SEO people love their fancy words. They throw them around like confetti:
"We need to optimize your meta descriptions and improve your backlink profile with high-authority domains while targeting long-tail keywords and optimizing for featured snippets."
What does any of that mean?
If you've ever felt like SEO is a foreign language, you're not alone. So let's translate. Here's what the most common SEO terms actually mean—in plain English.
The Most Important Terms (And What They Really Mean)
Fancy definition: "A word or phrase that users enter into search engines."
Plain English: Whatever someone types into Google. If you search "pizza near me," that's your keyword. If you want to be found for something, that thing is your keyword.
Example: A plumber might want to be found for "emergency plumber Sacramento." That's their keyword.
Fancy definition: "A longer, more specific keyword phrase."
Plain English: A really specific search. Instead of "shoes," someone searches "women's running shoes for flat feet." It's longer, less common, but the person searching knows exactly what they want.
Why it matters: These searches are easier to rank for and often lead to more customers because the person is further along in deciding.
Fancy definition: "An incoming hyperlink from one website to another."
Plain English: When another website links to your website. Think of it like a vote. If a popular site links to you, Google thinks "this site must be trustworthy."
Example: If the local news site writes a story about your business and links to your website, that's a backlink. Very good for SEO.
Fancy definition: "A search engine ranking score that predicts how well a website will rank."
Plain English: A score (usually 1-100) that guesses how trustworthy your whole website is. Higher is better. You get a higher score by having good content and lots of quality backlinks.
Note: Not an official Google metric, but SEOs use it to estimate strength.
Fancy definition: "An HTML attribute that provides a brief summary of a web page."
Plain English: That little blurb under your website title in Google search results. It doesn't help your ranking much, but it helps convince people to click.
Example: When you search something and see the blue link and then a small description underneath—that's the meta description.
Fancy definition: "An HTML element that specifies the title of a web page."
Plain English: The big blue clickable headline in Google search results. Also the title at the top of your browser tab. Super important for SEO.
Example: "Plumber in Sacramento | Same-Day Service | Joe's Plumbing"
Fancy definition: "Alternative text that describes an image for screen readers and search engines."
Plain English: A hidden description of your images. Helps blind people (screen readers read it aloud) and helps Google understand what's in the photo.
Example: Instead of "IMG_4572.jpg," you write "plumber-fixing-kitchen-sink-sacramento.jpg" as the filename and add alt text: "Plumber in Sacramento repairing a kitchen sink."
Fancy definition: "Search Engine Results Page."
Plain English: The page you see after you search for something. The list of results.
Example: "We want to rank higher on the SERP" means "We want to show up higher in search results."
Fancy definition: "Unpaid search results."
Plain English: The regular search results that aren't ads. You can't pay to be here—you earn your spot through good SEO.
Example: The top few results with a little "Ad" label? Those are paid. Everything below? That's organic.
Fancy definition: "A summary of an answer displayed at the top of Google search results."
Plain English: That box at the very top that directly answers your question. Google pulls it from a website and shows it right there.
Example: Search "how to unclog a drain" and you might see a box with steps. That's a featured snippet. If you're the source, you get tons of visibility.
Fancy definition: "A block of local business listings shown on Google Maps and search."
Plain English: The map with three businesses at the top of local searches. The holy grail for local businesses.
Example: Search "plumber near me" and see the map with three plumbers? That's the local pack.
Fancy definition: "A free business listing on Google."
Plain English: Your business's profile on Google Maps and search. Shows your hours, phone, address, reviews, photos. Formerly called Google My Business.
Why it matters: This is how you get into the local pack. Free and essential.
Fancy definition: "Name, Address, Phone number."
Plain English: Your basic contact info. SEOs care about it being consistent everywhere online.
Example: If your Google profile says "Main St" but your website says "Main Street," that inconsistency confuses Google.
Fancy definition: "A mention of your business on another website."
Plain English: Any place online where your business name, address, and phone number appear. Like Yelp, Yellow Pages, local directories.
Why it matters: More consistent citations = more trust from Google.
Fancy definition: "Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness."
Plain English: A fancy way of saying: Is your website trustworthy? Do you know your stuff? Google checks for this, especially for medical, financial, and legal sites.
Example: A doctor's website should have bios, credentials, and real experience to show E-E-A-T.
Fancy definition: "The percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page."
Plain English: Someone comes to your site, doesn't like what they see, and leaves immediately without clicking anything else. High bounce rate is usually bad.
Fancy definition: "The ratio of users who click on a specific link to the number of total users who view it."
Plain English: Of the people who see your listing in Google, how many actually click it? If 100 people see you and 5 click, that's a 5% CTR.
Fancy definition: "Structured data code that helps search engines understand your content."
Plain English: Extra code on your website that helps Google understand things like your phone number, reviews, events, and FAQs. Can make your search results look fancier.
Example: Those star ratings under some search results? That's from schema markup.
Fancy definition: "The preferred version of a web page when duplicate content exists."
Plain English: If you have the same content at two different web addresses, you tell Google which one is the "real" one. Helps avoid confusion.
Fancy definition: "A permanent redirect from one URL to another."
Plain English: When you move a page to a new web address, you set up a 301 redirect so people (and Google) who visit the old address automatically go to the new one. Like mail forwarding.
Quick Reference Grid
Remember
SEO jargon is just a way for experts to sound smart. Behind every fancy word is a simple concept. If someone uses a term you don't understand, ask them to explain it in plain English. A good expert can.
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