SEO Glossary: The complete organic search lexicon
From A like AEO to Z like XML Sitemap, master SEO vocabulary with our trilingual glossary. Each term is simply explained, with links to our services and articles for deeper learning.
A
AEO
Answer Engine Optimization — content optimization to appear in direct answers from search engines and conversational AIs like ChatGPT, Siri and Alexa.
Learn more →Alt text (Alternative text)
Textual description of an image used by search engines to understand its content. Essential for image SEO and web accessibility.
Anchor text
Clickable text of a hyperlink. Relevant and varied anchor text helps Google understand the context of the linked page and improves its ranking.
B
Backlink
Inbound link from another website pointing to yours. Quality backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors for Google.
Learn more →Black hat SEO
SEO techniques that violate Google's guidelines (keyword stuffing, cloaking, artificial links). High risk of penalty that can lead to site de-indexing.
C
Canonical (Canonical URL)
HTML tag telling Google the main URL of a page when multiple versions exist. Avoids duplicate content issues.
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
Core Web Vitals metric measuring visual stability of a page. A low CLS score (< 0.1) is essential for SEO and user experience.
CMS
Content Management System (WordPress, Shopify, Drupal). A well SEO-optimized CMS makes your site's ranking easier.
Learn more →Crawl budget
Number of pages GoogleBot crawls on your site during each visit. Optimizing your crawl budget ensures fast indexing of your important pages.
CTR (Click-Through Rate)
Click-Through Rate — percentage of users who click on your result after seeing it in the SERP. An attractive meta title and meta description increase CTR.
Canonical URL
Preferred version of a URL when multiple paths lead to the same content. The canonical tag avoids duplicate content penalties.
D
Domain Authority (DA)
Score (1 to 100) developed by Moz predicting a site's ability to rank in SERPs. The higher the DA, the more authoritative the site is considered.
Duplicate content
Identical or very similar content present on multiple pages or domains. Can dilute your SEO and create confusion for Google on which page to rank.
E
E-E-A-T
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness — Google quality criteria for evaluating content. E-E-A-T is crucial for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) sites.
F
Featured snippet
Answer block extracted by Google and displayed in position zero above classic results. Highly sought after for maximum visibility.
G
GEO
Generative Engine Optimization — optimization for AI-based generative search engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity). The evolution of SEO in the artificial intelligence era.
Learn more →GoogleBot
Google's indexing robot that crawls the web to discover, analyze and index pages in Google's database.
H
Hreflang
HTML tag telling Google the language and geographic target of a page. Essential for multilingual sites to avoid duplicate content issues.
HTTP/HTTPS
Secure hypertext transfer protocol. Google considers HTTPS as a ranking signal. A site without an SSL certificate is penalized and displayed as not secure.
I
Indexing
Process by which Google adds a web page to its database to display it in search results. A non-indexed page is invisible on Google.
Internal linking
Links between pages of the same site. Strategic internal linking distributes authority, improves navigation and helps Google understand site structure.
J
JavaScript SEO
Optimization of sites using JavaScript to ensure Google can properly crawl, render and index dynamically generated content.
K
Keyword stuffing
Abusive practice of excessively repeating keywords in content. Black hat technique penalized by Google since the Panda update.
L
Link building
Strategy aimed at obtaining quality backlinks to strengthen your site's authority. A pillar of off-page SEO, link building must be natural and progressive.
Learn more →Long-tail keywords
Very specific search queries, usually composed of 3 to 5 words or more. Less competitive, they generate more qualified traffic with stronger purchase intent.
Local SEO
Optimization for geo-localized searches (Google Maps, Google Business Profile). Essential for physical businesses, craftsmen and local services.
Learn more →Loading speed
Time needed for a web page to fully display. Google recommends under 2.5 seconds. Direct impact on SEO, bounce rate and conversions.
M
Meta description
HTML tag summarizing a page's content in 150-160 characters. Displayed in SERPs under the title, it influences CTR even though it's not a direct ranking factor.
N
Nofollow
Link attribute telling Google not to pass authority (PageRank) to the linked page. Used for sponsored links, comments and unverified content.
O
Organic traffic
Visitors arriving on your site via natural (non-paid) search engine results. Key indicator of SEO performance.
P
Page speed
Loading time of a web page. Direct ranking factor since 2018 and central element of Core Web Vitals. Impacts SEO, UX and conversion rate.
Position zero
Privileged position above the first organic result, reserved for featured snippets, knowledge panels and other rich results. Maximum visibility.
Q
Query
Word or phrase entered by the user in the search bar. Understanding search intent (informational, navigational, transactional) is the foundation of SEO.
R
Rich snippet
Enhanced search result displaying additional information (stars, price, images, FAQ). Generated via Schema.org structured data.
Robots.txt
Text file at the site root giving instructions to crawlers. Allows blocking the indexing of certain pages or sections of your site.
S
Schema markup
Code added to HTML using Schema.org vocabulary to help Google understand content. Generates rich snippets and improves CTR.
Sitemap
File listing all important pages of your site to facilitate their discovery by Google. Recommended for large sites or complex architectures.
T
Title tag
HTML element defining a page's title. Most important SEO ranking factor after content. Displayed as the clickable title in SERPs.
W
White hat SEO
SEO techniques respecting Google's guidelines. Ethical and sustainable approach focused on content quality and user experience.
X
XML Sitemap
XML file listing your site's URLs with metadata (modification date, priority, frequency). Essential for guiding GoogleBot in exploring your site.
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