SEO Flashcards

Refers to how Google now uses the mobile version of your page for indexing and ranking – which really means they now consider the mobile version of your site as the “true” version, regardless of what device you’re searching from.

Google started all this back in March, 2018.

We talk about these URLs in the context of a link’s anchor text (the visible part of a link).

A Naked URL is when the anchor text displays your domain name (or a variation of it) as opposed to a word or phrase.

e.g. https://topaeo.com/ or topaeo.com vs. the best seo site is Top AEO.
See: anchor text

A content parameter value in the robots meta tag that tells search engines not to index a page.

When cleaning up old pages, add noindex to your meta tag or delete the pages altogether that have little or no value. 
See: robots meta

In the context of search results (SERPs), this is usually synonymous with unpaid or natural – as opposed to paid listings or advertisements.
See: serps

Google’s original algorithm that ranks the importance of web pages based on their inbound link profile and internal link structure, through a concept known as link equity.
See: backlinks, link equity

Also known as Farmer, this major Google algorithm update went live in February 2011, and awarded legitimate and content-rich websites, and penalized thin or duplicate content sites that attempted to gain traffic unethically.

For example, if you tried to write short posts to rank for long-tail keywords, you were penalized for not providing in-depth content and true value.
See: penguin

This Google algorithm update went live on April 24th, 2012, and its purpose was to target sites that were acquiring unethical backlinks or keyword stuffing content.

To remember this update, think of the movie March of the Penguins. It’s all about super cold penguins huddled together to survive – or all about links.
See: panda

This is just the word or phrase (keyword) you enter into a search engine’s search box.
See: keywords

This is Google’s machine learning AI algorithm that is part of their core ranking algorithm (Hummingbird), that specializes in understanding user intent and user-experience metrics to evaluate the quality of a website.

And it’s pretty important – Google said it was their 3rd most important ranking factor.

So make sure to optimize your title tag and meta description for higher a CTR, and also make sure to write great content to improve your dwell times and reduce your bounce rates. Got all that?
See: learn more

These are other websites that create links back your content (aka backlinks).
See: external

A link that does not display the full location of a page by omitting the domain name in front (unlike an Absolute URL). e.g. /seo-flashcards.

The location of the page is assumed is to be relative to the current location of the user.

Stay away from Relative URLs as they can cause duplicate content issues.
See: absolute url

In short, this is a meta html tag on a web page that tells bots 2 important values:

1. Index / Noindex – if a search engine should include the page in their index or not.

2. Follow / Nofollow – if a search engine should consider the links on the page as an endorsement by you (and therefore transfer some link equity) or not.
See: noindex, learn more

This is a text file where you lay out the access rules to your website for search engine bots. Think of it as your website’s guest list – it says who can enter and where they can go.

Keep in mind, this file is visible to everyone since you have to place it on your root directory (e.g. yoursite.com/robots.txt) to work.
See: bots

Also known as structured data, schema is HTML code that helps search engines understand the topic of your website so they can accurately index your content.

Schema also adds extra details in SERPs listings, like rich snippets (e.g. star ratings), to improve your click-through-rate (CTR) and attract more visitors.

If you use WordPress, here’s a helpful plugin to add schema. 
See: local seo, google tool

The HTML tag that specifies the title of your web page. More importantly, it’s your page’s listing in SERPs, so make it something that entices people to click on it. 

Use your keyword in your titles too and maybe even try an emoji 😉

In the context of Google Tag Manager, tags are just scripts, or bits of code, that are added to your website and send data to other providers (like Google Analytics). 

Use tags to add Google Analytics tracking code so you can monitor your website’s performance metrics.
See: google tag manager

These are extra characters (strings) that are attached to a URL path in your browser’s address bar, that you’ll see most often when you filter/sort products on online stores (although marketers also use them to track clicks).

For example, if you visit a t-shirt store and then filter by color and sort by lowest price, you’ll see an updated URL – usually with a ?, =, & – that’s generated dynamically based on the filters you chose.
See: canonical, google says

This is when you search for a specific type of content within a search engine, like images, videos, news, maps, etc.

So, for example, you click “images” above the Google search bar, you are entering a new vertical with its own distinct index full of that content type.
See: blended search

The most popular Content Management System (user-friendly blogging platform) that makes it super easy for anyone to create a website that already has an seo-friendly architecture out of the box.
See: wordpress.org