SEO TERMS TO TRACK
Search Engine Optimization is improving your organic position on Google for relevant and targeted keywords. Choosing an SEO company to promote your business is tricky these days. Many SEO companies implement outdated techniques and even dodgy SEO tactics that could get your website banned from Google. It’s important to know the SEO basics and terminology before choosing an SEO provider in South Africa.
BASIC SEO TERMS
This section will focus on basic SEO Terms used in Search Engine Optimization.
ORGANIC TRAFFIC
Organic traffic refers to traffic obtained by search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Organic traffic can be obtained by search engine optimization, there are 2 types of SEO:
ON PAGE SEO
On-page SEO refers to the optimization of your website. SEO Specialists will assess your website and provide vital recommendations to boost its organic position. The website changes include adding and editing content on each webpage of your site. On-page SEO is a once-off charge.
ON PAGE SEO TERMS
1A. META TITLE
Meta Title is the title displayed on search engines. You can update your meta title in the HTML part of your website, or by a WordPress Plugin to simplify the process. If you do not update your meta title, the search engines will use your website’s default title.
EXAMPLE
The Meta Title is an important part of SEO and should include primary keywords. When writing a Meta Title, you should not exceed 60 characters and avoid repeating the same keywords. WordPress users should use Yoast Plugin to update meta titles.
2A. META DESCRIPTION
A meta description is the description displayed on search engines. You can update your Meta description on your site’s HTML or a WordPress Plugin. If you do not update your Meta Description, Google will take the first sentence of your website and display it as your Meta Description.
EXAMPLE
The Meta description should include secondary keywords that are important to your business. The Meta description should not exceed 160 characters and entice users to click on your website’s link.
3A. META KEYWORDS
Meta keywords used to be important, as they play no part in search engine optimization anymore. In the older days, updating your meta keywords helped search engines understand which keywords to rank your website, now they look at it to enforce spamming bans.
EXAMPLE
Nowadays, most SEO specialists do not update their Meta Keywords, and leave the space blank. Meta keywords can only have a negative effect with regards to SEO as updating them serves no benefit and could lead to search engine bans.
OFF PAGE SEO
Off-page SEO refers to work done outside your website, such as backlinks. SEO Specialists will maximize your exposure by building links on other high-quality and relevant websites. Linking from multiple websites is a vote of confidence, and positively contributes to your ranking positions on Google. Off-Page SEO is a month-to-month charge.
KEYWORDS
Keywords are words or phrases typed on search engines to find specific information, products, and services. Targeting the right keywords in your Google marketing campaigns is vital to the success of your business.
EXAMPLE
Keywords are an important part of SEO as your website should be optimized around high-traffic keywords to rank on Page 1 of Google.
KEYWORD RESEARCH
Keyword research is digging for high-traffic and targeted keywords using Keyword Research Tools. Keyword Research tools show the Average Amount of searches done for each keyword per month and the traffic trend patterns throughout the year for each keyword.
EXAMPLE
Searching for the keyword “SEO Company” on Google’s Keyword Planner reveals 390 searches are done for this keyword on average per month. It means an average of 390 people search for the keyword “SEO Company” on Google every month.
PRIMARY KEYWORDS
These are the most important keywords for your business. These keywords are the most focused and will drive the most traffic to your website. Your website should mention your primary keywords in the first sentence and last sentence of your website content, as well as other sections of your website.
SECONDARY KEYWORDS
These keywords are valuable to your business but do not receive as much traffic as your primary keywords, or are not as targeted as your primary keywords. Your website’s content should contain about 2% of your primary and secondary keywords in it naturally.
SHORT TAIL KEYWORDS
These keywords are usually 1-2 words long and have the broadest reach. Short-tail keywords are not as Targeted and Focused as middle-tail or long-tail keywords. Short tail keywords are the hardest to rank on Google as they receive the most traffic and competition.
MEDIUM TAIL KEYWORDS
These keywords are usually 2-3 words long and have a good reach. Medium tail keywords are targeted keywords that should be targeted in your SEO campaign. Medium-tail keywords are easier to reach on Page 1 of Google than long-tail keywords.
LONG TAIL KEYWORDS
These keywords are usually between 3-5 words long. Long-tail keywords do not receive as much traffic as short-tail and medium-tail keywords, however, they are the most targeted keywords as they are more specific to the search inquiry.
PAID TRAFFIC
Paid traffic is paying to have your advert appear on search engines and other websites. When people click on your advert, you will pay a specific fee. The most popular paid traffic platforms include Google Ads, Bing Ads, and Facebook ads.
INTERMEDIATE SEO TERMS
This section will discuss Intermediate terms used in Search Engine Optimization.
IMPRESSIONS
Impressions are the number of people who viewed your website link. Your website link could have appeared on other websites, search engines, or paid ads. Impressions are important as they measure the success and impact of your adverts by comparing them to clicks.
EXAMPLE
If your website link is receiving High Impressions but Low Clicks, it means your advert is appearing to many people, but not many people are clicking on it. If your clicks are low, this means your advert is not performing well, or you have targeted the wrong group of people.
CLICKS
Clicks refer to users clicking on your website link from a paid advert, search engine, or website. Most paid advertising works on a Cost-Per-Click model, whereby the marketer pays for each click on their advert. Clicks are important as they measure the success of your paid advertising campaigns.
EXAMPLE
Clicks determine the effectiveness of your adverts and website. When your advert receives High Clicks with No Sales, your website is not creating trust with its users, or offering them any value.
CLICKTHROUGH RATE
The clickthrough rate refers to the number of people who viewed your advert compared with the number of people who clicked on your advert. It is measured with percentages and a good clickthrough rate is between 6-7%.
EXAMPLE
A Clickthrough rate of 7% means that 7 out of 100 people who saw your advert, clicked on it. Clickthrough rate measures the success of your adverts and allows marketers to improve the effectiveness of their ads.
CONVERSIONS
Conversions are important actions on your website and are extremely valuable for your business. Conversions include phone calls, inquiries, sales, and application downloads. Conversion tracking allows you to track important actions that occur on your website.
EXAMPLE
Conversion Tracking involves installing a tracking code in your website’s HTML. The tracking codes will count the number of conversions that occur, compared with the number of clicks allowing you to determine the Cost-per-acquisition. (CPA)
COST PER ACQUISITION
It refers to the number of clicks before you receive a conversion. Most websites receive a specific number of clicks before an action takes place. This varies according to industry and competition and allows marketers to understand their ROI. (Return-of-investment)
EXAMPLE
For instance, a website, on average, receives 50 clicks before it accumulates a sale. Say a click in the industry costs R20. 50 Clicks X R20= R1000. The Cost-Per-Acquisition is R1000. It took R1000 worth of clicks to get a single sale.
ADVANCED SEO TERMS
ROAS
ROAS is an advanced method of Cost-Per-Acquisition. It allows you to assign the value and importance of each conversion to your business. ROAS will enable marketers to spend most of their budgets on the most valued customers.
EXAMPLE
For instance, if a business sells multiple products in South Africa. Each product will make a specific profit. ROAS allows marketers to focus most of their budgets on their most profitable items for maximum ROI (Return on investment)
AVERAGE SESSION DURATION
This is the amount of time an average user spends on your website. The more a user interacts with your website, the higher your search engine rankings will be. That’s why it’s important to have a high-quality site when marketing SEO and Google Ads.
EXAMPLE
Poor-quality websites can waste big marketing budgets. Before driving traffic to a website, always make sure your website is up to standards and operational. Test small marketing budgets to test the effectiveness of your site.
BOUNCE RATE
Bounce rate measures the impact of your website on browsing users. Google examines the interaction between websites and users. If users leave your website quickly, this shows Google that your website does not provide value.
EXAMPLE
A Low Bounce rate indicates that users are spending time on your website. A high bounce rate means your users are leaving your website quickly. A high Bounce rate means your websites could potentially have the following issues:
• Poor Quality Content
• Slow Loading Times
• Not Mobile Friendly
• No SSL Certificate
• Poor Navigation
• Infected with a Virus
DOMAIN AUTHORITY
Domain authority was developed by Moz, an online tool that measures the success of a website on search engines. It works on a scale of 0- 100. The higher a website’s domain authority, the more likely it will appear on Page 1 of Google.
EXAMPLE
Knowing your Domain Authority allows you to improve your overall SEO score. It also allows you to compare your website to your competitors and determine how well you are doing in the SEO race.
PAGE AUTHORITY
While Domain Authority refers to the website’s overall SEO Score, Page Authority refers to the SEO Score of each webpage. It works on a scale of 0-100. This allows you to optimize each webpage of your website to rank well on search engines.
EXAMPLE
You can download DA and PA metrics from the Moz website. It’s an extension that you add to your website browser and displays the website’s DA score, PA score, and Spam Score at the top of the browser.
SPAM SCORE
The spam score measures the number of spam/poor websites that your website is linking to and works on a scale of 0-100. High Spam scores indicate that a website has performed bad SEO practices’ by linking to low-quality sites.
EXAMPLE
Spam Scores allow SEO Specialists to determine if they want to build a backlink on a website or not. If a website has a SPAM score of 20 or higher, linking to a poor-quality website will increase your Spam score and lower your SEO Rankings.