Algorithm: A structure of rules that search engines use to rank (list) the websites contained within its index, in response to a particular query. The search engines do not reveal exactly how their own algorithm works in order to protect itself from competitors and those who wish to 'spam' the search engine.

Algorithmic Results: see Organic Listings.

Backlinks: The links created to point to a particular website page. Also known as inbound links.

Banned: When pages are removed from a search engine's index specifically because the search engine has determined them to be spamming or violating the guidelines. (see Black Hat)

Black Hat: Also known as Spamdexing. Use of irresponsible methodology to increase the ranking of websites. Search Engines ultimately remove these sites from their indexes. (see Banned)

Conversion Rate: When visitors to a web site take an action, such as make a purchase or request to receive more information, that is considered to be a "conversion". It is often expressed as a percentage. (If a web site has 100 visitors and 25 of them convert, then the site has a 25 percent conversion rate)

Cookies: Information that a website puts on your hard disk storing information about you. Typically, cookies record your preferences when using a particular web site. This allows that site to be tailored to your specific requirements, and may also allow the site operators to target you with direct marketing according to your interests

Crawler: (also known as spider or robot) A Component of the search engine that collects listings by automatically "crawling" the internet. A search engine's crawler follows links (see backlinks) to web pages. It makes copies of the web pages it finds and stores them in the search engine's index.

Directories: Topical lists of Internet resources, arranged hierarchically. Directories are meant to be browsed, but they can also be searched. Directories differ from search engines in one major way - the human element involved in collecting and updating the information. Examples of directories are Yahoo! & Open Directory.  They are useful for building Backlinks.

Geo targeting: Internet marketing utilizing the geolocation of a website visitor to deliver SERP content to that visitor based on his or her location, such as country, region/state, city, metro code/zip code or other criteria.

Hyperlink: A word or image on one website that leads to another page or website when “clicked”.

Index: The collection of information a search engine has about web pages that searchers query against. With crawler-based search engines, such as Google, the index is typically copies of all the web pages the spiders found crawling the web. With human-powered directories, the index contains the summaries of all web sites that have been categorized.

Inbound Link: See Backlinks.

Keywords: (or keyword phrases) See Search Terms.

Landing Page: The specific web page that a visitor comes to after clicking a search engine listing. Marketers attempt to improve conversion rates by creating a landing page that is informational and user friendly.

Link Popularity: A raw count of how "popular" a page is based on the number of backlinks it has. It does not factor in link content or quality, which are key elements in how search engines make use of the links to impact rankings on the results pages.

Link Text: (also known as Anchor Text) It's the words in the clickable part of any link. Link text is important because those words tell visitors -- humans and the search engines -- what the page they're about to click to is all about. The search engines will give link text a lot of weight for this very reason.

Listings: The information that appears on a search engine's results page in response to a search.

Local Search Engine Marketing: Various methods to improve the visibility of your website within search engines for your business or product in relation to your specific geographic area. Local Search tactics can include organic SEO, PPC Advertising, Social Media Marketing or a combination of online and offline efforts.

Meta Tags: Information placed in web page code. They are seen by users but they pass information to search engine crawlers, browser software and other applications.

Meta Description Tag: Allows web site authors to say how they would like the pages to be described when listed by search engines. Not all search engines use the tag.

Meta Keywords Tag: Allows web site authors to add phrases or words to a web page to help with the search engine ranking process. Not all search engines use the tag.

Organic Listings: An organic listing for a website is the ranking given to it by search engines as a natural result of the site being relevant and important in regard to it's keyword phrases. In general, organic listings are not paid for; they appear if a search engine decides that a site is important.

Outbound Links: Links on a web page that lead to other web pages. They can be within the same web site or link to other web sites.

Paid Listings: Listings that search engines sell to advertisers, usually through paid placement or paid inclusion programs. In contrast, organic listings are not sold.

Query: A request for information from the search engine.

Rank: The numerical score that is given to a website or webpage, decided by a number of factors. The general rule is, the higher the rank, the better. In search engine search results, websites appear sorted according to rank, with higher-ranked sites appearing at the top. The aim of search engine optimization is to improve a website's rank with search engines.

Reciprocal Link: A two-way link involved in a link exchange. For example, website A has a link to website B. If B returns a link to A, then that link is called a reciprocal link. Reciprocal links could be helpful in improving website rankings if done with discrimination.

Results Page: The page that is displayed after a user enters a search engine query.  Also called SERPs, for "search engine results page".

Robot: see Crawler.

Search Engine: A website that is designed to search for websites on a given query. Search engines typically use distributed sites and databases for their indexes. Search engines may offer services aside from search, such as advertising and web mail.

Search Engine Friendly: A website that was designed with search engine algorithms, spiders and marketing in mind and therefore has been optimized for maximum search engine exposure.

Search Engine Marketing(SEM): The act of marketing a web site via the search engines to improve it's ranking in the organic listings. This can include purchasing paid listings but when SEM is done correctly, using only White Hat techniques, this is probably not necessary. The organic result is free of paid advertising.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): The practice of carefully crafting web content, both on and off page, for improving the page rank and visibility of a web site so that it does well in the organic, crawler-based listings of search engines. High rankings generally mean better visibility in search results. When a user 'Google's' a keyword phrase (or search term), a well-optimized and marketed site should come up on the first page of the search engine results. Better visibility means a greater chance of attracting visitors and leads. Search engine optimization can also refer to the industry that is dedicated to this practice, which can be an involved process in many situations. 

Search Engine Submission: The process of submitting a website's URL to a search engine for inclusion. If a website is included after a submission, it would be included in all future searches.

Search Terms: The text (or words) a searcher enters into a search engine's search box. Also used to refer to the terms a search engine marketer hopes a particular page will be found for. Also called keywords, keyword phrases, search string or query.

SERPS: Acronym for Search Engine Results Page.

Server: In a client-server model, the server is the entity that provides a service to the clients who request it. In common web nomenclature, servers can be the PCs that host websites, search engines, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) sites, etc.

Social Marketing: Marketing and advertising that reaches potential consumers via social networking websites, such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, adding another dimension of opportunity, visibility and marketing for your business.  There are dozens of popular social sites viewed by many thousands of people daily.

Spam: Any search engine marketing method that a search engine deems to be detrimental to its efforts to deliver relevant, quality search results to users. In the context of email marketing, spam refers to any unsolicited, unwanted email messages of a commercial nature. In the context of search engine optimization, spam refers to redundant keywords and keyword gibberish used to manipulate search engine rankings (a black hat technique). Examples of spam include the creation of nonsensical doorway pages designed to please search engine algorithms rather than human visitors, and heavy repetition of keyword terms on a page. Determining what is spam is complicated by the fact that different search engines have different standards.

Spider: See Crawler.

Submission: The act to submitting a URL for inclusion into a search engine's index. Unless done through paid inclusion, submission does not guarantee listing and may have to be re-done. In addition, if search engine optimization efforts have not been done, submission does not help with rank improvement on crawler-based search engines.

URL: Uniform Resource Locator. The "address" of a webpage on the World Wide Web.

Website Optimization: The act of making a website both user friendly and search engine friendly so that, among other things, it is easy to navigate, has good linking architecture and contains the highest quality content for visibility and success.

White Hat: Ethical and legitimate SEO techniques which conform to the search engines guidelines and involve no deception, such as the proper use of meta-tags, adequate keyword saturation and spider friendly page design.