The Jargon Buster series has brought simplicity to the likes of PPC, page views, EDM and payment options. This time we’ve got SEO under the microscope. Today we’ll be guiding you through some of the common jargon associated with the field to demystify the art of good Google rankings.

SEO

First up: what does SEO mean? It stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s the overarching term for activities intended to push your business’ website up the SERP without bidding for the top places through PPC.

We don’t know the exact algorithms Google uses for their rankings but, thanks to the amount of money spent on online advertising, various agencies have developed a pretty solid idea of what’s behind the curtain. As a brief overview: you want to ensure your site receives backlinks, has links between its pages, you make use of keywords relevant to your business and it is frequently updated with new content.

Wait, what’s that SERP you mentioned?

Oh right. That’s the Search Engine Results Page, the list of sites you see after googling. Something in the range of 90% of searches don’t go past the first page of results. You can see why optimising your results to get higher up the rankings is important!

Luckily for businesses there is one excellent way to cut through the noise and get you acquainted with potential customers.

LSEO

The L we’ve stuck on the front here refers to ‘Local’ SEO. It’s aiming to be (near) the top of your listing when geographical constraints are put on the search.

While links and keywords are still important, LSEO also takes note of GMB info like positive reviews and whether you have a complete profile (Name, Address, Phone Number, Opening Times etc.).

If your company only takes up work in the surrounding area, you really don’t need to sweat about performing poorly on the SERP at a (inter)national level if you can get noticed in the Local Pack.

Backlink

A shorter way of saying “a link from elsewhere on the web to your site”. Something on the web that links back to you (a BackToYouLink if you will). As we mentioned above, these are a major part of Google’s ranking algorithms – people linking to your site suggests they trust the information it provides.

URL Slug

Not as disgusting as it might initially sound. The URL Slug is the final part of a page’s address that identifies it, in human-readable terms, from the rest of your site. In the case of this article it’s the “marketing-jargon-seo” bit. They’re displayed in search results so a short, descriptive slug will help a searcher decide whether your site meets their needs.