Dr. Randall Hansen's Marketing Your Website Glossary: SEO, SMO, SEM Terms
SEO: Search Engine Optimization
SMO: Social Media Optimization
SEM: Search Engine Marketing
This glossary is designed to help explain and define some of the basic SEO, SMO, and SEM acronyms,
abbreviations, concepts, terms, and jargon you need to understand before you can fully enhance and
optimize your presence on the Web. For a more detailed discussion of Website SEO practices, read my article,
Dr. Randall Hansen's SEO Strategies for Enhancing
and Optimizing Your Web Presence: A 10-Point Primer for Website Success.
Absolute Link. It's both good coding practice and smart marketing to use the full
URL when you create internal links within your site. A relative link uses just the file name.
For example, in providing a link to the main SEO Primer, an absolute link looks like:
<a href="http://www.randallshansen.com/SEO_primer.html">Dr. Randall Hansen's SEO Primer</a>,
...while a relative link would look like:
<a href="SEO_primer.html">Dr. Randall Hansen's SEO Primer</a>.
Alt Attribute. When using images within your site, use the alt command
both to assist the search engines (and your marketing efforts by using keywords)
as well as visually impaired by providing a short description of each image. For example,
<img src="http://www.mycollegesuccessstory.com/Randall_Hansen.jpg" align="right"
alt="EmpoweringSites.com CEO Dr. Randall Hansen" border="0">
Anchor Text. The word(s) that users click on to follow a link, which search engines
review for keywords, so you want to choose your anchor text carefully -- using the keywords
for that particular link. For example, in providing a link to the main SEO Primer, the anchor
text looks like:
<a href="http://www.randallshansen.com/SEO_primer.html">Dr. Randall Hansen's SEO Primer</a>,
where the keywords are "SEO Primer" and "Dr. Randall Hansen."
Black-Hat SEO. Unethical SEO practices -- which you want to stay as far away from as possible.
Blog. A Website that is formatted as an online journal in which the writer posts regularly
dated entries. Many thousands of blogs exist, but only a much smaller fraction are active, and even
fewer are part of a marketing campaign. There are many blogging platforms available to users.
Blogs are also a great place to post a comment, leaving a link to your site in the process.
To see a few of our blogs, go to: Empowering Sites:
Empowering Blogs.
Browser. The tool people use to view the Web. You need to test your site on all the major
browsers to make certain your Website loads properly. The major browsers include Explorer, Firefox,
and Safari.
Crawling. Search engines send spiders to visit Web sites and crawl their way through the
site, indexing the site's key pages in the process.
Deep Link. The first step of a linking strategy for most Website owners is getting critical links to
the site's main (index) page, but future steps should involve obtaining links to specific pages beyond the
index page -- deep links. Obtaining deep links to your site increases the value and ranking of your site.
Directory. Unlike search engines that rely on users to use keywords to find relevant Websites
and Web pages, directories are basically a catalog of Websites organized by subject area. Directories
play a key role in Website marketing because many search engines first find Websites through various
directories. Obtaining a place in directories should be one of the primary goals of any new site
marketing plan.
External Link. Also referred to as an outbound link. As part of your site marketing plan, it's a
good idea to provide links to highly ranked and highly relevant sites. Not only does this strategy assist
your visitors, but search engines will give your site more value (and higher rankings) when you have
both outbound external links to high-quality sites as well as a number of in-bound links from high-quality sites.
Favicon. See that little icon of me in your browser by the Web URL? That's a favicon, which
can be any image, from a photo to a logo, and can be created in a number of freely download programs
(such as IrfanView). It's a great little thing you can do to build your brand identity. The actual file you
then upload to your Web directory is named favicon.ico.
FFA (Free for All) Sites. These sites -- in which anyone can add links back to their own Websites --
are basically a waste of your time, and can actually hurt your site's page ranking because search
engines discount the links from these types of sites.
Google. The world's leading search engine and developer of Page Rank. A key component of
your site's marketing strategy must be getting your site's pages listed within Google's massive collection.
Google also produces key Webmaster tools and resources, including Google Analytics and Google Sitemaps.
Google Analytics. A host of services that site owners can use (at no charge) to better
understand key aspects of their site, including overall traffic, top-visited Web pages, keywords used to
reach the site, length of time of visits, and much more.
Google Sitemap. A fie you create (using free sites or downloads) in XML and upload to your
directory that lists every page on your site that you want Google to include in its index of Web pages.
Hidden Text. An unethical (Black-Hat) SEO technique in which the site owner loads keywords onto
a Web page that are invisible to a regular visitor but which can be read by search engine spiders. In the
end, most search engines catch on to the practice and penalize those sites that practice this technique.
HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). The basic language used by the majority of pages on the
Web. Some newer pages are formatted using XHTML.
In-Bound Links. Links from external sites pointing (linking) to a page on your site. A key part of
any Website marketing plan must be to acquire high-quality in-bound links. You can review at least
some of your site's in-bound links by typing "link:www.quintcareers.com" -- without the quotation marks
and with your domain instead of QuintCareers.
Internal Link. A link from one page of your site to another, whether for helping the visitor find
more information or as part of your site's navigation. Internal links also help search engines, which
start on one page, follow links to other pages within your site. Remember to use full and consistent
anchor text for each link.
ISP (Internet Service Provider). Unless you have your own server(s), you'll need to buy Web
space from an ISP. Smaller sites may need only low-cost space on a shared server, while other
sites will need one or more dedicated servers. The larger your site -- and the more visitors you receive --
the more likely you will need at least a dedicated server.
Keywords. Words and phrases (up to about three words) that describe the content of a Web
page -- words you expect people to use when searching for the content on your site (and similar sites).
A key part of Website marketing is determining keywords and using the right mix of keywords to drive
traffic to your site. Because some keywords result in millions of results, specificity is critical. See also,
long tail search.
Keyword Stuffing/Spamming. An SEO practice you want to avoid. Keyword stuffing is such
repetition of your keyword(s) on a page that when calculated, more than 50 percent of the content
of a page contains the keyword(s). Most search engines consider keyword stuffing as spam -- bad pages.
Landing Page. A page other than your index/home page that becomes an entry into your site.
Landing pages can be focused on specific content (for example on Quintessential Careers, we have
landing pages for networking, resumes, interviewing, salary negotiation) or a specific target audience
(for example on Quintessential Careers, we have landing pages for students, job-seekers, career-changers,
coaches and counselors, and other visitors).
Link Building. A cornerstone of any Website marketing plan in which you seek out high-quality
(and highly-ranked) Websites and request/suggest a link back to your site, submit your site to key
directories and search engines, and attempt to get your site mentioned on blogs, social media sites,
and social bookmarking sites. (See a sample linking script.)
Long Tail Search. When a search engine user chooses a keyword phrase rather than one
keyword to search for relevant content -- typically because the long tail search will result in better
results than using just one keyword. For example, a search on “resumes” will result in millions of
pages while a search for “executive resume writers” results in a much smaller number of pages. A
larger percentage of searches are long tail searches.
Meta Description. One of several meta tags that you should use for every one of your
site's pages. Your description should be about 150 characters (including spaces) and illustrate the
content of the page using your keywords (and reinforcing the title of the page). Not all search engines
use the description meta tag, but it's still an important part of your marketing. The coding looks like:
<meta name="description" content="Your 150-character, keyword-filled description.">
Use the "view page source" command in your browser to see what this looks like on this page.
Meta Keywords. One of several meta tags that you should use for every one of your site's
pages and one which highlights the keywords (and keyword phrases) that define the Web page.
Keywords should not be repeated more than 4-5 times, and separated by commas. Many search
engines ignore these keywords, so some SEO experts do not even recommend using this meta tag
anymore. The coding looks like:
<meta name="keywords" content="keyword1, keyword2, keyword1, keyword3, keyword2, keyword1">
Use the "view page source" command in your browser to see what this looks like on this page.
Meta Tags. The two most important meta tags are the description and keywords, but there
are many other tags, including copyright, robots, language, etc. Meta tags provide information to the
search engines to better place and describe your site in search results. Because of its importance,
some people include the web page title as part of a meta tag strategy, even though the "title" command is not a
meta tag. Meta tags and the title command all go within the "head" command. (For more details about basic
HTML commands, see my Using
Basic HTML to Develop a Small-Business Website.
Organic Search Results. Sometimes also referred to as natural search results. These are
search engine results that result from good SEO practices, but not from sponsored links -- or paid for in any way.
PageRank. An algorithm constantly being tweaked by Google that examines a Web page's links
and then estimates the importance or value of that page, relative to all the other millions of pages on the Web.
Paid Inclusion. To speed the process of getting listed in a directory and some search engines,
some site owners pay a fee to in order to gain exposure more quickly.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC). A tool used by some Website owners to increase traffic to the site -- by
purchasing (or bidding for) keywords, with the site shown in the page search results section of a search
engine or in relevant ads on other Websites. Google's AdWords is the largest PPC program on the Web.
Reciprocal Links. Link exchanges in which two sites link back to each other or where a third site
is involved to mask the one-to-one link. While having all reciprocal links -- or reciprocal links with low-ranked
pages -- can hurt your site's ranking, a reciprocal link strategy is an especially good policy to follow for
newer sites. Many well-established sites will not provide a link to your site until you link to them first --
and it's something you'll want to do anyway because of the value of linking to high-quality sites. The key is
to find similar, but not competing sites, for your reciprocal linking strategy. (See a
sample reciprocal linking script.)
Search Engine. A site that catalogs Web pages and returns results for users based on keywords
used in the search. Most search engines accept submissions (some free, some for a fee), but many prefer
finding new pages using their spiders. Google is by far the most important search engine, followed by
Yahoo! and MSN Live.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Developing strategies targeting specific search engines with the
goal of increasing your page relevancy, ranking, and visibility. SEM techniques include SEO, buying pay-per-click
ads, and paid inclusion.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Part art, part science, SEO involves a combination of creating
valuable content, producing well-developed Web pages, and marketing them in a way that results in a high
ranking for each page within your Website.
Search Engine Submission Services. Companies for which you can pay to have your site submitted
to multiple search engines. While there are some legitimate companies completing these tasks, for most
people, it probably makes better sense to develop a list of key search engines and then do each submission personally.
Signature (Sig, Siggy, Sig File). A line or several lines of text added to the end of an email that includes
a mini marketing message about you or your site. For purposes of SEO, any time you are commenting within
a community, you should have a signature that refers people back to your Website.
Site Map. A page on your site that lists every single page of your site, organized by sections or
categories -- or at least the most important pages if you have a rather large site. Think of a site map akin
to a book's table of contents. Site maps are useful to both your visitors and to search engine spiders.
Social Bookmarking Sites. These sites are basically extensions of people's personal bookmarks,
allowing users to share favorite sites with anyone else who is a member of the site. Popular social bookmarking
sites include Del.icio.us, Digg, StumbleUpon.
Social Media. These are part of the Web 2.0 in which users create the content, building communities
through stories, pictures, audio, and video. The two most common types of social media sites are social
networking sites (LinkedIn, Facebook.com, Twitter, etc.) and social bookmarking sites (Del.icio.us, Digg,
StumbleUpon, etc.). The relevance for Website marketer is that you want these folks talking and linking to
your site, building traffic and key in-bound links.
Social Media Optimization (SMO). Developing a strategy for creating publicity and buzz for your
site in key social media sites is what SMO is all about. It involves encouraging bloggers and others to write
about your site and/or bookmark your site -- building additional site traffic and building/strengthening your
ranking and relevance among the search engines.
Social Network Sites. Simply put, social network sites are communities of people who share information
and news about each other to their “friends” or “connections.” There are a vast number of social network
sites -- most tied to some specific element such as hobbies, profession, or ownership -- but the ones that
get the most press because of their size are Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn.
Spiders. Search engines use spiders, robots, and crawlers -- programs that follow the internal links
on your site -- to find pages to include in the search engine's index of Web pages.
Title. Each Web page of your site should have a unique title, which should include keywords that
describe the contents of your page -- in about 5 to 10 words (no longer than 60 characters total). Titles
are what show up in search engine results and what people then click on to visit your site. Ideally, your
page title also matches the top heading of your page. The coding looks like:
<title>Keyword-Rich Descriptive Page Title</title>.
Use the "view page source" command in your browser to see what this looks like on this page.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator). The URL is the unique address of any web document.
Website. A collection of Web pages under one domain, typically with the same look and
navigation, that contain can contain text, graphics, audio, and multimedia elements. A Website is typically
developed around a common idea or theme -- with the name and URL containing either the company
name or one or more keywords.
Web 2.0. The second generation of the Web, focused on user-generated content and
community. Examples include social networking sites, social bookmarking sites, and wikis.
White-Hat SEO. Ethical SEO practices -- the kind of SEO practices you want to do
to improve your Website.
XHTML (Extensible Hyper Text Markup Language). A newer version of HTML that is designed to
move HTML to conform to XML formatting.
For even more SEO terms and definitions, see these other SEO glossaries:
Web Guru Dr. Randall S. Hansen, CEO of 
