FREE Glossary: SEO Marketing Terms and Definitions
What important SEO terms do I need to know? This list of SEO terms defines key vernacular used in digital strategy, organic search, and AI-assisted marketing conversations.
These definitions are short, clear, and updated with current practices. Use it to decode Keyword People and SEO Industry blog posts, client conversations, or the next “industry standard” platform update.
This is a curated set of terms with quick and simple definitions. For exhaustive lists and definitions:
- ahrefs.com SEO Glossary
- HubSpot SEO Glossary
- Moz SEO Glossary of Terms
- Search Engine Journal SEO Glossary
- Semrush Ultimate SEO Glossary
AI & Technology
AI Overview
Google feature that summarizes search answers using AI.
Generative AI
Artificial intelligence that creates new content like text or images.
LLM
Large Language Model. A type of AI that generates language-based outputs.
Prompt
The input given to an AI system to guide its response.
Token
A segment of text used in AI processing. Affects how responses are calculated.
Analytics & Metrics
Average Position
Search tracking tools can note the average “ranking” for a website or page for a certain search term or group of search terms. Use this metric with caution.
Clicks (Organic)
An organic click represents a visit to a website or web page resulting from a person looking up a term or phrase on a search engine like Google or Bing.
CTR
Click-through rate. The percentage of users who click after seeing a link. Clicks over impressions: how many people clicked on a link out of how many saw it.
GA4
Google Analytics 4. A platform for tracking website visitors and behavior.
GSC
Google Search Console. A free tool that shows how a website performs in search.
Impressions
The number of times a link or result appears to users. Alternatively, the number of times people saw the link on a Search Engine Results Page.
Query
The words or phrase a user types into a search engine.
Search Volume, MSV
The average number of times a term is searched within a specific time period. Monthly Search Volume, MSV, is the average number of searches per month in a given geography.
Session
A group of interactions from one user on a website within a time frame.
Core SEO
Alt Text
A description of an image used by screen readers and search engines. Important for accessibility with image SEO as a secondary focus.
Anchor Text
The visible, clickable words in a link. Should describe the page being linked to.
Backlink
A link from another website to another. Often used by search engines to evaluate trust and authority.
Blog
A flexible content format used for articles, updates, or storytelling. Valuable for ongoing SEO and/or Digital PR.
Evergreen Content
Content designed to stay relevant over time. Useful for topics that do not change quickly.
Headings
Page titles and subtitles structured using tags like H1 and H2. Help with content clarity and SEO. Best practice stipulates to optimize a single H1 tag as an on-page title. The remaining headings follow 2-6 hierarchy.
Internal Link
A link from one page to another on the same website. Helps users and search engines navigate content.
Landing Page
A web page focused on a specific purpose, often used in advertising or campaigns.
Meta Description
A short summary of a page that may appear in search results. It can influence whether someone clicks.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization. Improving a website’s visibility in search engines to increase organic traffic.
SERP
Search Engine Results Page. When a user “Googles” a word, for example, the first page they see is the “SERP.” This screen can be analyzed for competitive opportunities around user intent and system tools.
User Intent
The goal or need behind a search query. Good content aligns with what the user actually wants.
Page Types
Article or Blog
A written piece of content, usually informative or editorial in style.
Category Page
A page that organizes related products or articles.
Landing Page
A landing page is a specialized page for main search topics and personas. Unlike a blog, which often tells a story, a landing page presents a focused message with features, benefits, and clear next steps. It may also collect leads and/or support a paid search ad campaign.
Product Page
A page that describes a specific item available for purchase.
SEO Practices
Best Practice
An established method known to produce consistent, reliable results.
Black Hat SEO
Techniques that attempt to manipulate rankings by breaking search rules. High risk.
Digital PR
Off-page SEO perspective that examines digital context around a brand via encyclopedic sources, news and press outlets, social media appearances, etc. that impact and surface in search engine results pages.
White Hat SEO
SEO techniques that follow search engine guidelines. Focuses on long-term value.
Technical SEO
Canonical Tag
A signal to search engines indicating the preferred version of a page when duplicates exist.
Crawling
The process of bots scanning pages to collect and update content for search engines.
Favicon
A small icon shown in browser tabs. Used for site recognition.
Index
The database where search engines store pages they may show in results.
Page Speed
How fast a page loads. Affects user experience and search performance.
Responsive Design
Design that adapts to different screen sizes and devices.
Robots.txt
A file that tells search engines which parts of a website should not be crawled.
SEO Tools
Software used for SEO research, analysis, and auditing. Includes crawlers, keyword tools, and performance trackers.
Sitemap
A list of important website pages provided to search engines to support crawling.
Structured Data
Code that helps search engines understand content. May lead to enhanced listings.
Web Structure
Domain
The name used to identify a website on the internet.
File
A stored resource on a server, such as an image or document.
Folder
A directory used to organize files and pages within a site.
URL Slug
The part of a web address that comes after the domain and identifies the page.
Webpage
A single document accessible online through a URL.
Website
A collection of web pages under a single domain.
Missing a term or want a clearer definition?
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Created by the Keyword People Content Studio, 2026