Plain definitions of 35 terms we use on the job in Adelaide.
Term Index
Open any term below for a dedicated definition page.
Above-the-Fold is the visible area of a web page that appears before a visitor scrolls. The area depends on the device, screen size, browser window and page layout. In landing page design, above-the-fold content usually introduces the offer, establishes relevance and gives visitors a clear next action without requiring immediate scrolling.
Also called: Above the Fold
Alt Text is written text attached to an image in a webpage's HTML. It describes the image's useful meaning for people who cannot see it and for systems that cannot interpret visual content directly. Alt Text supports accessible page content and gives search engines clearer context about relevant images.
Also called: Alternative Text, Image Alt Text
Anchor Text is the visible, clickable wording of a hyperlink. Anchor text tells users and search engines what the linked page concerns. The wording may describe a service, topic, brand, or destination. Clear anchor text gives a link context, while vague wording such as “click here” provides little information about the linked content.
Also called: Link Text
A Backlink Profile is the overall pattern of links from other websites to a website, including their sources, anchor text, relevance, authority, and placement. The profile shows how a site has gained external references over time. Search professionals review these signals to understand link quality, topical alignment, and potential risk.
Also called: Link Profile
Bounce Rate is a website engagement metric that describes the share of visits where a person leaves after viewing one page without taking a tracked further action. The measure helps identify visits with limited interaction, but it does not explain the visitor’s reason for leaving or prove that a page failed.
A Canonical URL is the preferred address for a webpage when similar or duplicate versions exist. The canonical address helps search engines understand which URL represents the main page for indexing and ranking signals. Website owners declare this preference with a canonical link element in the page's HTML.
Also called: Canonical Link
Click-Through Rate is a marketing metric that shows how often people select an advert or search result after seeing it. The metric compares clicks with impressions, which are the times an item appears. A higher rate suggests stronger immediate engagement, but the result must be read alongside search intent, audience quality and conversions.
Also called: CTR
Core Web Vitals are a group of user-experience signals that assess how quickly a webpage displays useful content, responds to user interaction, and remains visually stable during loading. Search systems use these measurements as part of broader page experience analysis, while developers use them to identify performance issues affecting real visitors.
Crawlability is the ability of search engine crawlers to access, follow and retrieve a website’s pages. It depends on technical signals such as server access, robots.txt rules, internal links and sitemap information. Strong crawlability helps crawlers discover content, while blocked or poorly connected pages may remain unseen during search engine processing.
Also called: Crawl Access
Crawl Budget is the amount of attention a search engine crawler allocates to a website during its visits. The allocation reflects how efficiently the site can be crawled and how useful its pages appear to be. Crawl Budget influences which pages search engines discover, revisit, and process when a site contains many URLs.
Domain Authority is a third-party SEO score that estimates how a website may perform in organic search, based mainly on the quality and strength of links pointing to its domain. Domain Authority helps compare competing websites, but it is not a Google ranking factor and does not predict rankings for individual keywords.
Also called: DA
Duplicate Content is a search engine optimisation issue where substantially similar text appears at more than one URL. The pages may sit on the same website or across different websites. Search engines may select one version as the main result, combine signals between versions, or leave some copies out of search results.
Also called: Near-Duplicate Content
Featured Snippet is a highlighted result that Google may show above or alongside standard organic listings for a search query. The result extracts a concise answer from a webpage and links to that page. Featured Snippets commonly present definitions, steps, tables or short explanations that match the wording and intent of a query.
Also called: Position Zero
Geotargeting is a digital marketing method that adapts search results, website content, advertisements or offers to a user’s location. Location signals may include a country, region, city, postcode or device setting. In SEO, geotargeting helps search engines and users connect a page with the places it serves.
Also called: Geo-Targeting, Location Targeting
Google Business Profile is a free business listing managed through Google that displays key information in Google Search and Google Maps. A profile can show a business name, address, contact details, opening hours, services, photos, reviews, and updates. Businesses manage the profile to keep public information accurate and support local search visibility.
Also called: GBP, Google My Business
Hreflang is an HTML attribute and XML sitemap signal that tells search engines which language and regional version of a page to show users. Website owners apply hreflang annotations to equivalent pages, such as English pages for Australia and the United Kingdom. The signal helps search engines match regional searchers with the most suitable page.
Also called: Hreflang Tag
An Image Sitemap is an XML file that lists image URLs associated with pages on a website. It gives search engine crawlers structured information about images that may be difficult to discover through normal page links. The file can support image discovery for important visual content, including product photographs, diagrams, and original graphics.
Also called: Image XML Sitemap
Index Coverage is a report of how search engines process a website’s URLs for inclusion in their search index. The report separates indexed pages from pages excluded because of issues such as crawling barriers, duplicate signals, redirects or low-quality signals. It helps identify which important pages can appear in organic search results.
Also called: Index Status
Internal Linking is the practice of connecting pages within the same website through clickable links. These links help people move between related content and help search engines discover and interpret page relationships. Effective internal linking places relevant links in useful context, guiding visitors from broad information towards more specific pages, services, or supporting resources.
Also called: Internal Links
Keyword Cannibalisation is an SEO problem where multiple pages on one website target the same or closely related search intent. The pages compete for visibility, which can make search engines uncertain about the strongest result. The issue concerns overlapping page purpose, not simply repeated words or phrases across a website.
Also called: SEO Cannibalisation
A Long-Tail Keyword is a specific search phrase that contains several words and targets a narrower topic or need. Searchers often use these phrases when they know what they want, such as a service, product feature, location, or answer. Long-tail keywords usually provide clearer search intent than broad terms.
Also called: Long-Tail Search Term
A Meta Description is a short HTML element that summarises a webpage for search engine results. Search engines may display the text beneath the page title and URL, although they can replace it with page content when another extract better matches a search. A well-written description reflects the page accurately and encourages relevant visits.
Also called: Meta Description Tag
Mobile-First Indexing is Google's practice of using the mobile version of a webpage as the primary version for crawling and indexing. The approach means mobile content, links, structured data, and page rendering can influence how search systems understand and rank a page, even when someone searches from a desktop device.
Also called: Mobile-First Index
NAP Consistency is the accurate and matching presentation of a business’s name, address, and phone number across its website, business directories, maps, and social profiles. It helps search engines connect online listings to the same local business and gives people reliable details when they look for a nearby service.
Also called: Name Address Phone Consistency, NAP Accuracy
Organic Search is the unpaid process of finding webpages through search engine results. It includes visits generated when a page matches a person's query and earns a natural ranking. Search engines assess signals such as relevance, content quality, page experience and site structure when deciding which results to display.
Also called: Natural Search, Organic Listings
An Orphan Page is a website page with no internal links from other crawlable pages on the same site. The page may still exist in an XML Sitemap, appear in search results, or receive external links. Its isolated position makes discovery, crawling, user navigation, and internal authority flow less predictable.
Also called: Orphaned Page
Page Speed is the time and responsiveness involved when a web page loads and becomes usable in a browser. The term covers more than the first visible content. It also includes how quickly page elements respond to interaction, how much data a page requests, and how efficiently its code, images, hosting, and browser delivery work together.
Also called: Page Load Speed, Website Speed
People Also Ask is a search-results feature that displays related questions connected to a user’s query. Each question can expand to show a short answer from a web page. The feature reveals closely related search needs and helps publishers understand the questions that surround a topic.
Also called: PAA
Product Schema is structured data that describes a product, its name, image, brand, price, availability, and related details for search engines. Added to a product page, this markup helps search systems interpret the offer and may support enhanced search results when the page meets the relevant requirements.
Also called: Product Structured Data
Rich Results are enhanced search listings that display extra information beyond a standard title, URL and description. These details come from structured data on a webpage and may show items such as review ratings, product information, event details or frequently asked questions. Search engines decide whether eligible pages receive these expanded appearances.
Also called: Rich Snippets
Robots.txt is a text file that gives automated crawlers instructions about which website paths they may request. Website owners place the file at the site’s root address, where crawlers can find it before exploring pages. The file guides crawling behaviour, but it does not remove pages from search results or control access for people.
Also called: Robots Exclusion File
Search Intent is the underlying purpose behind a search query, such as learning, comparing options, or taking an action. It describes what a person expects to see in search results. Understanding that purpose helps SEO practitioners align keyword targets, page formats, and content with the searcher’s likely goal.
Also called: Keyword Intent, User Intent
A SERP is a search engine results page displayed after someone submits a search query. A SERP may contain unpaid organic listings, paid advertisements, local results, images, videos, maps, featured snippets and other search features. Its layout changes according to the query, location, device, search history and available content.
Also called: Search Engine Results Page
A Title Tag is an HTML element that names a web page for search results and browser tabs. Search engines may use the element as the clickable result heading, while browsers often display it in the tab label. A clear Title Tag describes the page accurately and reflects its main search intent.
Also called: Page Title, SEO Title
An XML Sitemap is a structured file that lists important URLs on a website for search engine crawlers. The file can provide details about pages, images, videos or news content. It helps crawlers discover eligible content, but inclusion in the file does not guarantee crawling, indexing or higher search rankings.
Also called: XML Sitemap File
