SEO Glossary

301 Redirect – redirect one URL to another returing the status code 301, meaning permanently moved. Any Page Rank associated with the old URL is passed to the new URL.

302 Redirect – The requested resource resides temporarily under a different URI. Since the redirection might be altered on occasion, the client SHOULD continue to use the Request-URI for future requests.

304 – If the client has performed a conditional GET request and access is allowed, but the document has not been modified, the server SHOULD respond with this status code. The 304 response MUST NOT contain a message-body, and thus is always terminated by the first empty line after the header fields.

307 – The requested resource resides temporarily under a different URI. Since the redirection MAY be altered on occasion, the client SHOULD continue to use the Request-URI for future requests. This response is only cacheable if indicated by a Cache-Control or Expires header field.

404 Not Found – The server has not found anything matching the Request-URI. No indication is given of whether the condition is temporary or permanent.

410 Gone – The requested resource is no longer available at the server and no forwarding address is known. This condition is expected to be considered permanent.

Anchor Text – this is the text that defines the clickable link.

Backlink – any link pointing to a web page from another web page. Also known as links, inbound-links, incoming links, etc.

Black-Hat SEO – the practise of employing techniques that are designed to subvert search engine algorithms in order to increase the prominence of a web site, also techniques designed to reduce the position of competitor web sites.Such methods are often employed by Spammers where it is important to gain temporary positions for competitive terms quickly.

Cross Linking – the practice of linking together several domains usually owned by the same person/company. Main purpose of which is to increase link popularity, but SEO overuse can lead to search engine penalties.

Grandfathering - the idea of links becoming trustworthy or counting toward your PageRank with age. Old links from reputable sites, may be considered more trustworthy than young whipper-snapper links from new websites.

Hilltop Algorithm – mathematical points scoring system for ranking sites for broad queries that places the most authoritative sites at the top of the search results.

HITS Algorithm – (Hypertext Induced Topic Selection). The HITS algorithm takes a query and constructs a set of pages that either link to it or are linked from it. From this graph it uses an iterative process to score it as an authority or as a hub and ranks pages with the highest authority and hub scores. This algorithm was also adopted by IBM in its CLEVER (Clientside EigenVector Enhanced Retrieval) search engine so it is also known as the CLEVER algorithm.

KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index) – an indicator of the worth of a particular keyword. It is defined as the ratio of the (search volume for the keyword /the amount of competition for the keyword) x search volume. Or in symbols, (V²/C). However, what one means by competition for a keyword is a hazy concept and is not easily measurable.

Link-Bait use of a creative or original idea placed on a web page that is just so cool, original or useful that people cannot help but link to it from their own websites.

Link Popularity - the number of links pointing to a web page. Important because of PageRank algorithm.

Organic Search Results – the search results returned by search engines when a user types a query. These sites returned should depend on the relevancy of the query. As opposed to PPC where positions are determined by a market.

PageRank – mathematical algorithm developed by the founder of Google Larry Page (hence PageRank) for determining the quality of web pages based on the principal that if a web page is linked to by many other good pages it must also be a good web page. It sounds like a circular argument but it works mathematically.

PPC (Pay-Per-Click) – the advertising model used by Google Adwords and others where advertisers pay a small sum each time a Web user clicks on their advertisement. The position of your ad depends on several factors such as it conversion rate, its quality and amount you are prepared to pay per click. The adverts are also displayed on websites that participate in Google Adsense programme.

SERPs - (Search Engine Result Page)s and more generally refers to your position in the results for a particular keyword.
Usability – making a website site conform with the learned behaviour that they have gained from surfing the web. Placement and operation of navigation and search; easily scanable content all help users to find the information they are looking for and make it more likely that they will return.
White-Hat SEO – the practise of exploiting the ways in which search engines index and assess web sites in by making it easier for search engines and visitors to access the content within the web site. Although it is exploiting the search engine algorithms it is doing in such a way that it works within the search engine company guidelines. White-hat SEO can take a long time before results are seen but the results are less vulnerable to changes in the search engine algorithm. As with most things in life, not everything is black or white and certain techniques may be considered as somewhere in between. Grey-hat SEO if you will.