Fade out Effect noun The gradual decrease in link value for an external link pointing to a web document from a blog or news source where over time the linking article gradually moves deeper into the linking website’s architecture reducing the value of the links contained within the...
Featured SnippetnounA box at the top of search results that often includes a paragraph of text, list of items, or other information a search engine has taken from a website to display to searchers.Google is showing a recipe I published at the top of searches for ‘best bacon...
First Contentful Paint (FCP) nounDefinition: The time it takes for a browser to render the first piece of DOM content—text, image, or canvas—after the user requests a page. It’s a perceived speed metric tied to user experience.Usage: “Delaying third-party scripts improved their First Contentful Paint score.”Compare: Core Web...
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) nounDefinition: The practice of optimizing digital content and online presence to influence and improve visibility, relevance, and presentation within generative AI systems, such as ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, or Perplexity. GEO involves structuring data, refining language, enhancing semantic clarity, and leveraging authoritative signals to...
Google My Business listing noun This is the free listing made available to all local businesses by Google for display on Google Maps, on Google Search, to attach to Google Ads. The listing is edited on the Google My Business platform which is separate from Google Maps, Google...
hreflang tag nounDefinition: An HTML tag () that signals to search engines the intended geographic or language audience of a webpage. It helps serve the correct regional or linguistic version of a page in international search results.Usage: “The site implemented hreflang tags to target Spanish and French speakers...
image alt attribute nounDefinition: An HTML attribute (alt) applied to tags that provides alternative text describing the image’s content. It is essential for accessibility, and also used by search engines for image indexing and contextual relevance.Usage: “The blog optimized all image alt attributes with descriptive keywords for better...
image title attribute nounDefinition: An optional HTML attribute (title) for images that displays additional information as a tooltip when hovered over. It offers supplemental context but is not considered critical for accessibility or SEO.Usage: “They added a title attribute to the product image for a tooltip-style description.”Compare: image...
Indexing verb When a search engine stores the information it found while crawling websites and documents, and then organizes that information for retrieval by the algorithms used by the search engine to perform ranking calculations and other tasks.“According to my server logs all of the main search engines...
Internal Linking nounDefinition: The practice of linking from one page to another within the same domain. Internal links help distribute link equity, improve crawlability, and guide users through relevant content pathways.Usage: “Adding contextual internal linking between blog posts improved time-on-site and crawl depth.”Compare: backlinking, link equity, navigation