A-Z of SEO
We realise that at times, our SEO updates to our clients can be a little overwhelming. 
And as we know communication is key to any successful relationship. So, I’ve pulled together some of the most used terms here at Dental Design when talking to practices about their SEO performance and progress.
It is by no means a definitive list and I have tried to explain things in as clear a manner as possible.
Here goes…
Algorithm:
The search engines (etc Google, yahoo, Bing) process of calculating (indexing) the internet in order to decide how to rank the sites on the web.
Analytics:
A tool webmasters use which is provided by the main search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing) in order to track the user behaviour on the site. Visitor numbers, length of visit, location and page flow data is captures amongst others.
Anchor text:
The actual text of a link to a web page. On most websites, this text is usually dark blue and underlined, or purple if you’ve visited the link in the past. Anchor text helps search engines understand what the destination page is about; it describes what you will see if you click through.
Bounce Rate:
The rate (usually described as a percentage) of visitors who go to only one page of your site and then exit the site. A user might leave your site from the entrance page if there are site design or usability issues. Alternatively, a visitor might also leave the site after viewing a single page if they’ve found the information they need from that one page, and therefore don’t need to go further into the site.
Content [Duplicate]
Text, imagery and all the populated material on a page
CTR
The CTR, (click-through-rate) is the rate (%) at which people click on your Ad or listing on a search engine. It is calculated by taking the total number of impressions (the number of times a listing/Ad is shown online to a searcher) and dividing this by the number of clicks on the Ad or listing. Monitoring this rate gives you an idea of how successful the SEO or online Ad is.
Conversions
This is a measurement of contact with the site, this could either be a contact form, a newsletter subscription request, or a phone call or other action you would like the user to make when they get to the site. This is another metric used to gauge the success of any SEO or online Ad campaign.
Cloaking
A technique in which content presented to the search engine spider is different from that presented to the user’s browser. This is generally used to deceive search engines so they display the page when it would not otherwise, i.e. to falsely gain higher rankings. It’s considered a black hat SEO technique.
Descriptions [Meta]
A Meta Description is a descriptive element of the coding of a site, where you can tell the search engines more detail about the site and page. If it’ written badly, i.e. keyword spammed, or incorrectly, i.e. longer than 156 characters, including spaces, then the search engine algorithms can penalise with poorer rankings.
Keyword [Stuffing]
The act of stuffing in your keywords either in the content of the webpages, or in footers of the webpage, or in the coding. Whilst keywords used to be used in the coding of the site to help search engines, these are now null and void and if these are over stuffed, then it’s best to get rid of them altogether. The content should be user friendly to read, but obviously it a balance, as keywords in the content tell the search engines about you.
Link Building
The practice of building links for your site. Links on other people’s sites which are high quality and have a high PageRank and are relevant to the dental industry shows search engines that you’re keeping good company.
PageRank
PageRank is a link analysis algorithm, used by Google web search engine. It assigns a numerical weighting to links coming to and from your site in order to help with the ranking decision of every search query.
PPC
A Pay-Per-Click campaign is an internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, in which advertisers pay the publisher (typically a website owner) when the Ad is clicked. It is defined as the amount spent to get an advertisement clicked’
SERP
Search Engine Results Page’s (SERP’s) of major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing, can include a mixture of different types of listings. These can be contextual, algorithmic or organic search listings, as well as sponsored listings, images, maps, definitions, videos or suggested search refinements
Sitemap
A sitemap is a list of pages of a web site accessible to crawler and users. It’s important for SEO, as the existence of a sitemap on your site means the search engines can quickly and easily read through your site, something they like doing and it’s another raking factor.
Title tag
The bit of coding that tells search engines what the page is about. They must not exceed 70 characters, including spaces. They are visible when a user searches online, so need to contain keywords, but be user friendly too.
Traffic
The number of visitors to your site
If there are any other terms you are unclear of, just pick up the phone, call 01202 677277 and we will endeavour to enlighten.
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