Website and SEO Glossary

Here’s a handy list of terms commonly used in the world of website and SEO optimisation:

Algorithm A set of rules used by a computer. You’ll typically hear this term in connection with a search engine. For example, Google uses various custom algorithms to decide which pages get listed when you di a Google search
CMS Content Management System – Software for management of content without messing with web code
CPC Cost per click. The amount you’re prepared to pay for a click to your website
CTR Click Through Rate. Expressed as a percentage. If your ad or Google listing is seen 100 times, but only clicked on 10 times, then the CTR would be 10%. More: Impressions and Clicks explained
CPM Cost-per-thousand. Amount that an advertiser will pay for their ad to be viewed 1000 times.
Google Analytics Online service provided by Google that allows a webmaster to view statistics on page content and visitors. Free.www.google.com/analytics/
Impression A measurement of the number of times something is seen – Used in the context of a web ad, it would be the number of times that the ad is displayed. In SEO language, it’s the number of times that your site has been shown on a page of search engine results. More: Impressions and Clicks explained
Keyword A word or phrase entered as a term in a search engine
Meta Tag Codes in a web page’s header that provide information to search engines. for more information, see our Meta Tags Explained page
Organic Search engine results are said to be paid (PPC) or Organic – Organic refers to natural search results, not sponsored or paid-for search results
Page Rank Google tool, formerly a key part in determining the importance of a page, but these days, less important.You can check your page rank at www.prchecker.info
PPC Pay-Per-Click. Leading players:Google Adwords: adwords.google.com

Microsoft Ad Center: adcenter.microsoft.com

Robots.txt Text file stored in the root of your website, containing instructions on what search engines are allowed to seeFor information on using robots.txt, see our Blocking with robots.txt and tags page
SEO Search Engine Optimisation (See What is SEO?)
SERP Search Engine Results Page
Sitemap Document containing all files that you wish a search engine to index

Any terms you’d like us to add? please add a comment below…