SEO Glossary
The definitive guide to search engine optimization terminology.
NoFollow Link
A link with a rel="nofollow" HTML tag applied to it. It tells search engines not to pass authority to the linked webpage.
Nofollow Attribute
A value assigned to the rel attribute of an HTML anchor tag to instruct some search engines that the hyperlink should not influence the ranking of the link's target in the search engine's index.
Off-Page SEO
Actions taken outside of your own website to impact your rankings within search engine results pages (e.g., link building, social media marketing).
On-Page SEO
The practice of optimizing individual web pages in order to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines.
Organic Search
Search engine results that are naturally generated by the algorithm, rather than being paid advertisements.
Orphan Page
A web page that is not linked to by any other page on the same website, making it difficult for search engines and users to find.
Outbound Link
A link from your website to another website. Also known as an external link.
PBN (Private Blog Network)
A network of websites created primarily for the purpose of building links and passing authority to a single website. A high-risk black hat tactic.
Page Speed
A measurement of how fast the content on your page loads, which is a confirmed ranking factor for both desktop and mobile searches.
PageRank
An algorithm used by Google Search to rank web pages in their search engine results. It measures the importance of website pages.
Pagination
The practice of dividing content into separate, consecutive pages (e.g., page 1, page 2). Requires careful SEO handling to ensure crawlers access all content.
Pogo-Sticking
When a user clicks on a search engine result, very quickly clicks the "back" button to return to the search results page, and clicks on a different result.
Pruning Content
The process of reviewing and subsequently removing or updating low-quality, outdated, or underperforming content on a website to improve overall site health.
RankBrain
A component of Google's core algorithm which uses machine learning to determine the most relevant results to search engine queries.
Redirect (301)
A permanent redirect from one URL to another. It passes between 90-99% of link equity to the redirected page.
Redirect Chain
A series of redirects that go from one URL to another and then to another. These slow down page load times and dilute link equity.
Referrer
The URL of the previous webpage from which a link was followed to reach the current webpage.
Rich Snippet
A search result that features additional data displayed alongside the standard title, URL, and description, usually generated via schema markup (e.g., review stars, recipe times).
Robots.txt
A text file webmasters create to instruct web robots (typically search engine robots) how to crawl pages on their website.
Schema Markup
A semantic vocabulary of tags (microdata) that you can add to your HTML to improve the way search engines read and represent your page in SERPs.
Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
The page displayed by a search engine in response to a query by a searcher.
Sitemap (XML)
A file where you provide information about the pages, videos, and other files on your site, and the relationships between them. Search engines read this file to intelligently crawl your site.
Slug
The part of a URL which identifies a particular page on a website in an easy-to-read form.
Title Tag
An HTML element that specifies the title of a web page. Title tags are displayed on SERPs as the clickable headline for a given result.