302 (Found)
This is simply a temporary redirect to have the url be moved to a new location but eventually it will be found at its original location over time.

404 (Not found)
The page that is displayed when the webpage cannot be found.

A

AJAX
Is a combination of JavaScript and XML. A web development way of updating certain sections of a webpage without the need to reload the webpage. One of the most popular forms of web development used today.

Absolute URL’s Link
This is the use of showing the complete url rather than just a portion of it. When adding a hyperlink to a webpage you could easily say “../blog/seo-techniques.htm” because the “../” points to the root directory. But to create webpages that do not have the wrong url being spidered without the www’s in it I suggest you use the absolute url hyperlink so it stays consistent throughout the entire website. So use “http://www.your-website.com/blog/seo-techniques.htm” rather than “../blog/seo-techniques.htm” when creating a webpage and your url’s will always spider the the www in it.

Algorithm
The formula that the searh engines use to index websites and return results based on the search query you entered. The actual algoritm is how the search engine gives you what they consider to be the most relevant results for the keyword that you entered.

ALT Tag
This is an html tag use to give a description of an image on a webpage. This method can help search engines understand the webpage better. A good technique is to make the description match the relevancy of the webpage. Alt tags are also known as alternative text or alt attribute.

Anchor Text
Text used as link label or link title or clickable text in a hyperlink to a page is known as anchor text.

B

Backlinks
This refers to links that are coming to a website or webpage. Backlinks are also known as incoming link or inbound links. Backlinks are one of the most important factors in ranking a website.

Bots
A software program designed by a search engine to crawl or scan websites. Bots are also known as web crawlers or spiders. Each search engine has their own such as Googlebot (Google) Scooter (AltaVista), Slurp (Inktomi), Tarantula (AltaVista) and MantraAgent (LookSmart). View more <a href=”http://www.searchenginedictionary.com/spider-names.shtml” target=”_blank”>Search Engine Spider Names</a> and which search engine they belong to.

Broken Links
Hyperlinks when clicked are not functioning correctly or going to the wrong targeted webpage.

C

Canonicalization
If there is more than one url option that is available then this is the process of picking which one is the best such as picking the homepage. Sometimes you see index.html, index.htm, index.php, homepage.htm or even welcome.html as a option. Sometimes it could even refer to www.abc.com, abc.com or even abc.com/index.htm

Cloaking
This is where a web developer makes a webpage design for two parties. One is a page that the user sees and another is one specifically made for search engine bots which ususally has a keyword rich page to help rank it higher and quicker in the search engines.

Copyright
This term is used for website owners who claim certain rights to content, images, code, etc that they uniquely created themselves.

Crawler
See the definition for ‘Bots’.

Crawl Depth
This refers to how deep a website is crawled and indexed into a search engine.

D

DHTML
This is a form of html known as Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language or simply the combination of HTML and JavaScript in web development.

Deep Linking
A hyperlink that points directly towards a specific webpage.

De-Listing
Permanently or sometime temporarily removing your website from a search engine index.

Description Tag
A tag used to decribe a webpage which is used by the search engine result pages to give a user a brief understanding of what the webpage is about before they click on your link.

Domain
The actual name of the website address such as abc.com

Doorway Page
This is a form of spamming the search engines which a web developer uses to insert results for certain keyphrases or keywords and then redirects the user to a completely different webpage.

E

Entry Page
The page that a user enters into your website.

External Link
A link that is linked to another external website or domain name.

F

F.F.A.
This term stands for “Free for all” link pages which means anyone a link to them.

F.T.P.
Stands for File Transfer Protocol. It allows web developers to upload and download files to a server such as updating a webpage from an old page to a new page.

Feeds
A shortened or updated file of a webpage for syndication.

Flash
Used in web developement to create animation and even the ability to make the webpage interactive for users to conduct a specific function.

Frames
The ability to embed smaller webpages that combine into one larger webpage.

G

Gateway page
See the definition for ‘Doorway Page’.

Geo-Targeting
Allows your website to be locally targeted so you can get more specific local results.

H

Headings
These coding elements are apart of the heading tags of a webpage to display certain titles and subtitles to show the important keywords on the page. H1 is the most commonly used and most important heading tag.

Head Terms
This refers to the short and popular search terms.

Hidden text
A technique web developers use to hide text from a user but could been seen by a search engine bot to help with rankings. This technique can be as simple as filling a webpage with keywords below the footer in a white font with a white background.
I

Index
When a search engine bot crawls the data on a website and adds it to a database filled with other websites off the web.

Inbound Link
A link that points from another website towards your website.

Internal Link
A link that points from a website towards another page of the same website.

J

JavaScript
An html language web developers use to add dynamic features to a website.

K

KEI
This term stands for Keyword Effective Index which is used to determine the value of the keywords of a website.

Keyword
This term refers to a specific single word that is used to describe a topic.

Keyword Phrase
This term refers to a combination of keywords that a user uses to search for specific topics. Keyphrases are also used heavily in Search Engine Optimization to rank a specific landing page or even a specific paid ad.

Keyword Density
Refers to the importance of a keyword or keyword phrase that is used in the context of a webpage.

Keyword Research
The process a web developer uses to discover the most important and relevant keywords and keyword phrases for a website. This includes supporting keywords and keyword phrases that help support the main topic which helps rank a website. For example if the main keyword is shoes then supporting keywords could be Nike, Adidas, etc.

Keyword Stuffing
The use of excessive keywords on a webpage.

Keyword Tag
Adding hidden keywords of a webpage to the header which search engines use to identify the relevancy of the webpage.

L

Link Building
The term is simply anything you do to build links to a website.

Landing Page
The webpage a user goes to after clicking on a link or an advertisement.

Link Farming
This is a way of creating fake or irrelevant links to a website and will hurt you in search engine rankings.

Link Popularity
This refers to the total number of links that point to a website.

Linkbait
When a website creates content that gets people to notice and then link back towards the website.

Long-tailed Keywords
This term is for keyword phrases that have a longer search criteria such as instead of “Orlando Hotels” someone may type in “Hotels in Orlando with king beds”.

M

Meta Search
Search engines that grab search results from large search engines and then rearrange the results.

Mirror Sites
A technique in creating duplicate pages of a website that target different keywords. This technique will hurt your rankings in search engines.

Meta Tags
The combination of meta descriptions and meta keywords for a webpage.

N

No Follow
A code that web developers insert into the header of a webpage that tells search engines not to index it.

O

Organic Results
Natural links that are not paid and results show up in Search Engine Result Pages through indexing.

Organic Search Rankings
Rankings of a webpage found in Search Engine Result Pages.

Outbound Link
This is a term for a website link that points towards another website.

P

PageRank (PR)
PageRank was created by Google to show the importance of a webpage based on link popularity.

Paid Inclusion (PFI)
A fee for some search engines to be guaranteed your website is included in their directories.

RSS
Stands for Real Simple Syndication which is a format that feeds your content through an xml for distribution around the search engine and certain websites.

Reciprocal Link
This is simply when two websites exchange links with each other by placing the other’s link somewhere on their website.

Robots.txt
A text file that is put into the root directory which instructs search engine crawlers to perform a certain function such as to not crawl a website.

S

SEM
Stands for Search Engine Marketing which is an internet marketing term for promoting websites through various forms of marketing.

SEO
Stands for Search Engine Optimization which is the process of optimizing a website along with the code and landing page in order to rank webpages in the search engine result pages (SERPs).

SEO Copywriting
The process of writing or editing a website’s content so it appears significant to a user’s search query.

SERPs
Stands for Search Engine Results Pages which is simply the results of a search query.

Search Engines
A database that stores webpages and is used to help user’s find the information they are looking for.

Search Query
The keyword or phrase a user types in to a search field in order to find the information they are looking for.

Site Map
A specific webpage used to help search engine find all of the webpage’s in a website. It also helps a user navigate through a website easier.

Siloing
A website technique to split the webpages into multiple themes.

Spamming
A person who uses unethical techniques to flood search engines with content, ads, email, etc. with the hopes of getting some of the recipients to follow the spammers intentions such as ordering products.

Spider
See the definition for ‘Bots’.

Splash Page
An entry page of a website which is design with heavy graphics and interaction for the user such as using a flash page.

Sponsored Listing
This is a listing that a website owner pays to show up in the search results on top of their competition quickly.

Stemming
The use of a keyword’s stem for search relevancy.

T

Tier I Search Engines
Simply the top three search engine which are Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Tier II Search Engines
This consists of smaller search engines such as Ask.com, AOL and Jayde.

Tier III Search Engines
Providers who are small in comparision to other search engines and who normall do not feed their pay per click advertising to other website with PPC results.

Title Tag
A tag in the header of a website code that contains title of the webpage.

Trackbacks
This is a method of allowing automated notices that another website has mentioned your website.

Traffic
This refers to the number of visitors who come to your website.

U

Usability
Refers to the proper function of a website for it users including that it is that it user friendly.

URL
Stands for Uniform Resource Locator which is nothing more the the website’s address or domain name.

URL Rewrite
A web development term for making url’s more friendly and unique for search engine spiders so they can be easily indexed and ranked by search engines.

User Agent
The abililty to identify things such as a visitor of a website, browser type or spider.

W

Web analytics
A program design to help a website owner analyze the traffic data of a website and its usage.

Wiki
A software that helps users to add their personal knowledge to a certain topic of discussion.

Word Count
The total number or words a file contains.

X

XML
A Extensible Markup Language for delivering data easier to a program so it can be distributed and updated easier on a website.