SEO, or search engine optimization, is a world full of terms and words that can seem complex. There are many Anglicisms and acronyms that, although not easy to understand, are fundamental for those who want to improve the organic ranking of a website.
For this reason, in this article, our experts Blas Giffuni and Camilo Ramírez consolidate a glossary or SEO dictionary with simple and brief definitions of the key terms you need to know.
Let's get started!
Domain
A domain is the name we give to our website. Using the analogy of a physical store, the domain would be the name of the store.
A domain is not purchased permanently and uniquely; it is rented. This means that payment must be renewed periodically, and if you do not, it could be taken away. For example, in 2021, someone managed to buy Google's domain in Argentina for a short period.
Link
Links are texts or images that, when clicked, take us to another website or a page within our own website. They are also known as hyperlinks, and when a user clicks on them, they are directed to different content elsewhere on the internet.
Usually, when links are presented as text, they appear as underlined words in a different color from the rest of the content.
In terms of search engines, when someone who generates content links to another web, it is because they consider the other content to be of quality and, therefore, recommend it to others. It is like a vote of confidence from one website to another.
Why are links important?
Receiving links from other relevant websites indicates to search engine robots that your web content is of quality.
Equally important as receiving links from other sites is including links and hyperlinks to other websites in your content. This brings us to other relevant concepts:
- Dofollow link: a dofollow link tells search engines that the website being linked to is relevant and that you want to guide the user to that content because you consider it valuable.
- Nofollow link: adding the nofollow attribute tells the search engine not to follow that link to avoid transmitting authority to the destination.
Hosting
Continuing with the physical store analogy, if the domain is the store sign or name, then hosting is the store itself. Hosting is the place on the web where we store all the content within the website: videos, images, texts, audios, etc. Here are some considerations regarding hosting:
- Hosting often determines how fast a website loads.
- This loading speed impacts the user experience.
- As the volume of content on a website grows, the hosting capacity must also grow to support the increased weight and traffic.
- The hosting used has direct repercussions on SEO ranking.
In summary, hosting works like a computer or hard drive where I store my website wherever it is. The more complex or robust my website is, the more memory and capacity I will need to store all the information.
Why is it better to invest in good hosting?
If we choose a cheap hosting, it is likely shared with many other websites, and if one of these websites with which I share my hosting has a lot of traffic, it will take away loading speed from my website. The speed at which the connection reaches the hosting provider and the speed at which the provider finds your website will also be impacted.
Keyword
Keywords are the most important or relevant words related to specific content that shape the knowledge structure of a website.
Keywords also refer to the terms used by users to find information in search engines.
These searches can consist of one or more words:
- Short tail keywords: search terms that use no more than three words and have a lower level of specificity and intention. For example: "Birthday cakes."
- Long tail keywords: search terms that use four or more words and, due to their higher specificity, denote a higher level of decision-making intention. For example: "Birthday cakes with superhero figures for kids."
*Note: on average, a user's search can consist of between 7 and 13 words nowadays.
Why are keywords important?
Keywords are important because they allow us to measure a website's performance and track how the site's ranking increases or decreases concerning a specific keyword. This allows us to optimize content to rank better.
CMS (Content Management System)
The term CMS stands for Content Management System.
A CMS is a system or platform that allows users to present website content and facilitate the processes of those who upload, update, and maintain that content. CMS makes the task of creating and managing a website easier.
Some examples of CMS are:
- WordPress
- Adobe Experience Manager
- Drupal
- Magento
- Shopify
Plugin
Plugins are complementary tools that expand or increase the functionality of a CMS, allowing specific tasks to be solved.
For example, WordPress is a CMS, and Yoast is a plugin that helps optimize your website with SEO. This does not mean that SEO cannot be added without Yoast, but they are additions to the CMS to enhance and facilitate tasks.
Using an analogy, plugins can be compared to Lego pieces, where the CMS is the base that supports the structure, and plugins are the Lego pieces placed on top to achieve more interesting things.
Domain Authority
Domain authority refers to the popularity of a specific website, theoretically achieved by obtaining many external links directing to your web. It is said that with more authority, your website will have a better organic ranking and, therefore, occupy a better position in search results.
However, this is one of the great myths of SEO because, to date, no search engine has confirmed or affirmed that they review domain authority.
This is the end of the first part of our SEO glossary or dictionary of terms. We invite you to read hour blog articles to learn more about search engine optimization!
Sources:
- [BBC Mundo](https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-56896034)
