What glossary and basic SEO terms should I know to get started?

The broadest concept of the Search Engine Optimization is a definitely big topic for many novice webmasters and online business owners. That's why to get started with it you will have to know the main glossary, in line with understanding at least the basic SEO terms and definitions. So, given that learning the language of the Search Engine Optimization and the glossary used by the community – is arguably the first step that should be completed first and foremost on the way to mastering the real optimization techniques and strategies. All that being said, below I’m going to quickly outline the primary basic SEO terms and definitions for you to get prepared for the actual challenges being already well-informed at least about the most common things and processes that are to be faced over there. So, let’s delve.

Primary Glossary: Basic SEO Terms & Definitions for Beginners

• Alt Tags – are HTML attributes of the IMG tag, which are responsible for the correct way of displaying on-page images. Alt Tags got a lot of value in SEO – simply because the major search engines (like Google itself) can’t “read” and “understand” this type of visual content, unless you “tell” them what every given image is all about. It means that you can include a single keyword (or even its long-tail combination) in the actual image test description – killing two birds with one stone. That’s it.
• Anchor Text – given that every link consists of two primary elements (web address it’s pointing to, combined with the anchor text), the latter is commonly used in SEO when it comes to trying to get a link back to your website or blog, in line with making it rich with a given keyword.
• Backlinks – are known for the third most important ranking factor in the eyes of Google search engine itself. Backlink is a link located on any third-party web resource and pointing back to your own website or blog.
• Deep Links (otherwise, Internal Links) – are hyperlinks that point to a given web page, on-page image, homepage or landing page within the same website or blog. Basically, having a clean & clear interlinking structure means making things easier for all – both for search crawling bots, and the live user browsing experience.

• Domain Name (Hosting) – stands for a unique address found for each website or blog on the Internet. Hosting is exactly where your web source is kept (stored).
• Keywords – as for me, the correct definition of the keyword is “a single word or a full phrase that is seen of particular importance in SEO from the viewpoint of a given website or blog.” Why? Simply because the live users are going to do search using that keyword-based expressions for their search query requests.
• Keyword Density – some time ago this metric showing the ratio of keyword “saturation” per each given web page was of great importance in SEO. But now everything has changed – you should think more about the live readers instead of focusing on getting your content packed with as many keywords ass you can. That doesn't work anymore.
• LSI – stands for Latent Semantic Indexing. The concept of LSI suggests using not only exact-match keywords and long-tail search terms, but their LSI-variations. Put simply, LSI keywords are those revolving around a relative main keyword in the natural language (otherwise, contextual associations). For example, if we have got “gardening equipment” as the main keyword, its LSI-based keywords could be something like that – “garden,” “vegetables,” “plants,” “planting,” and so on.
• Link Building – yes, it may seem like a no-brainer, but link building is arguably among the most important basic SEO terms and definitions ever. Put simply, it stands for the process of getting high-quality SEO backlinks to your website or blog, which are built organically (i.e., without paying/tricking with Google’s major search ranking algorithm).

• Meta Description – stands for a short description that should be made for every single web page for SEO purposes solely. It means that being actually invisible for the live users, meta descriptions are very important for the Search Engine Optimization – as they help Google quickly scan the web page and understand what it’s all about, in line with using additional opportunity to drop a couple of your main target keywords or their long-tail variations.
• Off-Page SEO – this area of the Search Engine Optimization covers everything you’re doing outside your own web pages for the sake of organic ranking progress. That’s it. Most commonly, off-site SEO is dealing with external linking, as well as building a stronger online presence and brand authority in the realm of Social Media.
• On-Page SEO – stands for all stuff you’re doing on your page to climb to the top of Google’s relevant SERPs. Taken in general, the broadest concept of on-page optimization for online search includes such basic SEO terms like HTML structure, Title Tags, Descriptions, Site Loading Speed, the Right Keyword Usage, Internal Link Structure, etc.
• PageRank – is an algorithm designed to calculate estimated importance of a given website or blog. Of course, it’s not purely clear how it actually works, but this metrics is extremely important to gauge the effectiveness of practically every link building campaign.

• Robots.txt – this file is intended to notify the search engines that a part of your website or blog (or its separate pages) are restricted for them. In other words, a robots.txt file is commonly used in SEO to block a given part of the web source from being indexed by Google’s search crawling bots.
• SERPs – are known for the Search Engine Results Pages, or everything you see displayed upon filling a given search request.
• URLs – put simply, they stand for the addresses of every separate web page found on the Internet.
• XML Sitemap – is known for a specific file that gives a “roadmap” for the search crawlers (for better indexing), in line with making things easier for human navigation through a clean & clear website structure.