What does SEO mean? Digital Marketing Terminology
Definition of SEO-ing a website: First, click here for the definition of SEO.
To SEO a website means: To optimise (the O in SEO) the site for browser search ranking.
What does RANKING mean? Ranking is where your site comes up, if it does at all, in a search for a certain key word (term) or key phrase (such as “what does SEOing a website actually mean?).
Search Engine Optimization (US) / Optimisation (UK/NZ/AUS) means a lot of effort and expertise on a website’s content, which includes words, images, URLs, tags, SEO data, and other information visible and behind-the-scenes.
SEOing a website means properly naming, tagging and uploading digital content so that it can be found by popular search engines (also called internet browsers) such as Google or Bing or DuckDuckGo.
What website and web page content optimisation means is having digital assets (content and media files) including websites, blogs, videos, images and photographs, properly NAMED, TAGGED and INDEXED (identified) in ways that search engines can:
- readily find the data when someone searches for that term or topic, service or event
- deliver the results that online browsers / internet users are searching to find.
Source: Connie May MHST Digital Content Expert and Researcher/Author.
Which search engine(s) are the most popular ones used across the globe?
- Google is the premier search engine for most individuals and is highly preferred based on user numbers, followed by Bing in the USA
- There are some other options in different countries, gaining ground, such as DuckDuckGo (USA)
- In China, the top 3 are Alibaba’s UC browser, Baidu and Tencent’s QQ browser (Source: Wall Street Journal)
- Google’s A.I. (algorithms or artificial intelligence) systems are dedicated to assessing over a billion websites, in order to deliver to you (the searcher/internet browser user) the most relevant digital materials in relation to your search (e.g., delivering valuable content across websites, videos, profiles, podcasts and images)
- Google and other search engines assess over 200 different signals and metrics when deciding WHICH websites deserve a first page placement (known as RANKING above the fold); and constantly update their search criteria in terms of the types of data they value
- Search Engines today are basing results on numerous factors such as “E.A.T.” or E-A-T (expertise, authority and trust).
The most popular search engines across the world include Google and Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, DuckDuckGo, Bing and others, and most SEO experts work towards meeting Google’s criteria for page ranking or SERP (search engine ranking position) – meaning where your content or website will be positioned (rank) on a findings page.
Digital Marketing Terms, Definitions and SEO FAQs
How does Google decide who’s on the front page when someone searches the internet?
Google uses artificial intelligence (A.I.) to determine who places FIRST on a page during an internet search of a phrase or keyword (e.g. RANK or RANKING position in a search result). SEO results from A.I. are based on computer code (algorithms) that examine billions of pieces of data across millions of websites, to decide (a) what the content means (topic details), (b) if the data is quality enough to be shown in a search (accuracy, relevancy and credibility), (c) if the page load speed is fast enough to meet user experience criteria and browser expectations (takes less than 2 seconds to load), and
- EXPERTISE (CREDIBILITY and depth of knowledge in relation to the topic, publisher and content)
- AUTHORITY (Author or owner of the digital media/web pages and their Authority in the field, evaluated in relation to their professional profiles and publications and/or video media that shows they are considered thought-leaders or respected experts)
- TRUST (a combination of content ratings, domain authority and relevance and accuracy of the digital content and data, including how recently updated and how relevant the digital media and writing content is to particular search terms and keywords)
Digital marketing is an essentially new field of expertise, with digital marketing peaking as a necessary, highly sophisticated core business function between 2014 and 2016, when businesses suddenly realised they needed to be online.
Source: https://www.internetlivestats.com/total-number-of-websites/
What is artificial intelligence (A.I.)?
Artificial intelligence is extensive computer code that uses sophisticated algorithms (interactive criteria) that allow computers to examine massive amounts of data in a very rapid time frame (micro-seconds), then to deliver a decision or result nearly instantaneously (a few more micro-seconds, depending on your internet access and speed), such as sorting and assessing the content of websites, images/photographs and videos online. The types of data these algorithms analyse at high computing speeds include headers, words, images, videos, tags and alt-tags, schema and other identifying website codes).
What is SCHEMA?
Schema is structured data that helps search engines such as Google or Bing evaluate websites and assess whether or not the website meets the searchers needs in relation to keywords (topics) or key phrases (questions relating to topics) so that search engine results (page links or snippet answers to common questions) are RELEVANT and VALUABLE to the person using the search engine. Website schema essentially makes the job of AI systems and other internet browsers EASIER and FASTER (more efficient). by informing the search engine(s) about the nature of the content on those pages and the relevancy of that particular digital asset in relation to the user’s question (e.g. the relevancy of the web page, blog, image, video, profile, podcast etc to what the person is trying to locate online).
Other Digital Terminology You Should Know
Digital Marketing Strategy (Definition):
A term used to describe the online marketing campaigns and content approaches to attract visitors, retain clients or consumers, and convert website visitors into clients.
Digital Distribution (Definition):
Generally used to describe the transfer of your information (knowledge, data, images or videos) to people who would benefit from the information. This may involve active marketing or emailing, automated marketing, newsletters, social media posts, or SMS and texts. There is no limit to distribution but it’s getting more difficult to reach consumers, who are bombarded with ads from the global internet market place with few restrictions on advertising; and advertising funding most social media platforms (there’s no escaping it, really, except some platforms offer ad-free memberships or subscriptions).
Flat-lining (Definition):
The term when your web visitors or page visits and time on your website is stagnant for a period of several months or longer.
Increase in Traffic or Website Traffic Increases (Definition):
A numerical increase or RISE in website visitors, either through paid ads, search ranking improvements or other means of attracting visitors to a website.
Average website costs (ranges and price Definitions):
Website prices vary according to customisation. Full customisation is dwindling as technology is changing rapidly and expensive sites take too long to build, then are outdated in terms of appearance or functionality, within months. Most businesses should spend less than $2000 per website build and not expect it to last for more than a year or two before needing updating or complete revision. That price does NOT include content but more the structure or shell (page wireframes) and typically, today, based on WordPress templates that look schmick (modern) without costing a fortune.
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