58 SEO terms, no jargon.

SEO Audit

The process of automatically checking a website for issues that affect Google ranking. Covers technical, on-page, performance, accessibility.

In practice: you run an audit → you get a list of 200+ checks → AI prioritizes the top 10 with high impact.

See also: Crawl, Robots.txt, Core Web Vitals.

Crawl

The process by which a robot (called a "crawler") goes through a site's pages, following links, to index them. Googlebot does this daily; our app does it too when you run an audit.

In practice: if your site has 500 pages, a full crawl takes 2-4 minutes.

See also: Crawler, Crawl budget, Sitemap.

Crawler

The software program that does the crawling. Each search engine has its own crawler (Googlebot for Google, Bingbot for Bing). And SEO tools have their own crawlers — ours runs locally on your machine.

See also: Crawl, Robots.txt.

Robots.txt

Text file on your site (at /robots.txt) telling crawlers which pages they can access and which to skip. "Polite" crawlers respect it; it doesn't block actual indexing, just crawler access.

In practice: if you want a page not indexed, you use the noindex tag, NOT robots.txt.

See also: Sitemap, Noindex, Indexing.

Sitemap.xml

File listing all important pages on the site, helping crawlers discover them. You submit its URL in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster.

In practice: we generate it automatically from the audit — 1 click and it's done.

See also: Robots.txt, Indexing.

Canonical URL

The "official" URL of a page when there are duplicate versions (e.g., with/without www, with/without trailing slash, with tracking parameters). Google uses canonical to decide which version to index.

In practice: the <link rel="canonical"> tag is simple to set, but most sites get this wrong.

See also: Indexing, SEO Audit.

Indexing

The process by which Google adds a page to its index (the database it answers searches from). If the page isn't indexed, it doesn't appear in results, no matter what other signals you have.

In practice: check Google Search Console "Coverage" → "Indexed" to see how many pages are indexed.

See also: Crawl, Noindex, Sitemap.

Noindex

HTML tag (<meta name="robots" content="noindex">) telling Google NOT to index the page. Useful for test pages, duplicate pages, form thank-you pages.

See also: Indexing, Robots.txt.

Nofollow

Attribute on links (rel="nofollow") telling Google NOT to follow the link when distributing authority. Standard for sponsored links, comments, links to sites you don't want to associate with.

See also: Backlink, Anchor text.

Redirect (301 / 302)

Way of redirecting one page to another. 301 = permanent (transfers most SEO authority). 302 = temporary (doesn't transfer authority).

In practice: when you change URL structure on the site, you use 301 for old pages → new ones.

See also: Canonical URL, Indexing.

Crawl budget

The amount of resources Googlebot allocates to crawling your site. On small sites (under 10,000 pages) it's not a problem; on large sites, it is.

In practice: optimize crawl budget by removing useless pages, redirect chains, 4xx errors.

See also: Crawl, SEO Audit.

Meta title

The page title that appears in the browser tab and as the blue title in the SERP. Recommended limit: 50-60 characters.

In practice: write for the user (clear + attractive) with the main keyword near the start.

See also: Meta description, SERP, CTR.

Meta description

The short text under the title in SERP. Recommended limit: 150-160 characters. Not a direct ranking factor, but it affects CTR.

See also: Meta title, SERP, CTR.

Header tags (H1-H6)

HTML tags that hierarchically structure content. H1 = main title (only one per page). H2-H6 = subtitles.

In practice: a logical H1 → H2 → H3 structure helps both the user and Google understand the page.

See also: SEO Audit, Keyword research.

Anchor text

The visible text of a link. "Click here" is weak anchor text; "complete guide to Core Web Vitals" is good anchor text.

In practice: descriptive anchor text helps Google understand what the destination page is about.

See also: Internal linking, Backlink.

Internal linking

Links between pages of your own site. Helps with authority distribution, crawling, user experience.

In practice: any article should have 3-5 internal links to other relevant pages.

See also: Anchor text, Crawl, Indexing.

Keyword research

The process of identifying the words your audience searches for in Google. Foundation of any SEO strategy.

In practice: you start from Google Search Console (keywords you already rank for) + new ideas from Keywords.

See also: Long-tail keyword, Search intent.

Long-tail keyword

Keywords with low search volume but very specific (3+ words). E.g., "local-first SEO audit for small agencies" is long-tail; "SEO" is short-tail.

In practice: long-tail brings less traffic but higher conversion.

See also: Keyword research, Search intent.

Search intent

The user's real intent when searching for a term. Four types: informational ("what is X"), navigational ("Facebook login"), commercial ("best X 2026"), transactional ("buy X").

In practice: pages that correctly answer intent rank better, regardless of keyword density.

See also: Keyword research, Long-tail keyword.

Alt text

The alt attribute on images. Two purposes: accessibility (screen readers) + SEO (Google reads the text as context signal).

In practice: descriptive (what the image shows), not keyword-stuffed.

See also: SEO Audit, Indexing.

Keyword density

The percentage occupied by keywords out of total words. The concept is outdated — Google uses semantic context, not density. But too high density = keyword stuffing = penalty.

See also: Search intent, Keyword research.

E-E-A-T

Google acronym: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness. Quality criteria for content, more important on sensitive niches (health, finance, legal).

In practice: real authors with credentials + cited sources + regular updates.

See also: SEO Audit, Backlink.

Core Web Vitals (CWV)

Set of 3 Google metrics for web performance: LCP, INP, CLS. Ranking factor since 2021.

In practice: we track them weekly with trends in Speed.

See also: SEO Audit.

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)

Time until the largest visible element on the page loads. Target: under 2.5 seconds.

In practice: optimize hero images, fonts, render-blocking JS.

See also: Core Web Vitals, INP, CLS.

INP (Interaction to Next Paint)

Time between user click and visual response. Replaces FID since March 2024. Target: under 200 ms.

In practice: optimize heavy JavaScript and event handlers.

See also: Core Web Vitals, Render-blocking.

CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)

How much the layout "jumps" during loading (images without width/height, fonts appearing late, injected banners). Target: under 0.1.

In practice: set explicit width/height on images + use font-display: swap.

See also: Core Web Vitals, Image optimization.

TTFB (Time to First Byte)

Time between HTTP request and first byte received. Reflects server speed.

See also: Core Web Vitals.

FCP (First Contentful Paint)

Time until the first visible element appears on the page (any text/image). Target: under 1.8 seconds.

See also: LCP, Core Web Vitals.

Render-blocking

Resources (CSS, JS) that block page rendering until they load. Solutions: async, defer, inline critical CSS.

See also: Core Web Vitals, LCP.

Lazy loading

Technique for loading images / iframes only when the user reaches them (scroll). Reduces LCP + bandwidth.

In practice: loading="lazy" attribute on below-fold images.

See also: Image optimization, Core Web Vitals.

Image optimization (AVIF / WebP)

Modern image formats with better compression than JPG. AVIF ~50% smaller than JPG. WebP ~30% smaller, broader browser support.

See also: LCP, Lazy loading.

Mobile-first indexing

Since 2021, Google uses the mobile version of the page as primary for indexing. If your site isn't responsive, you have a big problem.

See also: Indexing, Core Web Vitals.

Backlink

Link from another site to your site. Backlinks are the main authority signal Google uses. Quality matters far more than quantity.

In practice: 1 backlink from a relevant sectoral site > 100 backlinks from generic directories.

See also: Anchor text, Toxic backlink, Domain authority.

Toxic backlink

Backlink from spam, low-quality sites, or sites with patterns penalized by Google. Can attract a manual penalty.

In practice: monitor with Google Search Console + Bing Webmaster, disavow with disavow file if needed.

See also: Disavow file, Backlink.

Disavow file

Text file submitted to Google via Search Console telling it to ignore certain backlinks (toxic). Used as a last resort.

See also: Toxic backlink.

Domain Authority (DA)

Score 0-100 calculated by Moz that estimates a domain's authority. Not officially Google — it's an approximation based on backlinks.

In practice: useful for quick comparisons, but don't make decisions based on DA alone.

See also: Page Authority, Backlink.

Page Authority (PA)

Page-level equivalent for DA. Also Moz score, unofficial.

See also: Domain Authority, Backlink.

Referring domains

Number of unique domains linking to your site. More important than the total backlink count, because it reflects diversity.

In practice: 100 backlinks from 100 different domains > 1,000 backlinks from 10 domains.

See also: Backlink, Domain Authority.

AI Overviews

AI-generated answers placed directly in Google SERP, before the organic results. Launched in 2024 as SGE; rebranded to AI Overviews in 2025. Covers over 50% of informational queries in 2026.

In practice: if you appear cited in AI Overviews, you get traffic even without a click on the organic link.

See also: GEO, AI Search Optimizer.

SGE (Search Generative Experience)

The original name for AI Overviews (2023-2024). Old term, still found in archived articles.

See also: AI Overviews.

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)

Optimization of content to be cited by AI engines (AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude). New discipline, complementary to classic SEO.

In practice: FAQ schema + clear definition paragraphs at the start + explicitly cited sources.

See also: AI Search Optimizer, Schema markup.

LLM (Large Language Model)

AI models trained on large text sets (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Mistral, DeepSeek). They power AI Overviews and ChatGPT.

See also: GEO, AI Co-pilot.

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)

Technique where an LLM accesses external data (web search, databases) before generating the answer. Perplexity and ChatGPT with browsing use RAG.

See also: LLM, GEO.

Zero-click search

Searches where the user gets the answer directly in SERP (featured snippet, AI Overview, knowledge panel) without clicking on any result.

In practice: zero-click grew from 50% (2023) to 65%+ (2026). Your SEO strategy needs to accommodate this.

See also: AI Overviews, Featured snippet.

SERP (Search Engine Results Page)

The Google results page when you search for something. Contains organic results, ads, AI Overviews, featured snippets, knowledge panels.

See also: AI Overviews, Featured snippet, CTR.

CTR (Click-Through Rate)

Percentage of users who see your result in SERP and click. CTR depends on position, meta title, meta description, rich snippet presence.

In practice: average CTR position 1 ≈ 27%, position 5 ≈ 6%, position 10 ≈ 2%.

See also: SERP, Meta title.

Featured snippet

The "direct answer" at the top of SERP, above organic results (position 0). Usually a short paragraph, list, or table pulled from a page.

See also: SERP, Schema markup.

Schema markup (JSON-LD)

Structured code (usually JSON-LD) telling Google what your page is (article, product, review, FAQ, event). Unlocks rich snippets.

In practice: we generate it visually from existing audit in 2 clicks with Schema Generator.

See also: Rich snippet, Structured data.

Structured data

Umbrella term for any structured markup (schema.org, microdata, RDFa). In practice, JSON-LD via schema.org is the current standard.

See also: Schema markup, Rich snippet.

Rich snippet

SERP result enhanced visually (with stars, images, prices, FAQ accordion). Appears only if you have correct schema markup.

In practice: rich snippets increase CTR by 20-30% on average.

See also: Schema markup, SERP.

Open Graph

Meta tags controlling how the link looks when shared on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. (title, description, image).

In practice: test with Facebook Sharing Debugger before campaigns.

See also: Twitter Cards, Schema markup.

Twitter Cards

Open Graph equivalent for Twitter/X. <meta name="twitter:..."> tags.

See also: Open Graph.

Hreflang

Tag telling Google a page has versions in different languages (RO/EN/DE/...). Critical for international sites.

In practice: our site has RO as default and EN with hreflang en for international audience.

See also: Indexing, Mobile-first indexing.

Local SEO

Optimization for geo-localized searches ("bakery Bucharest", "plumber sector 3"). Based on Google Business Profile + LocalBusiness schema + reviews.

See also: Schema markup.

GDPR

EU regulation on personal data, in force since 2018. Forces any site collecting EU user data to respect 7 principles (explicit consent, minimization, right to erasure, etc.).

In practice: don't ask for data you don't need + have a privacy policy + DPO or equivalent.

See also: Cookie consent, Local-first.

Cookie consent

The GDPR banner asking for user consent before setting non-essential cookies (analytics, advertising). Standard since 2018.

In practice: poor implementation = annoying banner that ruins your experience. Good implementation = discreet banner that respects opt-out.

See also: GDPR.

Local-first

Software philosophy that prioritizes data storage on the user's device, NOT on the provider's cloud. Advantages: privacy, offline, real ownership.

In practice: SEO Master PRO MAX is local-first — your data stays in Program Files, not on our servers.

See also: GDPR.

DPO (Data Protection Officer)

The person responsible for GDPR compliance in an organization. Mandatory for companies over 250 employees or processing sensitive data at scale.

See also: GDPR.