Note: This page is very new, and there are a great many terms that will need to be added over the next few weeks.

search this page for... Press "Alt + S" to search for next match

search the entire site

Last Updated: 09/04/2003

• backlinks - pages that 'link back' to a page or site.
• Directory - A search resource that sorts links according to catagories.  Yahoo is a prime example: Where a site might be listed under:
  computer >> entertaniment >> wallpaper >> 3D
• FFA - Free For All.  Usually a site that offers you the ability to submit your site or link information by entering the data into a cgi or other sql database.
• Google Dance - A term that refers to the Google search engine, and their process of re-arranging the rankings of sites, and how they are placed in the serps. This happens every 6 - 10 weeks, when Google re-indexes their databases of web-sites.
• keywords - a tag that is used to isolate a few "key" words of what a web-site, or web page is about
• le - Link Exchange: To post a link on site "A"  to site "B" -- in exchange for a reciprocal (or return) link posted back to site "A" on site "B".  Also known as a "reciprocal link"
• linkback - a link that returns to the site that hosted the original link.  In the search engine world, it is often used by search engines to list the individual pages that link to an orginating web page.
• meta-tags - code writen into a webpage that is normally not seen by a surfer, but often reviewed by some search engines.  example: keywords.
• PPC - Pay Per Click.  Marketing plan where a site agrees to pay a certain amount for every click a search engine provides.  If Yahoo sponsors my site for certain keywords, then I pay them so many cents for every person that searches for those words, then clicks on my link.
• PR or pr - page rank: how the Google search engine rates pages, the higher a page is rated, the higher it is placed in the serps.  The Google "pr" can be discovered by installing the Google Toolbar.  The google "pr" is on a scale of 0-10 where 0 is not even rated, and a 10 is the best rating.  Ratings are based on many things, including primarily how many sites are posting links to a page or site, and how highly that site is rated.  It is better for a webmaster to have his site listed by a top site such as microsoft.com or ebay.com as "1" link, than to have a couple dozen sites that are rated very poorly posting a link.
• ROI - Return On Investment
• Reciprocal Link - When two sites agree to post links back to each other, they are refered to as reciprocal links
• sem - Search Engine Management
• seo - Search Engine Optimization
• serp - Search Engine Results Page: The page you see after you search for a word, term or phrase.
• submit or submission - the act of contacting a site or search engine company and sending them your URL, web site name, title, and maybe a description.  You hope that they will list your site, and when people search for items you offer, a link to your site will show up.

Please note that this is not the be-all-end-all of search lingo, slang, or jargon in the seo world. Nor is it even an official version from any 1 company, or source. This list of jargon and terms information is solely a collection of my own, in the circles that I’ve found: Including but not "all inclusive" Web-Sites, friends, programmers, databases, and e-mail friends, and geeks of all kinds.

Lingo Index | Help | Home | Sitemap

file: seo-search-lingo.html
File by: Charles H. Davis
posted: 1997
edited:  September 4, 2003