SEO terms are the words agencies, tools and Google use to talk about getting a website found in search. Most are simpler than they sound. This glossary from ADEL SEO, an SEO agency for local businesses in Adelaide, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, explains the ones a local business owner actually meets: Google Maps and your Business Profile, your website, your domain, links and directories, reports, and AI search.
These are SEO terms for beginners who run a business, not for marketers. You don't need to learn all the SEO terminology an agency uses, just enough to know what you're paying for and to read a report.
Search basics
- SEO (search engine optimisation).
- Work that helps a business show up in Google's free results for the searches its customers make. It covers your website, your Google Business Profile and what other sites say about you.
- Organic results.
- The free results below the ads. You can't pay Google to appear there.
- SERP (search engine results page).
- The page Google shows after a search: ads, the map, AI answers and the normal results, all on one screen.
plumber near me
Ads
AI Overview
Local pack (the map)
Organic results
- Keyword.
- The words someone types or says into Google, like "blocked drain Adelaide". An SEO plan picks the keywords that bring people ready to hire you, not just visitors.
- Search intent.
- What the searcher wants. "How to unblock a drain" is someone trying to do it themselves; "plumber near me" is someone ready to call. Good SEO matches each page to one intent.
- Long-tail keyword.
- A longer, more specific search, like "hot water system replacement Southport". Fewer people search it, but more of them are ready to buy.
- Search volume.
- A tool's estimate of how many times a month a keyword is searched. It's an estimate, and local searches are often under-counted, so a low number doesn't mean nobody searches it.
- Crawling and indexing.
- Crawling is Google's robot reading your pages. Indexing is Google saving them so they can show in results. A page that isn't indexed can't rank at all.
- Algorithm.
- The rules Google uses to decide which pages show first. Google changes it constantly and keeps the details private.
Google Maps and local search
- Local SEO.
- Helping a business show up when people nearby search for its service. For most trades, this matters more than anything else on this page. More: local SEO.
- Google Business Profile.
- A business's free listing on Google Search and Google Maps, with hours, reviews and photos. It used to be called Google My Business.
- Local pack (snack pack, map pack).
- The map and three businesses Google shows above the normal results for local searches. More: what is the Google snack pack.
- Relevance, distance and popularity.
- Google says local results are mainly based on these three things: how well your profile matches the search, how far you are from the searcher, and how well known your business is (reviews, links, mentions). Many older guides still say "prominence", Google's earlier word for popularity. (Source: Google Business Profile Help, "How Google determines local ranking".)
- Service-area business.
- A business that travels to customers, like most plumbers, and shows an area instead of an address.
- Online reviews.
- Customer reviews on Google and other sites, which help both rankings and trust. Fake or paid reviews break Google's rules and can be removed.
- Citations and NAP consistency.
- Listings of a business's name, address and phone on other websites, which must match everywhere. NAP stands for name, address, phone. An old address on one directory can confuse Google and customers.
Your website
- On-page SEO.
- Everything on your own pages that helps Google and visitors understand them: titles, headings, text, images and links. More: what is on-page SEO.
- Title tag.
- The clickable blue headline Google shows in results. Each page needs its own, with the service and place in it.
- Meta description.
- The short summary under the title in results. It doesn't change rankings directly, but a good one gets more clicks.
- H1 (main heading).
- The big heading at the top of a page. One per page, saying what the page is about.
- Internal links.
- Links from one page of your site to another. They help visitors and Google find your most important pages.
- Landing page.
- A page built for one service and one action, such as a call or enquiry from an ad.
- Schema markup (structured data).
- Code that tells Google and AI tools exactly what a business is, where it is and what it offers. Visitors don't see it.
- Page speed (Core Web Vitals).
- How fast a website loads and responds; slow sites lose visitors before they call. Core Web Vitals are Google's own speed and stability measures.
- Mobile-friendly.
- A website that is easy to read and use on a phone, where most local customers search.
- HTTPS.
- The padlock in the browser that shows a website is secure.
- 301 redirect.
- A permanent forward from an old page address to a new one. It keeps visitors, and most of Google's trust in the old page, when a URL changes. (This page has one: its old address now forwards here.)
- 404 error.
- "Page not found." A few are normal; important pages that 404 lose their visitors and the links pointing at them.
- Conversion rate.
- The share of website visitors who call or send an enquiry.
Domain, DNS and hosting
These aren't SEO words in the strict sense, but every SEO project depends on them, and owners often find out too late who controls them.
- Domain name.
- Your website address, like adelseo.com.au.
- Domain name ownership.
- Who legally holds your website address; it should always be registered in the business's own name. If a past web developer or agency registered it in their name, getting it back can be hard.
- .com.au.
- To register a .com.au address you need an Australian presence, such as an Australian company or an ABN, under the rules set by auDA, the body that runs .au names. Google treats .com.au as a signal that a site is meant for Australians.
- DNS (Domain Name System).
- The internet's address book. It turns your domain into the server address where your website lives, and it also tells the world where your email goes. Whoever controls your DNS settings controls both your website and your email. DNS itself isn't a ranking factor, but a wrong DNS change can take a site offline, and an offline site can't rank.
Domain nameyourbusiness.com.au
DNSThe internet's address bookWhoever controls it controls both
Website hostingYour website
Email recordsYour email
- Email records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
- Settings in your DNS that prove your emails really come from you. When they're missing or broken, your quotes and invoices are more likely to land in junk folders.
- Website hosting.
- The server that keeps a website online, fast and secure.
Links, directories and link farms
- Backlinks.
- Links from other websites to yours, which Google treats as votes of trust. One link from a relevant, respected site is worth more than hundreds from sites nobody visits. More: what is off-page SEO.
- Anchor text.
- The clickable words of a link. "Plumber in Southport" tells Google more than "click here".
- Nofollow and sponsored links.
- Labels that tell Google not to pass ranking credit through a link. Google asks for them on paid or advertising links. A nofollow link from a well-known site still brings visitors and trust.
- Off-page SEO.
- Everything outside your website that shows Google your business is real and trusted: links, mentions, reviews and listings.
- Web directory.
- A website that lists businesses by category and location, with each listing showing the business name, a description, address and phone. Think of the old printed Yellow Pages, online. Good directories are checked by people and used by real customers.
- Link farm.
- A website or group of websites made only to link to other sites, so those sites look more popular to search engines. Link farms are easy to spot because they don't have any useful information: just pages of unrelated links that go off in every direction. Search engines treat them as spam because they make results worse, and people stop using a search engine that sends them to junk.
Web directory
Category: Plumbers
Example Plumbing
Blocked drains, leaks and hot water.
Address
Phone
Category: Plumbers
Example Drains
Address
Made for people looking for a business
Link farm
cheap loans fastplumber plumber plumberclick herebest shoes onlinefree prizesseo linkscar parts cheapdentist dentistfree linksweight loss nowclick heretravel dealsplumber cheap plumberbuy followersmore linksclick here
Made for search engines, to fake popularity
| Web directory | Link farm | |
|---|---|---|
| Made for | People looking for a business | Search engines, to fake popularity |
| What a listing shows | Business name, category, description, address, phone | Just a link, often with keyword-stuffed words |
| Who gets in | Usually checked by a person or matched to a real business | Anyone who pays or runs the software |
| Organised by | Category and location | Nothing, or a huge random list |
| Effect on your SEO | Helps confirm your business details (citations) | Can lower your rankings or get your site ignored |
- Are directories still good for SEO?
- Some are. A listing on a well-known directory your customers actually use, with correct details, helps Google confirm your name, address and phone. But Google's own spam policies list "low-quality directory or bookmark site links" as link spam, so "submit your site to 500 directories" offers do more harm than good. Be wary of any directory submission service that sells listings by the hundred. A handful of real, relevant listings beats hundreds of junk ones.
From my own work: I generally avoid taking on businesses whose previous SEO provider bought cheap link packages or Fiverr-style SEO links. When I do find links like that pointing at a client's site, I disavow them so they don't put the site at risk of a Google penalty.
- Link scheme (link network, PBN).
- Any setup of buying, swapping or automatically creating links to push rankings up. A private blog network (PBN) is a group of websites run by one person or company, posing as independent sites, made to link to clients. Google's spam policies cover all of these.
- Black hat and white hat SEO.
- Black hat means tricks that break search engine rules, such as link farms, hidden text and fake reviews. White hat means work within the rules: a better website, real reviews and earned links.
- Penalty (manual action).
- When Google takes action against a site for breaking its rules, either automatically or after a person at Google reviews it. The site can drop in results or disappear from them. Manual actions show up in Google Search Console.
- Disavow.
- A Search Console tool for telling Google to ignore certain links pointing to your site. Google ignores most spammy links on its own, so disavowing is a precaution for known problems, such as links bought from cheap link packages, not something to use on every odd link.
AI search
- Google AI Overviews and AI Mode.
- The AI-written answers Google now shows above, or instead of, the normal results. They often name businesses and link to the sites they quote.
- ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot.
- AI assistants many people now ask for recommendations, like "who's a good electrician in Brisbane?". Perplexity lists its sources; Copilot uses Microsoft's Bing, which also feeds ChatGPT search.
- AI search optimisation (GEO / AEO).
- Making a business easy for AI tools to find, trust and recommend. GEO stands for generative engine optimisation; AEO for answer engine optimisation. More: AI search visibility.
- Entity.
- A real thing Google and AI tools can identify, such as a business, a person or a place, as opposed to just a word on a page.
- Entity consistency.
- Google and AI tools trust a business more when its name, address and details match everywhere. This is why the same NAP across your website, Business Profile and directories matters even more now.
Google Ads
- Google Ads.
- Google's paid ads that show a business at the top of search results; you pay when someone clicks.
- Pay-per-click (PPC).
- Advertising where you pay each time someone clicks your ad.
- Negative keywords.
- Searches you block so you stop paying for clicks from people who will never hire you.
- Search terms report.
- The list of what people actually typed before clicking your ad.
- Quality Score.
- Google's rating of how relevant your ad and page are, which affects what each click costs.
- Local Services Ads.
- Google's pay-per-lead ads for local trades and services, shown with a Google badge.
- Cost per lead.
- What each real enquiry or call costs you in ad spend.
Words in your SEO report
- Impressions.
- How many times your site appeared in Google results, whether or not anyone saw or clicked it. Big impression numbers look good on a report but pay no bills on their own.
- Clicks.
- How many times someone clicked through to your site from Google.
- CTR (click-through rate).
- Clicks divided by impressions. A low CTR on a page that ranks well usually means the title or description needs work.
- ImpressionsYour site appeared in Google results
- ClicksSomeone came through to your site
- Calls and enquiriesThe result
- Average position.
- Your average ranking across every search you appeared for. It mixes searches that matter with ones that don't, so read it per keyword, not as one number.
- Google Search Console.
- Google's free tool that shows which searches a website appears for and any problems Google finds.
- GA4 (Google Analytics 4).
- Google's free tool that shows who visits your website and what they do there.
- Conversion tracking (key events).
- Measuring the calls and enquiries that come from ads and the website, not just clicks. In GA4, the actions you care about, such as a form sent or a phone tap, are called key events.
- What a useful report shows.
- What was done that month, and the calls and enquiries it brought, in plain English. Rankings and traffic are steps on the way, not the result.
What business owners often get wrong about SEO
When business owners first talk to me, the same three things come up.
- On-page vs off-page. Most aren't sure what the two mean. On-page SEO is the work on your own website; off-page SEO is what the rest of the internet says about you: links, mentions, reviews and listings. Both need doing.
- "SEO is cheap and a one-off job." It isn't a one-off. Behind the scenes there is work every month: tracking rankings, calls and enquiries, keeping your business details right across the web, fixing what Google flags in Search Console, improving pages, and earning reviews and links. More: how much does SEO cost.
- Instant results. SEO builds over months, not days. Some fixes, like correcting your Google Business Profile, can help sooner, but nobody can promise when, or guarantee rankings.
Wilson Tiong, founder of ADEL SEO
Words that should worry you
- "Guaranteed number one on Google." Nobody can guarantee rankings. Google's own advice on hiring an SEO says that if someone guarantees first place, find someone else.
- "We'll submit you to hundreds of directories." See link farms above.
- "We'll register the domain for you" (in their name). Your domain, website, Google Analytics and Business Profile should be in your name.
- "Secret techniques" or "special relationship with Google." There are none. Ask what exactly will be done each month.
- "Ranking for 500 keywords." Ask which of them bring calls. Many will be searches nobody who hires you ever types.
SEO terms FAQs
What are the most important SEO terms for a local business?
Google Business Profile, local pack, citations and NAP, reviews, keywords and search intent, and backlinks. They cover how you show up in Google Maps and in the normal results, which is where most local customers find a business.
What is the difference between a link farm and a web directory?
A web directory lists real businesses by category and location, with their details, to help people find them. A link farm is a page or network of pages full of unrelated links with no useful information, made only to fool search engines, and Google treats it as spam.
Are business directories still worth it for SEO?
A few are. Correct listings on well-known directories your customers use help Google confirm your name, address and phone. Mass submissions to low-quality directories are listed as link spam in Google's own policies and can hurt you.
What does NAP mean in SEO?
NAP means name, address and phone number. It should be exactly the same on your website, your Google Business Profile and every directory listing.
What is GEO in SEO?
GEO, or generative engine optimisation, is making a business easy for AI tools like ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews to find, trust and recommend. It builds on good SEO rather than replacing it.
Is DNS part of SEO?
Not directly. DNS is the internet's address book that connects your domain to your website and email. It doesn't move rankings, but a wrong DNS change can take your site offline, and you should always know who controls it.
Is SEO a one-off job?
No. Google, your competitors and your customers keep changing, so SEO is ongoing: monthly checks, fixes, content, reviews and links, measured in the calls and enquiries they bring.