New to SEO? Search engine optimization starts with basic SEO terms. Here are the most important terms to know and what they mean.

Around 93% of online experiences start with a search engine. Start off your SEO experience right by learning some important SEO terms.

The SEO industry exceeds $80 billion. Experts predict that this industry’s worth will increase in coming years because people are spending more money on SEO than ever.

Learning about SEO can benefit your website and brand beyond your wildest dreams. However, you’ll need to fully understand certain terms first. Here, you can learn these crucial terms without getting confused by overly complicated language.

Here are some crucial SEO-related terms in plain English:

SEO 101

What is SEO? SEO stands for search engine optimization. It refers to the practice of increasing a website’s visibility on search engines, especially Google.

SERPs are search engine results pages. Getting your website placed on the first Google SERP for a keyword is the most valuable SEO ranking you can get.

SEO increases a brand’s search presence by driving more traffic to its website(s). When your site is more visible to search engines, it ranks higher in SERPs and gets more traffic as a result.

If you want to know how to learn SEO in-depth, understand the difference between the 2 main types of SEO. On-page SEO refers everything you do on your actual page to improve your site’s SEO standing. Off-page SEO is what you do outside of your website to improve its ranking.

Keywords

Keywords are a fundamental component of SEO for beginners and experts alike. Keywords are words and phrases that help search engines to find your content. People use these terms to conduct online searches and find relevant content.

Long-tail keywords are keywords that contain 3 words or more. Anyone who understands how SEO works knows it’s easier to stand out in SERPs for long-tail keywords. This gets you more targeted traffic.

Keyword density refers to how often a certain keyword appears in your text. It’s good to mention a keyword more than once, but don’t go overboard.

Keyword stuffing is repeating a keyword so frequently, it makes your content look unnatural. Google punishes sites for keyword stuffing, so avoid doing it at all costs.

Links

A backlink or inbound link is a link from one site to another. If site A links to site B, site B now has a backlink.

Link building refers to the practice of acquiring backlinks to your website. Many experts argue that link building is the most important off-page SEO tactic there is.

Getting backlinks from the wrong sites can hurt your website’s ranking. Find the Best SEO Agency to take care of your link building strategy at the aforementioned link. There, you’ll also get access to other high quality SEO services.

Master These SEO Terms For Your Website’s Sake

About 51% of all website traffic comes from organic searches. Once you master these SEO terms, your site will appear in more organic searches than ever.

The average length of the content on Google’s first SERP is 1,890. Still, originality and value matter more than length.

Get informed—read more of our articles about improving your website. Your brand will love you for it.