Technical SEO

A robots.txt instruction that permits specified pages or folders to be crawled.

AMP helps mobile pages load faster by allowing Google to cache and serve them quickly.

A navigation aid that shows where a page sits within a website's hierarchy.

Temporary storage that can help a web page load faster on a return visit.

A tag that identifies the preferred version of a page for crawling and indexing.

A network that delivers website data from servers in different locations.

A rendering method in which the browser processes an HTML file and creates the page content.

A system for creating, editing, and updating website content without writing code.

A status code indicating that the server responded successfully.

A status code indicating that a web page has been permanently redirected.

A status code indicating that a web page has been temporarily redirected.

A status code indicating that the server could not process a malformed or incomplete request.

A status code indicating that access to a web page is not permitted.

A status code indicating that the requested web page was not found on the server.

A status code indicating that a web page has been permanently removed from the server.

A status code indicating an internal server problem.

A status code returned when a server receives an invalid response from another server.

A status code indicating that a server is too busy to respond or is under maintenance.

A status code indicating that one server did not receive a timely response from another.

A status code indicating that a server has exceeded its monthly hosting traffic limit.

The process of reducing image size to help web pages load faster.

Small text files that websites save on users' devices.

A two-letter internet top-level domain assigned to a particular country.

The number of pages a search engine is willing and able to crawl on a site within a given period.

The number of links a search engine bot must follow to reach a page from the starting point.

The process of systematically examining a website and collecting information from it.

The sequence of steps a browser completes before displaying page content.

A style-sheet language used to control the visual presentation of web-page elements.

The time between entering a web page and its content becoming ready.

A robots.txt instruction that blocks bots from crawling specified pages or folders.

A human-readable address used to access a website.

The length of time since a domain was first registered.

A Moz score that estimates the strength and authority of a domain.

An intermediate solution that helps search engine bots crawl JavaScript-based websites.

The point when a browser first renders content after a user opens a web page.

Short extracts shown above standard Google results to answer a search query quickly.

A metric that measures how quickly a browser responds to a user's first interaction.

A metric for the time it takes a page's primary content to appear.

An internet protocol used to transfer files between two connected computers.

Generic top-level domains use broadly applicable extensions rather than country-specific ones.

Google's web-crawling software for discovering pages and building a searchable index.

A method for reducing source-file size by compressing repeated strings and spaces.

HTML tags that define the hierarchy of headings on a web page.

The service that stores a website and makes it accessible to users.

A tag that tells search engines about a page's language and geographical target.

A server configuration file used for restrictions and routing rules.

A markup language used to create and structure web pages.

A sitemap designed to help people navigate a website.

A sitemap that lists URLs containing images.

A search engine's stored collection of web pages that can be shown to users.

The process of adding crawled web pages to a search engine's index.

A unique sequence of numbers assigned to an internet-connected device for communication.

A programming language that adds functionality and interaction to web pages.

A jump link takes readers straight to a specific section within a long page instead of making them scroll to find it.

Lazy loading delays loading a page element, most often an image, until the point where it's actually needed.

A log file records user transactions and movements, typically on a daily basis.

Latent semantic indexing (LSI) is a technique for examining how a page's content and keywords relate to what users search for.

A meta description tag gives searchers a short summary of a page's content directly on the results page.

Meta keywords are keywords placed in a page's source code to tell search engines what the page is about.

A news sitemap lists pages that contain news content so search engines can find and index them quickly.

A noindex tag tells search engine bots not to include a page in their indexes.

PageSpeed Insights is a free Google tool that reports on page loading speed and user experience metrics.

Pagination tags connect pages in a sequence and help users and search engines navigate between them.

Pogo-sticking happens when a searcher clicks a result and quickly returns to the search results page.

A pop-up is a window that appears when someone visits a web page.

A protocol defines the rules and standards that govern communication between a browser and a server.

A proxy routes an internet connection through an intermediary server.

A redirect chain occurs when a user or search engine bot is redirected more than once before reaching a page.

A redirect loop sends a user or search engine bot through an endless cycle of redirects.

Image resizing adjusts an image to better match its display area and reduce the space the file consumes.

Rich snippets add page details beyond the standard title, description, and URL shown in search results.

A robots.txt file defines which parts of a website search engine bots are permitted to access.

Structured data markup helps search engine bots understand the meaning of a page's content.

Search operators are special commands and characters that refine or extend a standard text search.

A search query is the word, phrase, or combination of keywords a user enters into a search engine.

A search engine results page, or SERP, lists the pages returned for a user's search query.

Server-side rendering processes a page request on the server and sends the resulting output to the browser.

Server status codes are three-digit responses a server returns when a browser requests a page.

Sitelinks are additional links shown beneath a website's main search result.

A sitemap is an XML file that helps search engine bots find and examine a website's URLs.

The sitemap command in robots.txt tells search engine bots where to find a website's sitemap.

A soft 404 occurs when a server returns a 200 OK response for a page that Google believes should return a 404.

An SSL certificate establishes an encrypted connection between a website and its users.

Third-party resources are external elements added to a website rather than supplied by the site itself.

A title tag specifies the title of a web page for users and search engines.

Time to first byte measures the interval between a browser requesting a page and receiving the first byte from the server.

URL shortening turns a long, complicated link into a shorter, more manageable address.

The user-agent command in robots.txt sets permissions for bots that visit a website.

UTM parameters are pieces of code added to URLs so campaign traffic can be identified and analyzed.

A video sitemap lists page URLs and supplies additional information about the videos hosted on them.

A VPN creates an encrypted internet connection between a device and a network.

WebM is a compressed audiovisual file format designed to keep web audio and video files smaller.

WebP is an image format designed to produce smaller files at comparable quality.

Website speed optimization covers improvements that help users and search engine bots access a site faster.

Whois is a service that provides detailed information about registered domain names.

Cloaking is a black hat SEO technique that shows search engine bots a specially prepared page that users do not see.

A CSS sprite combines several images into one file that can be retrieved with a single request.

A subfolder sits inside another folder, while a path shows the ordered sequence of folders leading to a resource.

A URL is the unique web address used to access a resource on the internet.