File not found. This is an error that occurs when the host server cannot find a file that a web browser or search engine spider requests.
A
Above the fold
Refers to the portion of the screen visible without scrolling down a web page.
Absolute link
A hyperlink that includes the complete web address, which is the domain name, pathname and filename.
Agent name delivery
The process of delivering alternative web pages to a search engine spider in order to artificialy elevate search engine positioning. See cloaking.
Algorithm
The mathematical formula used to determine how web pages are ranked within search engine results pages.
Alternative text
The text placed within the image source tag. If a graphic image does not display, then the text appears in its place. The same text is used by text only and aural browsers. Also known as alt text.
Anchor text
Commonly known as a text link. In HTML this text is placed between the <a> and the </a> tags.
Applet
A small program written in the java programming language that runs in a web browser.
B
B2B
An abbreviation for Business to Business. A B2B web site sells products and services to other businesses.
B2C
An abbreviation for Business to Consumer. A B2C web site sells products and services to the public.
Bait and switch
The process of submitting a web page to a search engine or directory and then substituting it with an unrelated page after the search engine or directory has logged the original one.
Below the fold
Content on a web page that requires the user to scroll down to view it.
Best of the Web
The elite Inktomi databse currently containing over 115 million documents from Inktomi's natural crawling of the web. Web sites listed in this index are the most popular documents on the web by Inktomi's analysis. Abbreviated as BOW.
Boolean search
A search on a computer database or search engine for keywords that best describe your topic using boolean operators such as AND, OR and NOT.
Breadcrumbs
A form of text navigation showing the hierachical linking structure of a web site. Usually in the format of Home > Products > Bags where each word is a link back up the hierachy.
Bridge page
Another term for a doorway page. See Doorway pages.
Browser
The software used to view, manage and access web pages by interpreting hypertext and hyperlinks.
C
Call to action
The intended response a web site owner wicshes site visitors to take when they view a web page. The call to action might be to order, purchase, subscribe, download or click here.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
An innovation from the W3C. Style sheets enable wen designers and end users to create style templates (sheets) that specify how different text elements such as paragraphs, headings etc appear on a web page.
CGI
An abbreviation of common gateway interface. CGI refers to programs used to produce content for browser delivery via a web browser.
Click-through
The process of clicking a link in one web page and arriving at another. In search engine marketing, it is the process of clicking a link from a search results page to a specific web page.
Click-through popularity
In search engine marketing, the number of times end users click the link from search engines to a web site and how long end users stay on the site after they click through from the search engine. Some search engines use click-through popularity to determine relevancy. Also known as click tracking.
Cloaking
The process of delivering custom content to a search engine spider that is hidden from site visitors. With cloaking, search engine spiders see one page and visitors see another page with different content.
Clustering
Listing only one or two pages from each web site in a search engine's or directory's list of search results.
Comment tag
An HTML tag used to hide comments from browsers. Comment-tag content is placed between the <!-- and--> symbols. Most search engines ignore the content placed between these symbols.
Concept search
A search for documents related to a keyword or keywoed phrase. Different from a search specifically containing the keyword itself.
Content page
Another term for an information page. See information page.
Conversion rate
The measure of specific calls to action divided by the total number of unique visitors. For example, it 10 visitors purchase a product or service and 100 visitors view the web page, the page has a conversion rate of 10 percent.
Cookie
A message given to a web browser by a web server. One of the main purposes of cookies is to identify web site visitors and possibly prepare customised web pages for them.
Counter
A program or script that counts the number of visits to a web page.
Cost per action (CPA)
A type of advertising in which a web site gets paid each time an end user performs a desired action.
Cost per click (CPC)
A type of advertising where a web site gets paid each time an end user clicks a link to the advertisers web site.
Cost per thousand (CPM)
A type of advertising in which a web site gets paid based on the number of impressions given to an advert. Calculated in blocks of 1000.
Crawler
Another word for search engine spider. See spider.
Cross linking
Linking among web pages within the same web site.
D
Dead link
A link to a web page that does not exist on a web server.
Deep linking
Linking to content that is two or more directories deep within a web site. Can also be linking directly to individual web pages within a site, rather than the home page.
Destination page
The web page a visitor is taken to after clicking a search engine listing or advertisement. Also known as a landing page.
Directory
Web site that focuses on listing web pages or sites by specific categories, using human editors to manually place web sites or web pages into categories.
Directory enhancement
The process of selecting the most appropriate category (or categories) in a directory and writing a keyword-rich description that accurately describes the content of a web site or web page.
Domain Name System (DNS)
The DNS translates URL text addresses (such as www.companyname.com) into a numeric Internet address (such as 202.215.12.1).
DNS Lookup
The process of converting a unique IP address (of a web site visitor) to its domain name. Used in site statistics software to analyse site traffic.
Domain name
A text address that corresponds to one or more numeric IP addresses. An exclusive name that identifies a web site such as www.mooloop.com.
Doorway domain
A web site that consists of mostly or solely doorway pages. A doorway domain's only purpose is to rank well on search engines and to ultimately direct traffic to a different site.
Doorway pages
Web pages created specifically for obtaining top search engine positions and not to benefit end users. Computer generated doorway pages are usually created to rank high on specific search engines and are often cloaked.
Download
The process of retrieving information from a main source to a peripheral device. Browsers download web pages from a server.
Dynamic HTML
The use of JavaScript as an HTML extension to enable web pages to react to a users input without using the web server.
Dynamic IP
An IP address that changes every time a user connects to the internet.
Dynamic URLs
The URL of a dynamic web page. Dynamic URL's typically contain characters such as ?, =, %, +, cgi, or cgi-bin.
E
Entry Page
The first page an enf user views after clicking a link to a web site. Also known as a landing page.
F
Fake copy listing
A web page that has achieved a top search engine position by stealing the contents of another web page.
False drop
A web page retrieved from a search engine or directory that is not relevant to the query used.
FFA
Abbreviation for free-for-all links. FFA web pages contain a collection of indiscriminate, often unrelated, links to other web pages. FFA links are commonly used to artifically boost link popularity and are considered spam by the major search engines.
Filter words
Common words that search engines remove when adding web page information to their full-text indices because they tend to slow down search queries without improving the results. Common filter words are as follows: the, a, an, or, for, of, but, is and it.
Focus page
A web page that contains quality content about a specific topic. Also known as an information page. See information page.
Frames
An HTML technique that enables web site designers to divide the browser screen into two or more sections. Each section, or frame is a single web page.
Full-text index
A database, or index, containing every word of every web document, including filter words and stop words. Can also refer to an index without filter and stop words included.
Fuzzy search
A search that retrieves matches for partially spelled or misspelled words. Fuzzy matching techniques reduce words to their root and then try to match all forms of the word. Fuzzy search is based on "fuzzy logic engineering," which is a very advanced mathematical discipline. Simply put, it enables you to say "maybe," "almost," or "close to" in computer code.
G
Gateway domain
See doorway domain.
Gateway page
See doorway pages.
Gibberish
Web site content that has no logical, sensible meaning when viewed by site visitors.
GIF
Abbreviation for Graphics Interchange Format. A type of bitmap graphic image commonly used on web sites. GIFs contain 256 colors and are displayed in the most commonly used browsers.
H
Hallway page
A site map created specifically for doorway pages on a web site.
Hidden text
Text on a web page that is not visible to end users in a browser, at any time, but is visible to search engine spiders. Considered spam by all the major search engines if used to artificially increase keyword density.
Hit
A single request made to a web server for an object on your web site. The object can be an HTML file, a graphic image, or any other embedded object, such as a sound file, in your web pages.
HTML
Abbreviation for Hypertext Markup Language. A cross-platform, text-formatting system for creating web pages, including text, images, sounds, frames, and animation.
HTTP
Abbreviation for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The system used to transfer data between a web server and a browser.
Hypertext link
A word or set of words placed inside an anchor tag.
I
Image map
A single graphic image, generally in a GIF or JPEG format, containing multiple hyperlinks.
Inbound link
A link from an external domain to a web site, bringing traffic to that site. Inbound links are used to measure link popularity.
Index
A searchable database of words pointing to documents created by search engine software.
Indexer
The part of the search engine that processes and places spidered, or crawled, web documents into a database. The indexer typically processes a document by removing all tags, storing links in a queue, removing filter words, looking for stop words, and storing the document in a searchable database.
Information page
A static web page that contains quality content about a specific topic. The page is written for a site's target audience but formatted for easy search engine spidering. Also known as a focus page or a content page.
Invisible web
Web sites or pages that search engine spiders cannot or will not crawl because the content is locked up in a database.
IP address
A unique number that identifies every computer on the Internet. Currently, an IP address consists of four, 32-bit numbers (from 0 to 255) separated by periods, such as 255.195.12.13.
IP delivery
A type of cloaking technique where customized content is delivered to a site visitor based on the visitor's IP address. Because search engines have IP addresses, content delivered to the search engines is not the same content delivered to site visitors.
IP spoofing
The act of sending messages to a computer using an IP address from a trusted source to gain unauthorized access to that computer. IP spoofing is illegal in many countries.
ISP
Abbreviation for Internet service provider. An ISP is a company that provides access to the Internet.
J
Java
A programming language created by Sun Microsystems that enables small applications to run on different types of computers and operating systems. Currently, search engines do not record the content inside a Java applet.
JavaScript
An open-source scripting language developed by Netscape that enables web designers to create more animated and dynamic web pages.
JPEG
Abbreviation for Joint Photographic Experts Group. A type of graphic image commonly used on web sites. JPEGs can contain millions of colors and are displayed in the most commonly used browsers. Best format for photographs, images containing gradients, or the presentation of millions of colors.
K
Keyword
A single word typed into a search engine query. Also a single word that accurately describes the contents of a single web page or web site.
Keyword buy
A term used in search engine advertising in which advertisements appear when a keyword or set of keywords is typed into a search query.
Keyword density
A measure of the number of times keywords occur within a web page's text divided by the total number of words on a web page. Search engines have unique algorithms for calculating keyword density. Filter words are often subtracted from the total word count to measure density.
Keyword domain name
A domain name that contains one or more keywords.
Keyword phrase
A set of words typed into a search engine query. Also a set of words that accurately describes the contents of a single web page or web site.
Keyword prominence
Refers to how "high up" on a web page a keyword appears. Generally, if keywords are visible on the first screen on a web page without site visitors having to scroll, the words are said to have high keyword prominence.
Keyword proximity
Refers to how close keywords are to each other on web pages.
Keyword stacking
Placing gibberish sentences and phrases on a web page in order to artificially boost keyword density, keyword prominence, and keyword proximity. Keyword stacking often occurs in title tags, meta tags and invisible text.
Keyword stuffing
Placing gibberish sentences and phrases inside graphic images or CSS layers. Often has the same meaning as keyword stacking.
L
Layers
Attribute in CSS . A rectangular section, or layer, of HTML code that can be placed on a web page by assigning X, Y, and Z coordinates, measured in pixels.
Link farm
A collection of indiscriminate, often unrelated, web sites that link to each other to artificially boost link popularity.
Link popularity
Refers to the number and quality of inbound links to a web site from other web sites. One of the highest quality inbound links is a link from a major directory such as Yahoo!.
Link rot or linkrot
A link from a search engine, directory, or other web site that results in a 404 error page after a web developer modifies a web site with new URLs or removes pages from a web server.
M
Meta refresh
Attribute in a meta tag in which one URL is replaced with another URL after a specified period of time. A method of redirecting end users from one URL to another.
Meta revisit
Attribute in a meta tag in which web designers instruct the search engine spiders to return to a web page within a specified period of time. Search engines do not honor this attribute.
Meta tag
An HTML tag, placed between the and tags, that gives information about the content of a web page, such as what HTML specifications a web page follows or description of a web page’s content. A meta tag, however, does not affect how a web page is displayed on a browser. For online marketing, the most common uses for meta tags are the keyword, description, and robots exclusion attributes.
Mirror domains or mirror sites
Multiple copies of web sites, often on different servers, with the exact same, or similar, content. Used to artificially boost link popularity and search engine visibility.
Mirror pages
ultiple copies of web pages, often on different servers, with the exact same, or similar, content. Most mirror pages are doorway pages tailored for each search engine.
N
Navigation button
A graphic image, generally in a GIF or JPEG format, that links to a single URL.
noframes
An element commonly used on framed pages. Content placed between the <noframes> and </noframes> tags display when a browser does not support frames or is configured not to display frames. Because almost all browsers support frames, search engines either ignore or place low weight on the content inside the <noframes> tags.
noscript
If a browser does not support a scripting language or if an end user has disabled client-side scripting in a browser, content between the <noscript> and </noscript> tags is displayed. This element enables web developers to display alternative content in the event a script is not executed.
O
Obfuscation
The act of misrepresenting web page content to site visitors. Similar to cloaking, search engine spiders see one page, and visitors view a page with different HTML code and content.
Optimisation
The process of designing, writing, coding (in HTML), and submitting web pages to the search engines to increase the probability that your web pages will appear at the top of search engine queries for selected keywords and keyword phrases. The process of making a web page as perfect or effective as possible for end users and the search engines.
Outbound link
A link from a web site to a different web site with a different domain name.
P
Page views
In site statistics software, the total number of times users view a single web page.
PageRank
A numeric value that represents how popular a web page is based on Google’s link analysis calculations. Part of this numeric value is the quality and quantity of links pointing to a web page.
PDF
Abbreviation for portable document format. Created by Adobe Systems in its software program Adobe Acrobat as a universal browser. A PDF document uses formatting information from many different desktop publishing applications, such as InDesign and QuarkXPress. Files can be downloaded over the web and viewed page by page, provided the user has installed the necessary plug-in, Adobe Acrobat Reader.
PFI
Abbreviation for pay for inclusion. In a PFI program, in exchange for payment, a search engine guarantees that a web page will (a) be included in a search engine index, (b) be added to the search engine index within days, and (c) be respidered within a specified period of time.
Positioning
In a search engine or directory, the process of ordering URLs so that the most relevant sites appear at the top of search results for a particularquery.
Power combination
he first three words in a title tag that, when typed in any combination in a search query, will contain a keyword phrase.
PPC
Abbreviation for pay per click. A type of search engine advertising model where the advertiser pays a specified amount of money to the host every time an end user clicks a link to the specified site.
Precision
The quality and degree of accuracy with which a search engine lists documents that match a query.
Proximity search
search in which users specify that documents returned in search results should have the words (entered into the search query) near each other.
Q
Query
A request for specific information from a database.
Query processor
The part of the search engine software that matches the words typed in a search query with the web page that is most likely to have the information for which end users are searching.
R
Ranking
See positioning.
Reciprocal links
The mutual exchange of links from one site to another.
Relative link
A link that does not include an entire domain name, subdirectory (if used), and filename together in the URL. A link that is defined by its relative position to the current URL.
Relevancy
A search engine's numeric measure of how well a particular URL matches terms entered in a search query.
Robot
A software program that search engines use that visits every URL on the web, follows all the links, and catalogs all the text of every web page that (a) contains text, and (b) that can be visited or crawled. Also known as a spider or crawler, but the term "robots" is more and more commonly associated with automated agents.
Robots Exclusion Protocol
A text file that you place on your server that instructs search engine spiders to not spider and record the information in specified areas on your web site. The same function can also be utilized using the meta-robots tag.
S
Search engine
Software that searches an index or database and returns relevant matches based on the information typed into a query.
SERP
Abbreviation for search engine results page.
Server
In search engine marketing, a computer that delivers web pages to browsers and search engine spiders.
Spam
The act of taking extreme or excessive measures to achieve top search engine positions. Spam also can be the act of using any words, HTML code, scripting, or programming on a web page that is not meant to benefit the end user experience.
Spider
Software used by a search engine to find and retrieve web pages to include in its index.
Splash page
A web page, commonly the home page, that consists either of (a) a large graphic image and a link instructing visitors to "Enter" a web site, or (b) a Flash animation, a link to skip the Flash animation (Skip Intro), and a redirect to a new page after the animation is completed.
Static IP address
An IP address that remains constant, or the same, every time a person logs on to the Internet.
Stemming
Stemming is the ability for a search engine to search for variations of a word based on its root. For example, if the word “running” is typed into a search query, search engines that utilize stemming might also display documents that contain the word "run."
Stop words
Extremely common words that the search engines will not record. This is done to save space on their servers and to speed up searches. Examples of common stop words include the, a, an, for, and, but, to, and so forth. Sometimes known as filter words.
T
Text link
See anchor text.
Title
The text placed between the <title> and </title> tags on a web page.
Traffic
The number of unique visitors to a single web site.
U
Unique visit
Represents a single, unique viewer who has visited a web site within a specified time period.
Upload
Act of copying a file from your computer to another computer.
URL
Abbreviation for uniform resource locator. Address referring to the location of a file on the Internet. In terms of search engine marketing, it is the address of an individual web page element or web document on the Internet. Every web document and web graphic image on a web site has a URL.
V
Virtual domain
A term used by web hosting services when multiple web sites are hosted on a single web server. Each web site hosted on that server can have a unique domain name, called a virtual domain.
Visit
Represents one unique viewer who has visited a web site. One site visitor can view many web pages.
W
Web copywriting
The process of writing content specifically for display on web pages, including potential search result pages.
Web site
A collection of web pages, usually found under one domain, generally formatted in HTML, that contain text, graphic images, and multimedia effects such as sound files, video and/or animation files, and other programming or scripting elements such as Java and JavaScript.
X
XHTML
Abbreviation for Extensible Hypertext Markup Language. Is a hybrid of XML and HTML. Web pages designed in XHTML should look the same across all platforms.
XML
Abbreviation for Extensible Markup Language. XML enables web site designers to create customized tags to describe data.
Z
Z-index
In CSS, the z-index property sets the stacking order of an element, usually a layer. Layers with greater z-index numbers will appear in front of layers with lower z-index numbers.
