SEO: Search Engine Optimization Bible

Gadgets Small applications designed to run on a

desktop or toolbar. The applications can be any useful

“gadget,” from a clock to a note-taking application.

Generic keywords Keywords that are broad in

nature.

Geo-targeting Serving of ads to a particular geo-

graphical area or population segment.

Goal conversion Achieving a preset goal. In SEO,

a goal conversion occurs when a site visitor com-

pletes a task you have defined for him/her.

Google Analytics A web-site statistics measure-

ment program.

Google bombing An attempt to influence the

ranking of a given site in results returned by the

Google search engine.

Header tag The HTML tag that denotes the header

of a web page.

Heuristics Heuristics are rules of thumb people

follow in order to make judgments quickly and

efficiently.

Hidden pages Article pages that are outside the

standard navigational structure.

Hybrid directory A directory that uses both direc-

tory listings and search engine listings.

img tags An HTML tag used to define alternative

text in place of a graphic in the event the graphic

cannot be displayed.

Impressions The number of times that people see

a web page or advertisement.

Inbound links Links to your web site from some-

one else’s.

Inclusion protocol A protocol that tells search

engines what they should include in their indexes

for your site.

Informed search Search that applies to a regular

search using directing properties.

Internal linking The links that lead from one page

to another within the structure of a single web site.

Invisible keyword stuffing Creating keywords

on a page that are made to be the same color as the

web page’s background to make them invisible to

people, but detectable to search crawlers.

JavaScript A system of programming codes,

created by Netscape, that can be embedded into

the HTML of a web page to add functionality.

JavaScript should not be confused with the Java

programming language. In general, script lan-

guages such as JavaScript are easier and faster

to code than more structured languages such as

Java and C++.

Keyword density The frequency with which

chosen keywords or phrases appear on a web page

compared to the other text on the page.

Keyword performance indicators Elements of

keyword performance that are used to weigh the

effectiveness of a given keyword.

Keyword poison Keywords that reduce the effec-

tiveness of the keywords with which you have cho-

sen to market your web site.

Keyword spamming The practice of overusing

keywords in an attempt to trick search engines into

ranking a web site better in search results.

Keyword stuffing Adding more keywords to a

web page, either in text or in the HTML tags, than

is appropriate.

Keyword testing A method of testing individual

keywords to learn which keywords are the most

effective for your marketing efforts.

Landing pages The web page to which visitors are

directed when they click through an advertisement.

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Glossary

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