At Innovative SEO we mean business. With the current rise in search market shares, there is no better day than today to start learning more about what we can do for you.
Below we have provided a free informational directory to teach your more about what goes on behind the scenes
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Analysis, Research and Consulting
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On-site SEO
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Off-Site SEO/ Deliverables
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Website Reporting & Analytics
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Agent
Definition: A piece of software, such as a browser or spider, that interprets the content on a web server and presents it to the user as a web page. Examples include Internet Explorer, Opera, Netscape and various search engine spiders.
Examples: MS Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Googlebot, Slurp, T-Rex
Agent name delivery
Definition: The act of presenting one set of content to search engine spiders based on the name of that spider and another set of content to human web users. This is done to present content that has been specifically optimized to rank well at each search engine while still presenting the same content to each human visitor to the web site.
This technology is easily detected as web surfers are able to use an agent name faking program to appear as if they are the named spider and view the cloaked content.
Algorithm
Definition: The defined set of rules put in place by a search engine to measure and sort the web page listings that will be displayed in response to a search query.
Backlink
Definition: A hypertext link on a web site other than your own that points to your web site. Inbound links are an important part of web site marketing as they can deliver targeted visitors directly from another web site, and can help to improve the ranking position of your web site on engines that use link popularity as a part of their algorithm. (also known as inbound link.)
Blog
Definition: A style of Internet publishing that uses content management software to allow for quick and easy posting of articles, personal journals and news stories. Also known as “web log.”
Bookmark
Definition: A method of saving a link with a personal notation for a web site that you wish to visit again. Most browsers have some form of storage system that allows for sites to be catalogued in folders. Also known as “favorites.”
Boolean search
Definition: A search function that allows a user to include or exclude documents containing certain words by using the words “AND,” “NOT,” and “OR.”
Pronunciation: boo-leen search (noun)
Cache
Definition: The storing of a web site on either a computer’s hard drive, or in a search engine’s index. On personal computers, cache is used to save a copy of web sites images, text and code to help speed up download upon future visits to the site. On search engines, cache serves as a record of the content of a web page when a search engine last visited and indexed it.
CGI
Definition: The standard interface between software on a web server and any other programs running on the same machine.
Also Known As: Common Gateway Interface
CGI Program
Definition: A program that handles data input or output according to CGI standards. These types of programs are used to handle database queries, forms and dynamic web content.
Click thru
Definition: The act of a visitor clicking on a link displayed within a set of search engine results in order to reach the web page represented by that link. Click thru amounts related to each keyword search can be tracked as a method of determining if a particular keyword will entice visitors to a web site.
Cloaking
Definition: The act of hiding true page content from either a human or robot visitor. This technique is used both to camouflage actual page content from page thieves and to artificially present a more search engine friendly web site to visiting spiders.
Clustering
Definition: The process of listing a single page from a web site within a search engine or directory’s search results. This is a common practice in order to provide a wider variety of relevant results and is aimed to keep one company from occupying all of the top positions.
Comment tag
Definition: HTML tag that is used to hide text from browsers. Often used to hide java script code from browsers that are unable to accommodate it. Although some engines will read and index the content contained within these tags, most engines ignore it.
Conceptual Search
Definition: The act of searching for a document based on words that are related to a concept rather than a document that contains the actual search word or phrase.
Content rich
Definition: Refers to a web page that contains relevant content to the topic at hand. Usually used to refer to the need to repeat keyword phrases within the body copy of a web site. Search engine algorithms give higher ranking to a site that contains the keyword phrases that a user is searching for.
Conversion rate
Definition: The mathematical equation that determines what percentage of visitors to a site completes a specified action.
Examples: If 4 out of 100 individuals signs up for an online newsletter, the conversion rate for that site is 4%.
CPA
Definition: An advertising deal in which the purchaser agrees to pay a set price for each action that is taken by the viewer of the advertisement.
Also Known As: Cost Per Action
Examples: An advertising deal that has a newsletter signup of $0.25 CPA would cost the site owner $0.25 for every user that signed up for the newsletter though that program.
CPC
Definition: An advertising deal in which the purchaser agrees to pay a set price for each click thru that results from the advertisement.
Also Known As: Cost Per Click
Examples: An advertising deal that has a $0.25 CPC would cost the site owner $1.00 for every four clicks that their site receives.
CPM
Definition: An advertising deal in which the purchaser agrees to pay a set price to purchase blocks of 1000 page views.
Also Known As: Cost Per Thousand (think M=1000 in Roman Numerals)
Examples: An advertising deal that has a $5.00 CPM and recieved 6000 views would cost the site owner $30.00.
Crawler
Definition: An automated robot program that follows links to visit web sites on behalf of search engines or directories. Crawlers then process and index the code and content of a web page to be stored in the search engine’s database.
Examples: Googlebot is the crawler that travels the web finding and indexing pages for the Google search engine.
Cross browser
Definition: A reference to the need to test and adjust web site code, java script and CSS so that it displays properly on multiple browsers.
Examples: Some CSS will not display properly on both Internet Explorer and Netscape. In order to be cross browser compatible, a webmaster must design work arounds that are tailored to each browser so that the site always displays properly.
Cross linking
Definition: The act of linking to content contained on a web site from elsewhere in that web site.
Examples: Linking each page of your web site back to the home page is an example of cross linking.
CSS
Definition: Coding option that allows webmasters to apply simple display styles to each page of a web site by setting up templates.
Also Known As: Cascading Style Sheets
Examples: CSS can be used to redefine the look of standard HTML tags. For instance, search engines place higher value on text contained within the tags, but the default size for these tags is generally too large for modern web design. CSS can be used to redefine the size, color, font and emphasis of these tags so that webmasters can properly utilize them in search engine optimization.
De-listing
Definition: The removal of a web page from a search engine or directory’s index. Removal can occur as a result of a cleanup of dead links, as a penalty for spamming, or because of server issues at a site’s host.
Dead link
Definition: The name given to a link that leads to a web page or site that has either moved or no longer exists. Search engines are directories continually work to remove dead links from their indexes in order to improve the overall quality of search results.
Examples: When a web site is redesigned to include new pages and remove old pages, the old pages that remain in search engine listings lead no where and are referred to as “dead links.”
Deep link
Definition: The act of linking to a page (deep) within a web site rather than linking to the main URL. Directories discourage the submission of deep links as a way to keep their indexes clean and organized.
Description
Definition: The descriptive text associated with a web site or page’s listing on a search engine results page.
Examples: Descriptions that appear in results pages from search engines usually consist of the text of the Meta Description tag, or a snippet of relevant text taken from the web page.
Descriptions that appear in results pages from directories usually consist of an assigned snippet of text created by the editor who has reviewed the web site or page in question.
Directory
Definition: Searchable subject guide organized by topical subject or geographical region and consisting of web sites that have been reviewed and compiled by human editors. Directories are often provided as a browsable alternative to the searchable indexes of search engines.
Examples: Yahoo!, The Open Directory Project and Looksmart are some of the most popular directories on the web.
Dns lookup
Definition: A process which converts a unique IP address into a domain name. Often used by webmasters to research listings contained in server log files.
Domain
Definition: The name given to the address of a web site. Domains are written in a hierarchical manner with lower-level domains referring to sub-sections of the base web site. Domains are available with a variety of extensions, the most popular of which are .com, .edu, .gov, and .org. Domains are unique and must be registered and assigned to a web host to become effective.
Example: http://www.searchengineguide.com is the domain of the Search Engine Guide web site.
Domain name registration
Definition: The act of registering a domain name with an approved registrar.
Doorway domain
Definition: A domain that has been specifically created to be highly ranked for particular keywords in search engine results pages, but that directs visitors toward the actual domain of a web site.
Doorway page
Definition: A specially created web page that is designed to rank highly on a particular search engine by utilizing the methods that are known to produce the best results on that engine. These pages are most often designed to be visible to a search engine spider, but to be hidden from a human visitor. Doorway pages are currently considered a recognized spam tactic and are banned by most of the major engines and directories.
Dynamic content
Definition: Web content that is generated out of a database to create dynamic web pages.
Dynamic IP address
Definition: An IP address that changes with each connection to the Internet.
Favorites
Definition: A method of saving a link with a personal notation for a web site that you wish to visit again. Most browsers have some form of storage system that allows for sites to be catalogued in folders. Also known as “bookmarks.”
FFA link pages
Definition: Web pages specifically designed to allow anyone to submit a link to their site. FFA sites tend to rotate new links in and old links out. They have little use in search engine optimization and provide minimal traffic.
Also Known As: Free For All Link Pages
Fields
Definition: The act of specifying which location of a page a search term should appear on. For example, users can specify that the search term should appear in the URL or in the incoming link text.
Filter words
Definition: Common words such that search engines remove from web pages before they add them to their index in order to save space. These words tend to have very little impact on search engine ranking and are usually discounted from search phrases as well.
Examples: of, is, the, and, for, it
Frames
Definition: A coding style that is used to combine multiple HTML documents into a single web page. Frames are often used to allow certain areas of a web site to remain in place (i.e. navigation, header graphic) while other areas of the site are scrollable.
Framed web sites are more difficult to optimize for high search engine rankings because most spiders are unable to read and index the content within a < FRAMESET > tag. Sites that are designed using frames need to place optimized content in the < NOFRAMES > in order to provide the search engine spiders with something to index.
FTP
Definition: The protocol used to upload and download content from web servers.
Also Known As: File Transfer Protocol
Gateway domain
Definition: A domain that has been specifically created to be highly ranked for particular keywords in search engine results pages, but that directs visitors toward the actual domain of a web site.
Gateway page
Definition: A specially created web page that is designed to rank highly on a particular search engine by utilizing the methods that are known to produce the best results on that engine. These pages are most often designed to be visible to a search engine spider, but to be hidden from a human visitor. Doorway pages are currently considered a recognized spam tactic and are banned by most of the major engines and directories.
Heading tag
Definition: An HTML tag that designates headlines in the body copy of a website. These tags use the format and are designated in importance by the numbers 1 through 6. (1 being the largest headline.) Heading tags are important to SEO efforts because most engines will give extra weight to keywords contained within these tags.
Hidden text
Definition: Content on a web site that is coded in a manner that makes it invisible to human visitors, but readable by search engine spiders. This is done in order to artificially inflate the keyword density of a web site without affecting the visual appearance of it. Hidden text is a recognized spam tactic and nearly all of the major search engines recognize and penalize sites that use this tactic.
HTML
Definition: The scripting language used to define the content and appearance of a web page.
Also Known As: Hypertext Markup Language
HTTP
Definition: The main protocol used to communicate between web servers and Internet browsers.
Also Known As: HyperText Transfer Protocol
Inbound link
Definition: A hypertext link on a web site other than your own that points to your web site. Inbound links are an important part of web site marketing as they can deliver targeted visitors directly from another web site, and can help to improve the ranking position of your web site on engines that use link popularity as a part of their algorithm. (also known as a backlink)
Index
Definition: The database of web pages that is maintained by a search engine or directory.
This phrase can also refer to the main page (the index page) of a web site.
Indexed
Definition: The act of being reviewed and stored in a database by a visiting spider from a search engine.
Invisible text
Definition: Content on a web site that is coded in a manner that makes it invisible to human visitors, but readable by search engine spiders. This is done in order to artificially inflate the keyword density of a web site without affecting the visual appearance of it. Hidden text is a recognized spam tactic and nearly all of the major search engines recognize and penalize sites that use this tactic.
Invisible web
Definition: The name given to the content of dynamic or database driven sites that are unable to be indexed by search engines.
IP address
Definition: Unique numerical identifier given to each Internet connection. The IP address is how data finds its way from a web site back to your computer.
IP addresses that are attached to dialup ISP accounts usually dynamic and change with each connection.
IP addresses that are attached to a permanent Internet connection like a T1 line or a cable modem are static and stay the same all the time.
IP delivery
Definition: The act of presenting one set of content to search engine spiders and another set of content to human web users. This is accomplished by presenting different sets of content based on the IP address of a visitor. IP Delivery is a form of cloaking that is used to present content that has been specifically optimized to rank well at each search engine while still presenting the same content to each human visitor to the web site.
This technology is difficult to detect, as it requires that a user present the IP address of a search engine spider in order to view the hidden web site content. (see also: agent name delivery, cloaking.)
IP spoofing
Definition: A method of connecting to the Internet or a particular web site and reporting a different IP Address than your assigned one. IP Spoofing is used in SEO in order to trick a spider into indexing one site, while actually presenting another site to the end user. This tactic can also be used to redirect a user to a site other than the one they have clicked on.
This tactic is considered highly unethical and is illegal in some areas.
ISP
Definition: The designation given to companies that provide access to the Internet.
Also Known As: Internet Service Provider
Examples: AOL, Earthlink, Juno
Keyword
Definition: A word or phrase that is used in a search engine query. Optimizing a site entails researching the keyword or keyword phrases that users enter in order to find web sites, and optimizing a web site around those terms.
Keyword buys
Definition: A type of advertising that entails paying for high placement in search engine results for pre-selected keywords and keyword phrases.
Keyword density
Definition: Refers to a web page that contains relevant content to the topic at hand. Usually used to refer to the need to repeat keyword phrases within the body copy of a web site. Search engine algorithms give higher ranking to a site that contains the keyword phrases that a user is searching for.
Also Known As: keyword rich, keyword dense
Keyword domain name
Definition: The act of purchasing a domain name that contains the main keyword or keyword phrase that a site is being optimized for. Traditionally this entails placing a hyphen between each word in the domain. This is done because most search engines read hyphens as a space, thus allowing the domain to contribute to increased positioning for that keyword.
Examples: If the main keyword for your web site was “blue widgets,” and keyword domain name would be www.blue-widgets.com.
Keyword research
Definition: The act of researching what particular words and phrases are used to search for web sites. This is one of the most important aspects of SEO as it allows a webmaster to write the content of their site in a manner that will help them rank highly on these particular phrases.
Keyword stuffing
Definition: The act of repeating keywords or keyword phrases excessively in body copy, hidden text, meta tags, or any other code on the site. Originally done in order to increase rankings in search engines, this tactic is now recognized and penalized by most of the major search engines.
Link farm
Definition: A set of web pages that have been built for the sole purpose of increasing the number of incoming links to a web site. This is done in order to increase link popularity and search engine rankings. Link farms usually require a reciprocal link from sites seeking listings.
Link farms are a known spam tactic and sites that participate in them are likely to be penalized or banned from the major search engines.
Link popularity
Definition: The act of a search engine counting the number of inbound links to a web site. Many search engines now use this information as part of their ranking system.
Link Popularity is measured by a combination of factors that are designed to weigh the importance of each incoming link. Links from sites with high link popularity will have more weight in a search engine algorithm than links from unpopular sites. In addition, links from sites with complimentary content count as more than links from sites that have no relevance.
Link rot
Definition: The name given to a link that leads to a web page or site that has either moved or no longer exists. Search engines are directories continually work to remove dead links from their indexes in order to improve the overall quality of search results.
Meta data
Definition: The information that is contained within the meta tags of a web site.
Meta search engine
Definition: A search engine that collects results from other search engines and directories and then presents a summary of that information as the results of a search.
Examples: Dogpile, Metacrawler
Meta tag
Definition: An HTML tag placed within the header area of code for a web site. This information is visible only to spiders and does not appear as a visual part of the web site. These tags were originally used be webmasters to provide information about the content of a web site in order to assist search engines in indexing the content. Because these tags were so easy to abuse, few search engines still read the content within these tags.
Mirror sites
Definition: Sites that are designed to be duplicates of an original site, but are hosted at a separate domain. Mirror sites are often used in SEO to allow for the use of keyword rich domain names. This is a recognized spam tactic and is penalized by many of the major search engines.
Optimization
Definition: The changes that are made to the content and code of a web site in order to increase it’s rankings in the results pages of search engines and directories.
Examples: These changes may involve rewriting body copy, altering Title or Meta tags, removal of Frames or Flash content, and the seeking of incoming links.
Outbound link
Definition: A link from a web site that leads the user to a page on another web site.
Page jacking
Definition: The act of stealing content, code or images from a web site to place on your own.
Page popularity
Definition: Determined by measuring the quality and amount of incoming links to a specific web site or web page. This information is often used by search engines to help determine the proper placement for a web site in its search engine results.
PFI
Definition: The act of paying a search engine or directory to include your web site in their index. Paying this fee does not affect the placement of a web site in search results, it simply assures that the web site will be visited and indexed within a specified time frame.
Also Known As: Pay for Inclusion
PPC engine
Definition: A search engine that allows webmasters to purchase their positions within the search results based on the amount of money they are willing to pay for each click thru their site’s listing receives.
Also Known As: Pay Per Click Engine
PR
Definition: The name given to Google’s link popularity measuring system. PR is determined by measuring both the quantity and quality of incoming links to a web site and is a major factor in the Google ranking algorithm.
Also Known As: Page Rank
PR0
Definition: A site that has been penalized for spamming Google will be given a Page Rank of 0. The PR0 acts to lower the placement of a web site or page in Google’s search results pages.
Precision
Definition: How well a search engine is able to list documents that match a specific keyword or phrase query. Precision is calculated by dividing the number of returned documents that contain the search words by the number of documents returned.
Proximity search
Definition: A type of search in which the user specifies which words should be near each other on the pages that are returned in the search results.
Qualified traffic
Definition: This term describes traffic that is produced by users that find a web site by searching for a product of concept that is offered on that web site. These visitors are thought to be more likely to interact with or purchase from your web site and are therefore of higher quality than other visitors.
Query
Definition: A word, a phrase or a group of words, possibly combined with other syntax used to pass instructions to a search engine or a directory in order to locate web pages.
Ranking
Definition: The placement of a web site within a particular search engines results pages.
Examples: A ranking within the top 20 listings is generally considered to be a strong ranking.
Re-submission
Definition: The repeated submission of a web site to search engines or directories.
Recall
Definition: The degree to which a search engine is able to return all possible matching documents in their index.
Examples: If a search engine has 1000 pages indexed that contain the phrase “car sales” and it produces 8500 of them in response to a search for that phrase, it is said to have 85% recall.
Reciprocal link
Definition: An exchange where two sites agree to link to each other.
Common Misspellings: reciprical link, reciprecal link
Referrer
Definition: The URL of the web site that a visitor has come from. This information is stored in the server’s referrer log file and can be used to discover which search engines or web sites are delivery traffic to your web site.
Registration
Definition: The process of selecting and reserving a domain name.
or
The process of submitting your web site to a search engine or directory in order for it to be indexed.
Relevancy
Definition: How well a search engine result matches the intention of the searcher.
Robot
Definition: An automated program that follows links to visit web sites on behalf of search engines or directories. Robots then process and index the code and content of a web page to be stored in the search engine’s database.
Examples: Googlebot, Slurp, T-Rex
Robots.txt
Definition: A text file that is stored in the top-level directory of a web site to be accessed by robots or spiders that might visit the site. Robots that comply with the “Robots Exclusion Standard” will read the commands in this file and will obey them.
The primary purpose of the robots.txt file is to direct spiders to ignore directories that may contain private or unnecessary information.
Examples: The example below attempts to prevent all robots from visiting the /test files directory:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /testfiles
Scooter
Definition: Alta Vista’s search engine spider.
Search
Definition: The act of using an online directory or database of web sites to locate a web page on a specific topic.
Search engines
Definition: A searchable index of web sites that is traditionally compiled by a spider that visits web pages and stores the information from each page in a database.
Examples: Google, Inktomi, Alta Vista
Search Term
Definition: The word or words that a search engine user types into the search box in order to find web page results. Also known as a query.
SEM
Definition: The changes that are made to the content and code of a web site in order to increase its rankings in the results pages of search engines and directories. These changes may involve rewriting body copy, altering Title or Meta tags, removal of Frames or Flash content, and the seeking of incoming links.
Search Engine Marketing also entails non-optimization methods of drawing traffic through search engines, including management of paid advertising listings on search engines.
Also Known As: search engine marketing
SEMPO
Definition: Acronym for the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, an international industry group.
SEO
Definition: The changes that are made to the content and code of a web site in order to increase its rankings in the results pages of search engines and directories. These changes may involve rewriting body copy, altering Title or Meta tags, removal of Frames or Flash content, and the seeking of incoming links.
Also Known As: search engine optimization
SEP
Definition: The changes that are made to the content and code of a web site in order to increase its rankings in the results pages of search engines and directories. These changes may involve rewriting body copy, altering Title or Meta tags, removal of Frames or Flash content, and the seeking of incoming links.
Also Known As: search engine placement
SERP
Definition: The list of search results that are returned by a search engine or directory in response to a search query.
Also Known As: Search Engine Results Page
Siphoning
Definition: The act of “stealing” another site’s traffic by copying content, tags or trademarked names and phrases.
Slurp
Definition: Inktomi’s search engine spider.
Spam
Definition: The act of using optimization techniques that are designed to artificially increase the rank of a web site or web page.
Spider
Definition: An automated program that follows links to visit web sites on behalf of search engines or directories. Robots then process and index the code and content of a web page to be stored in the search engine’s database.
Examples: Googlebot, Slurp, T-Rex
Stemming
Definition: The ability of a search engine to recognize word roots and match them with multiple endings. (i.e. run, running, runs) Also known as “truncation.”
Stop word
Definition: Words that are so commonly used that they have no impact on the relevancy of a search query. These words are rarely indexed by search engines and are often ignored in query strings.
Examples: the, of, is, an, a, and, if
Submission
Definition: The process of submitting your web site to a search engine or directory in order for it to be indexed.
Submit
Definition: The process of submitting your web site to a search engine or directory in order for it to be indexed.
Truncation
Definition: The ability of a search engine to recognize word roots and match them with multiple endings. (i.e. run, running, runs) Also known as “stemming.”
Web Log
Definition: A style of Internet publishing that uses content management software to allow for quick and easy posting of articles, personal journals and news stories. Also known as “blog.”