SEO Terms to Know: The Importance of Understanding the Basics

SEO terms to know: A Beginner’s Guide to Key Terminology

While becoming a search engine optimization guru is not necessary, understanding the basic SEO terms to know is an asset. As the digital world evolves, staying current on the keys to online success will prove invaluable. Therefore, if you consider the ranking in search query results important then becoming familiar with the key terminology in SEO is critical. As B & T writes, “Nathan Elly branch manager at Digital Next Australia argues marketers can’t afford to miss these million dollar SEO marketing strategies.”

What is SEO?

The letters SEO stand for Search Engine Optimization and it is perhaps the most important component in website success. While merely having a site may seem sufficient, being successful involves more than owning a web page. In general, for your company to achieve it’s maximum potential, ranking high in query results is vital. When your company is immediately visible in a Google search, it increases the odds of increasing site traffic exponentially. This, therefore, is where search engine optimization comes into play. The companies you see in the top spots did not get there by accident. Highly visible pages gained their positions because they utilized the power of SEO. As a result, having a better understanding of how that works means grasping some of the most basic SEO terms to know.

The Power of Keywords

The most important step in establishing an online presence is the development of an effective keyword strategy. When the term keyword is used it refers to the words a user will enter into a search engine to find information. In general, companies will focus on keywords that attract the highest volume of users. An example in the promotional world would be the keyword ‘promotional marketing agency.’ When users are searching for promotional items, those words will be entered into a Google search the most frequently. As a result, promotional marketing agencies will scatter the keyword throughout the site and meta data in an attempt to raise their company’s ranking. Therefore, when the keyword ‘promotional marketing agency’ is searched their site will be more likely to rank higher in the results.

Furthermore, remember when deciding on these keywords that you want to make the experience as clear as possible for the user. As ADMA writes, “always remember that ‘A confused mind says No.’ This same logic applies to websites. When putting together a website, your key goal is to respect your visitors’ time and energy; therefore it’s important to make sure their experience is smooth and hassle free as possible.”

Meta Data: Titles and Descriptions

In addition to keywords, another one of the most important SEO terms to know is meta data. This phrase refers to information that tells search engines what your site is about. The two most important components to meta data are the meta title and meta description.

According to Hubspot a meta description is, “a brief description of fewer than 160 characters of the contents of a page. The description will explain why someone would want to visit it. This is often displayed on search engine results pages below the page title as a sample of the content on the page.” While SEO Marketing World describes a meta title as, “the HTML code that specifies the title of a certain web page. It appears at the top left corner of your browser when you visit a web page.”

In summary, an education in the basic SEO terms to know can be a critical component to your website’s success. While technical terms may invoke panic, there is no need to be intimidated. Understanding key search engine optimization terminology will only help get your site to where you want it to be.

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