Glossary
SEO
Plain-English definitions of the terms that matter in search engine optimisation. No jargon, no fluff.
Backlink
A link from another website pointing to your site. Backlinks act as votes of confidence in the eyes of search engines - links from authoritative, relevant sites carry the most weight and help improve your domain authority and rankings.
Canonical URL
An HTML tag that tells search engines which version of a page is the preferred one to index. Used to prevent duplicate content issues when the same content is accessible via multiple URLs.
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
A Core Web Vital measuring visual stability - how much page elements shift unexpectedly during load. A low CLS score means users are not accidentally clicking the wrong thing because content jumped around.
Core Web Vitals
Google's set of metrics measuring real-world user experience on a web page. They cover loading performance (LCP), visual stability (CLS), and interactivity (INP). Strong Core Web Vitals are both a ranking factor and a signal of a well-built website.
Crawlability
How easily search engine bots can access, navigate, and understand your website. Poor crawlability - caused by broken links, blocked pages, or complex site architecture - prevents Google from fully indexing your content.
Domain Authority (DA)
A third-party metric (developed by Moz) that predicts how well a domain will rank in search results, scored 1-100. Higher DA generally correlates with stronger organic performance, though it is not a direct Google ranking factor.
E-E-A-T
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness - Google's framework for evaluating content quality. Content that demonstrates real-world experience, subject matter expertise, credibility, and accuracy is favoured in rankings and AI Overviews.
Indexing
The process of Google adding your web pages to its search database. A page must be indexed before it can appear in search results. Indexing issues can be diagnosed via Google Search Console.
Internal Linking
Links between pages on the same website. Internal links help search engines understand your site structure, distribute page authority, and guide users to related content - all of which support stronger organic performance.
Keyword Difficulty
A metric estimating how hard it is to rank on page one for a specific keyword, based on the strength of competing pages. High-difficulty keywords typically require more authority and content investment to rank for.
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
A Core Web Vital measuring how long the largest visible element on a page - typically the hero image or main heading - takes to load. Google recommends LCP under 2.5 seconds for a good user experience.
Meta Description
An HTML tag summarising a page's content, displayed beneath the title in search results. Not a direct ranking factor, but a well-written meta description improves click-through rate by giving users a reason to click.
Meta Title
The HTML title of a page, displayed as the clickable blue headline in search results and in the browser tab. The most important on-page SEO element - it should include your primary keyword and accurately describe the page.
Mobile-First Indexing
Google primarily uses the mobile version of a page for indexing and ranking. Since most searches happen on mobile, a site that performs poorly on mobile devices will rank lower, regardless of how well the desktop version performs.
On-Page SEO
Optimisation of the content and HTML elements on a specific page - including title tags, headings, body copy, images, internal links, and structured data. The foundation of any SEO strategy.
Organic Traffic
Visitors who arrive at your website through unpaid search results. Organic traffic is the primary goal of SEO - it is cost-efficient, compounds over time, and signals credibility to users.
Robots.txt
A text file at the root of your domain that tells search engine crawlers which pages or sections of your site to crawl or avoid. Misconfigured robots.txt files can accidentally block important pages from being indexed.
Schema Markup
Structured data code added to a page's HTML that helps search engines understand your content. Schema can unlock rich results in search - such as FAQ dropdowns, star ratings, and breadcrumbs - and improves visibility in AI-generated answers.
Search Intent
The reason behind a user's search query - whether they are looking for information, navigating to a site, comparing options, or ready to buy. Matching your content to search intent is one of the highest-leverage SEO actions you can take.
Technical SEO
Optimisation of the technical elements of a website to help search engines crawl, index, and understand it - including site speed, mobile responsiveness, structured data, URL structure, and Core Web Vitals.
XML Sitemap
A file listing all the important pages on your website, submitted to Google Search Console to help search engines discover and prioritise your content.
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