A user-friendly interface that lets you interact with a computer program using visual elements like windows, icons, menus and buttons.
Writing content for another website (the host) to reach a new audience. Such content often includes a link back to the author’s website.
Gray hat tactics are a blurry area between ethical white hat SEO and unethical black hat SEO. They could be considered aggressive or manipulative.
Web crawler, sometimes called robots and spiders. They continuously browse the web and analyzing web pages.
An automated program that constantly browses the web. This ongoing process helps Google understand the web’s structure and deliver relevant search results.
A software program that automatically crawls the web to discover and index content for Google Search fetches web pages, analyzes their content, and follows links to find new pages.
A variety of tools for website owners to monitor website health and search performance. It has been replaced by Google Search Console.
The core principles for website quality and SEO in Google’s eyes. They cover technical requirements, content quality, and spam prevention.
A free web tool by Google that lets you see how often specific terms are searched for over time. You get insights on search trends and popularity for different topics.
A free tag management system by Google. It helps manage website tags (snippets of code) from different analytics and marketing tools.
The practice of optimizing websites for Google’s search engine. It involves strategies to improve a website’s ranking in search results for relevant keywords.
The cost of acquiring website visitors through your text ads on Google Search. This is usually measured by Cost-per-Click (CPC).
Website visitors acquired through clicking on your text ads displayed on Google Search results pages.
High-visibility text ads displayed at the very top of Google Search results pages, often above organic results. Top ad positions generally have a higher CPC.
The specific terms or phrases users are likely to search for that trigger your ad to appear. Relevant keywords can attract qualified traffic and increase your ROAS.
Text-based ads displayed at the lower portion of Google Search results pages, following organic results.
Keyword based ads displayed on Google Search results pages and partner websites. These ads appear above or along with organic search results as “Sponsored.”
Internal documents used by Google to train human raters who evaluate search results. These guidelines detail factors like E-A-T that contribute to high-quality content.
Special commands and symbols entered with keywords to refine your Google searches. Example: using quotes for exact phrases, “site:” to search within a specific website.
A free tool by Google that helps website owners monitor website health and search performance like search traffic and ranking data, indexing status and potential crawl errors, etc.
Website traffic originating from Google search results (excluding paid ads). It refers to users who discover your website through organic search queries.
An unconfirmed theory suggesting Google places new websites in a temporary low-ranking period to assess their quality.
A machine learning system that helps Google understand search queries and deliver relevant results, especially for complex or ambiguous terms.
Internal guidelines used by Google Search raters to evaluate webpage quality and relevance. Following these guidelines can improve your website’s visibility.
An algorithm update that prioritized local search results. Pigeon increased the influence of local SEO factors by GMB listings, positive reviews, etc.
A specific algorithm update launched in 2012 to target websites that manipulated search rankings with black-hat SEO tactics like unnatural backlinks.
Algorithmic actions or manual reviews that lower a website’s ranking for violating Google’s webmaster guidelines.
A program for agencies and consultants certified in Google Ads management. They meet qualifications and pass exams to demonstrate their ability on ad campaigns for clients,
An aggregated service that gathers headlines and stories from different publications. It personalizes news for you, showing articles on your chosen topics and locations.
Your business’s profile on Google Search and Maps. It shows information like address, hours and photos of your business.
A free tool where businesses can update their business information, add photos, respond to reviews and connect with customers.
The top three local business listings displayed in Google Search results for location-based queries. It includes business names, addresses, ratings and sometimes operating hours.
Free data visualization tool by Google where you can create and customize dashboards and reports using your marketing data.
A free keyword research tool to identify relevant keywords for your website or content. It suggest search terms, estimated search volume and competitive insights.
A major algorithm update announced in 2013 that focused on understanding search intent and context. Its aim was to deliver more relevant and informative results.
A customized feed of content displayed on Google Search mobile app and some Android devices based on a user’s search history, browsing activity and app usage.
Fluctuations in search engine rankings that happened in the past. Google’s search results update frequently and minor rank variations were once called the “Dance.”
A free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google Search and Maps. It helps customers find details about your business online.
An outdated tactic to manipulate search results for a specific term by creating a large number of webpages linking to a target website using irrelevant keywords.
Predefined actions users complete on a website, like visiting a specific page, submitting a form, or making a purchase. You can track these goals to measure campaign effectiveness.
A free software provided by Google to get insights into website traffic, user demographics, content performance and marketing campaigns.
A free web analytics platform by Google that tracks website traffic and user behavior. It provides insights into website performance, user demographics, content engagement and many more.
The complex system Google uses to rank websites in search results. It considers many factors, like content relevance, website quality, user experience, and more.
An advertising program that allows website owners to display ads on their web pages or apps. When users click on these ads, website owners earn revenue.
A multinational technology company founded in 1998 that is known for its dominant web search engine. It also offers email, productivity tools, cloud computing, and other hardware products.
Creating online content or ads according to specific geographic locations. It could be targeting users based on their IP address, language settings or location history.
Location-specific terms added to keywords in search queries. They signal to search engines the searcher’s intent to find local results.
A regulation in EU law on data privacy and protection for all individuals within the European Union. It regulates how personal data is collected, used and stored by companies.