Glossary of Terms
A
Algorithm
A set of rules or procedures for solving a problem in a finite number of steps. Search engines use algorithms to rank web pages in search results. Learn more about search algorithms on Search Engine Land
Astroturfing
The practice of creating fake reviews or comments to give a false impression of grassroots support for a product, service, or individual.
B
Backlink
A link from one website to another. Backlinks are crucial for SEO as they can improve a site’s authority and ranking. Moz explains backlinks and their importance.
Brand Monitoring
The process of tracking mentions of a brand, company, or individual across various online platforms to manage reputation.
C
Content Marketing
A marketing strategy focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online to attract and retain customers. HubSpot’s guide to content marketing
Crisis Management
The process of handling a major event that threatens to harm an organization, its stakeholders, or the general public.
D
Defamation
The act of damaging someone’s reputation through false or misleading statements. Learn about our solutions to remove defamation from the internet.
Domain Authority
A search engine ranking score developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs). Check your domain authority on Moz.
E
Engagement
Interaction between a brand and its audience on social media platforms, such as likes, comments, shares, and retweets.
Ethical SEO
Search engine optimization practices that adhere to search engine guidelines and avoid deceptive tactics.
F
Fake Reviews
Reviews that are not genuine, often created to unfairly influence consumer perception. FTC’s guide on spotting fake reviews.
Forums
Online discussion sites where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages.
G
Google Alerts
A free tool by Google that sends email notifications when new content matching specific keywords appears online. Setup Google Alerts.
Guest Posting
Writing and publishing an article on someone else’s website or blog to reach a broader audience and gain backlinks. Learn about guest blogging on Search Engine Journal.
H
Hate Speech
Speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits.
Hyperlink
A link from a hypertext document to another location, activated by clicking on a highlighted word or image.
I
Influencer Marketing
A form of marketing in which focus is placed on influential people rather than the target market as a whole.
IP Address
A unique string of numbers separated by periods that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate over a network.
J
Judgmental Sampling
A non-probability sampling technique where the researcher selects units to be sampled based on their knowledge and professional judgment.
K
Keyword
A word or phrase that is used to find information on a search engine. Keywords are crucial for SEO. Moz’s Begginer’s Guide to Keyword Research.
Knowledge Panel
A box that appears on the right side of Google’s search results when you search for entities (people, places, organizations, things) that are in the Knowledge Graph.
L
Link Building
The process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own. It is a crucial aspect of SEO. Moz’s Guide to Link Building.
Local SEO
The process of optimizing a website to rank better for a local audience.
M
Mentions
References to a brand, product, or individual online. Tracking mentions is essential for reputation management. Learn about the Learn about the top tools for reputation and mention monitoring
Metadata
Data that provides information about other data. In SEO, metadata refers to meta tags used in the HTML of a webpage to provide information about the content.
N
Negative SEO
Malicious actions aimed at lowering a competitor’s search engine rankings.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
A metric used in customer experience programs that measures the loyalty of customers to a company.
O
Online Review Management
The practice of monitoring, responding to, and encouraging online reviews to improve a company’s reputation. Learn about our trusted Learn about our trusted Online Review Management Solutions.
ORM (Online Reputation Management)
The practice of crafting strategies that shape or influence the public perception of an organization, individual, or other entity online. Learn more about our Learn about our effective online reputation management solutions.
P
Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
An internet advertising model used to drive traffic to websites, in which an advertiser pays a publisher when the ad is clicked.
Public Relations (PR)
The practice of managing the spread of information between an individual or an organization and the public.
Q
Query
A request for information from a database. In SEO, it refers to a word or phrase that a user enters into a search engine.
Quality Score
A metric used by Google Ads to determine the relevance and quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages.
R
Reputation Audit
A comprehensive analysis of an individual or company’s online presence to assess their reputation.
Review Gating
The practice of filtering customers before asking them to leave a review, often discouraged or prohibited by review platforms.
S
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
The practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to a website through organic search engine results. Moz’s SEO guide.
SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
The page displayed by a search engine in response to a query by a searcher.
T
Troll
Someone who posts inflammatory, insincere, or off-topic messages in an online community to provoke readers.
Trustworthiness
The degree to which a source of information is considered reliable and credible.
U
User-Generated Content (UGC)
Content created by users rather than brands, often seen in reviews, social media posts, and forums.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
The address of a web page on the internet.
V
Viral Marketing
A marketing strategy that relies on individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth.
Visibility
The extent to which a website or online content is seen by users, typically measured through rankings and traffic.
W
Web Scraping
The process of extracting data from websites using automated tools.
White Hat SEO
SEO practices that comply with search engine guidelines and aim to provide value to users.
X
XML Sitemap
A file that lists all the pages of a website, helping search engines crawl the site more efficiently.
Y
Yelp
A popular review platform where users can leave reviews and ratings for local businesses. Yelp.
YouTube
A video-sharing platform where users can upload, view, and share videos, often used in online reputation management to address video content. It is also used to damage reputations. As such online reputation management campaigns often involve the removal of harmful YouTube videos. YouTube.
Z
Zero Click Searches
Searches where the answer appears directly at the top of a Google search result, meaning the user doesn’t need to click through to any website.
Zoning
The process of targeting a specific geographic area in local SEO to improve visibility for local searches.