet is located. Every page will have a unique URL.