SEO Basics
How search engines work, what SEO is, and the vocabulary everything else is built on.
What SEO Is
- SEOSearch engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving a website and its content to help search engine…
- Digital MarketingDigital marketing is the use of online channels such as search engines, social media, email, and websites to …
- Google SearchGoogle Search is Google's web search engine that crawls, indexes, and serves web pages to answer user queries.
- SEO vs SEMSEO earns organic search visibility without paying for placement, while SEM is the broader search marketing d…
- Inbound MarketingInbound marketing attracts people with content they find useful, rather than pushing ads or cold messages at …
- Google Images Search Upload PhotoGoogle Images upload search allows you to submit a photo as your query to find identical, similar, or related…
- SEO vs PPCSEO earns organic search visibility over time without paying per click; PPC buys immediate ad placement and c…
- Organic SEOOrganic SEO is improving a website's content, structure, and technical setup to rank higher in unpaid search …
- Organic SearchOrganic search is the unpaid traffic a website earns when a search engine ranks its pages algorithmically for…
- Marketing FunnelA marketing funnel is a model that shows the steps a person goes through from first discovering a brand to ma…
- Voice Search SEOVoice search SEO means making your website and local listings easy for search engines to read aloud as spoken…
- SEO vs SEM vs PPCSEO is the practice of improving unpaid visibility in search engines, PPC is paying for each click on an ad, …
- Search Engine PositioningSearch engine positioning means where a web page appears in search results for a particular query.
- Google Search OperatorsGoogle Search Operators are special commands added to a search query to refine results by site, file type, ti…
- Marketing StatisticsMarketing statistics are numbers that describe market trends, audience behaviour, and campaign performance.
- SEO vs AEOSEO improves web page rankings in search results; AEO makes content ready for direct answers by AI systems an…
- Search LabsSearch Labs is a Google programme that lets eligible users try early search features before public release.
- Non Organic SEONon-organic SEO means gaining search visibility through paid placements, not through unpaid organic rankings.
- Professional SEO MarketingProfessional SEO marketing means making a website show up more in unpaid search results and bringing the righ…
- Organic ResultsOrganic results are unpaid search engine listings that appear because the algorithm deems them relevant to yo…
Search Beyond Google
- Youtube SEOYouTube SEO means optimising video titles, descriptions, and metadata so YouTube understands the topic and sh…
- DuckduckgoDuckDuckGo is a search engine that shows results without tracking you or building a personal profile of your …
- Bing Webmaster ToolsBing Webmaster Tools is a free Microsoft service that lets you see how Bing crawls, indexes, and ranks your w…
- Etsy SEOEtsy SEO means making your listings and shop easier for the platform to find and show in search results.
- Amazon SEOAmazon SEO means improving your product listings to appear higher in Amazon search and turn more visitors int…
- Tiktok SEOTikTok SEO means optimising videos and profiles so they appear in TikTok search results and reach the right a…
- Yandex Search EngineYandex is a Russian technology company whose search engine is the leading discovery tool in Russia and other …
- Pinterest SEOPinterest SEO is the process of improving your profile, boards, and pins so Pinterest can find and rank them …
- Baidu SEOBaidu SEO is the practice of making a website visible in Baidu, the search engine most people in China use.
- Reddit SEOReddit SEO is the practice of using Reddit profiles, posts, and comments to gain visibility in Reddit's own s…
- App Store OptimizationApp store optimization (ASO) is the practice of making a mobile app more visible in app store search results …
- Video SEO (YouTube)YouTube SEO is the practice of optimizing videos and their metadata so YouTube's algorithm can understand, ra…
- Instagram SEOInstagram SEO is the practice of optimising public Instagram profiles and posts so they appear in Google sear…
- Twitch SEOTwitch SEO is adjusting your channel, titles, tags, and content so viewers can find you via Twitch’s own sear…
- Linkedin SEOLinkedIn SEO means optimising your profile, company page, and posts to appear higher in LinkedIn search and a…
- Ebay SEOEbay SEO is the practice of optimising your eBay listings to rank higher in eBay's internal search results an…
- Bing vs YahooBing and Yahoo are separate companies, but Yahoo Search relies on Bing's search engine to deliver web results.
- Yandex SEOYandex SEO means optimising a website so it ranks well in Yandex search, mainly for Russian-speaking audience…
- YouTube SEOYouTube SEO is the process of optimising your video and channel so YouTube understands the topic and shows it…
- Rank Tracker YandexA Yandex rank tracker is a tool that checks a website's position in Yandex search results for chosen keywords.
The SEO Industry
- SEO ServicesSEO services are professional tasks that help a website rank higher in organic search results by improving it…
- SEO AgencyAn SEO agency is a company that helps websites rank higher in search engines through technical, content, and …
- SEO ConsultantAn SEO consultant is a specialist who helps businesses improve their search engine visibility and traffic thr…
- White Label SEOWhite label SEO is a business arrangement where a company does SEO work for another agency, which resells it …
- SEO BusinessAn SEO business is a company or service that helps websites improve their unpaid visibility in search engines…
- SEO PricingSEO pricing is the cost of services that improve a business's visibility in search results, usually charged a…
- Enterprise SEO ConsultantAn enterprise SEO consultant advises large organisations on search performance, focusing on strategy, audits,…
- Local SEO ConsultantA Local SEO Consultant helps a business show up in search results when nearby people look for its products or…
- SEO EventSEO event means optimising an event page, related content, and supporting signals so people find and register…
- White Label SEO ReportA white label SEO report is a client-facing document showing SEO performance, branded with the agency's logo …
- Technical SEO ConsultantA technical SEO consultant helps a website's search performance by fixing behind-the-scenes issues that stop …
- In-House SEOIn-house SEO means a company’s own employees handle all search engine optimisation work instead of outsourcin…
- Organic SEO ConsultantAn organic SEO consultant helps a website appear higher in unpaid search results by planning content, fixing …
- SEO Audit ConsultantAn SEO audit consultant examines a website's search performance and suggests changes to help it rank higher i…
- White Label SEO PartnerA white label SEO partner is a third party that does SEO work for your clients, and you present it under your…
- SEO Industry SizeThe SEO industry size is an estimate of how much money is spent on SEO services and tools worldwide each year.
- SEM IndustryThe SEM industry is the sector of search marketing that uses paid ads on search engines to drive traffic and …
- SEO Consultant Hourly RateThe SEO Consultant Hourly Rate is the fee a consultant charges for one hour of search engine optimisation wor…
- In-House SEOIn-house SEO is when a company's own employees plan and carry out search optimisation work, instead of hiring…
Strategy & Process
- SEO StrategyAn SEO strategy is a plan to improve a site's visibility in search results by coordinating content, technical…
- Black Hat SEOBlack Hat SEO means using tactics that break search engine guidelines to manipulate rankings instead of earni…
- White Hat SEOWhite hat SEO means improving search visibility using methods that follow search engine guidelines and priori…
- SEO WorkflowAn SEO workflow is a repeatable sequence of steps that guides a site or page from research through optimizati…
- SEO RoadmapAn SEO roadmap is a phased, prioritised plan that orders SEO tasks by impact, timeline, and business goals.
- SEO CampaignAn SEO campaign is a coordinated set of actions to improve a website's organic search visibility for a specif…
- SEO SEM StrategySEO SEM Strategy is the coordinated use of organic search optimization and paid search advertising to capture…
- Global SEO StrategyA global SEO strategy is a plan to make a website visible in search results across multiple countries and lan…
- SEO PlanningSEO planning is deciding which search terms to target and what site changes to make to improve organic visibi…
- Affiliate MarketingSEO affiliate marketing is using organic search to drive traffic to content that earns commissions from refer…
- Grey Hat SEOGrey hat SEO uses search optimisation tactics that are not clearly banned but push close to the rules, sittin…
- Automated SEO vs Manual SEOAutomated SEO uses software to perform repetitive optimisation tasks, while manual SEO relies on human judgme…
- SEO Social Media MarketingSEO for social media marketing means optimising social profiles and posts so people can find them in platform…
- Video SEO StrategyVideo SEO strategy is the process of making videos easier for search engines and video platforms to find, ind…
- SEO MythsSEO myths are popular but incorrect beliefs about how search engines rank pages and what optimisation involve…
- White Hat and Black Hat SEOWhite hat SEO works within search engine guidelines to improve visibility; black hat SEO uses deceptive metho…
- Influencer MarketingInfluencer marketing for SEO means partnering with creators to produce content that ranks in search engines, …
- Performance MarketingPerformance marketing is a digital advertising model where payment depends on a specific, measurable action l…
AI & Search
- AI SEOAI SEO means using artificial intelligence to plan, create, optimise, and measure content so it ranks higher …
- AI Search OptimizationAI Search Optimization means structuring content and brand signals so AI-driven search systems find, understa…
- Generative Engine OptimizationGenerative engine optimization means arranging your content so AI search tools can understand, trust, and quo…
- LLM SEOLLM SEO is the practice of making your content easy for large language models to find, understand, and cite i…
- SEO Writing AISEO Writing AI is software that uses artificial intelligence to help create or improve content so it ranks be…
- AI CopywritingAI copywriting means using artificial intelligence tools to write or improve marketing text like ads, emails,…
- Chatgpt SEOChatGPT SEO means using AI prompts to help with SEO tasks like finding keywords, writing content outlines, an…
- AI Generated ContentAI generated content is text, images, audio, video or other media created or substantially altered by an arti…
- LlmoLLMO stands for Large Language Model Optimisation: making content easier for AI models to find, understand an…
- LLM Visibility ToolsLLM visibility tools measure how often a brand appears in AI-generated answers.
- Sge SEOSGE is Google's experimental AI feature that writes a summary answer directly on the search results page, oft…
- AI SEO AgentAn AI SEO agent is a software system that independently plans and performs SEO tasks, using live data and too…
How Search Engines Work
- Website RankingWebsite ranking is the position a webpage appears in unpaid search results for a particular search query.
- Search EnginesA search engine is a program that crawls the web, builds an index, and returns relevant pages for a user's qu…
- Search Engine MarketingSearch engine marketing is the practice of using search engines to promote a business, typically through paid…
- Semantic SearchSemantic search is a method that matches search queries to results by understanding the meaning, intent, and …
- SEO Ranking FactorsSEO ranking factors are the signals Google uses to decide which pages to show first for a search query.
- PagerankPageRank is a Google algorithm that estimates a webpage's importance by counting the quantity and quality of …
- Ranking by SEORanking by SEO is the position a webpage holds in unpaid search results for a given search query.
- Search Engine VisibilitySearch engine visibility measures how often and how prominently a website appears in unpaid search results fo…
- Search Engine SubmissionSearch engine submission is telling a search engine your site or pages exist, usually by submitting a sitemap…
- Algorithm SEOAn algorithm in SEO is the set of rules a search engine uses to decide which pages to show for a query and in…
- Search Engine PlacementSearch engine placement is the position a page holds in search results for a specific query, measured from th…
- Search Engine AlgorithmA search engine algorithm is a set of rules that decides which pages appear in search results and in what ord…
The SERP
- SERPA SERP (search engine results page) is the page a search engine displays after a query, showing organic resul…
- People Also AskPeople Also Ask (PAA) is a Google SERP feature that displays expandable related questions with brief answer s…
- SERP FeaturesSERP features are extra elements on a search results page that go beyond standard blue links, like snippets, …
- SERP SnippetA SERP snippet is the preview of a search result on a search engine results page, typically showing the title…
- Featured SnippetA featured snippet is a Google search result box that extracts a short answer from a webpage and displays it …
- Search ResultsSearch results are the list of web pages, images, videos, and other content a search engine displays after a …
- Snippet SEOSnippet SEO is the practice of optimising the search result preview—title, URL, and description—to attract cl…
- Rich SnippetsRich snippets are search results with extra information like ratings or prices, generated from structured dat…
- Google SitelinksGoogle Sitelinks are extra links from the same website that appear under a main search result to help people …
- Google Answer BoxA Google Answer Box is a search result box that displays a direct answer to a query at or near the top of Goo…
- Knowledge Graph SEOKnowledge Graph SEO is the practice of helping search engines see your content as connected people, places, t…
- Search Engine ListingA search engine listing is a result displayed on a search engine results page when someone searches for a ter…
Algorithm Updates & Penalties
- SEO UpdatesSEO updates are changes to Google's ranking systems that can shift how pages are evaluated and ranked in sear…
- SEO SpamSEO spam is any deceptive tactic used to trick search engines into ranking a page higher, often by injecting …
- Google Algorithm UpdateA Google algorithm update is a change to the ranking systems that decide which pages appear in search results…
- Google PandaGoogle Panda was a 2011 Google algorithm update that demoted sites with thin or low-quality content and boost…
- Penguin SEOPenguin SEO is a Google algorithm that penalises websites using manipulative link-building schemes and over-o…
- Google Search UpdatesGoogle Search updates are changes to the systems Google uses to decide which pages appear in search results a…
- Hummingbird SEOGoogle Hummingbird is a 2013 algorithm overhaul that helps Google grasp the meaning and intent of searches, r…
- Google Algorithm Volatility GraphA Google Algorithm Volatility Graph shows how much search results are changing over time, helping you spot po…
- SEO ManualAn SEO manual is a step-by-step set of human-led tasks used to improve how a website appears in search result…
- SEO PenaltyAn SEO penalty is a search engine's demotion or removal of a site from results for violating quality guidelin…
- Redaction Article SEORedaction Article SEO is the practice of writing content that serves user intent and is structured to help se…