301 Redirect
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect that automatically sends users and search engines to a new URL when the original URL is no longer available.
We explain the most common SEO terms and concepts in plain English. Anything missing? Let us know!
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect that automatically sends users and search engines to a new URL when the original URL is no longer available.
A 302 redirect is a temporary redirect that sends users and search engines to a different URL for a limited time.
A 304 Not Modified status code is returned by a server to indicate that the requested resource has not been modified since the last request.
A 404 error occurs when a user tries to access a webpage that does not exist on the server.
A 410 Gone status code indicates that a webpage is permanently removed and will not return.
Web accessibility is the practice of designing and developing digital content that can be easily perceived, understood, navigated, and interacted with by all users, including those with disabilities.
Google algorithm updates are modifications to the complex set of rules that determine how websites are ranked in search results. These updates can range from minor tweaks to major overhauls, each aimed at improving the quality and relevance of search results.
Alt text, short for alternative text, serves as a concise verbal representation of images on websites. This crucial element enhances digital inclusivity, ensuring that the internet remains accessible and enjoyable for all users, including those with visual impairments or other disabilities.
AMP is an open-source initiative spearheaded by Google to create lightning-fast web pages for mobile devices. At its core, AMP is a stripped-down form of HTML that prioritizes speed and efficiency.
Anchor text consists of the clickable words in a hyperlink that provide both users and search engines with hints about the content of the linked page. This brief text segment is crucial for SEO, influencing how well a website performs in search results.
Backlinks are incoming links from one website to another. They play a crucial role in SEO by indicating the popularity, relevance, and authority of a webpage.
Branded keywords are search terms that include a company's name or other branded terms. They are important for brand visibility and can help drive targeted traffic to a website.
Bounce rate is a key metric that measures the proportion of visitors who exit a website after viewing only a single page. This percentage offers valuable insights into user engagement and content relevance. To calculate bounce rate, we use the formula: (number of single-page sessions / total number of sessions) x 100. This metric helps website owners and marketers gauge the effectiveness of their site in capturing and retaining visitor interest.
Brand monitoring is the practice of tracking online mentions, conversations, and feedback related to your brand across various digital platforms. It encompasses social media, forums, blogs, and any public online space where your brand might be discussed.
A canonical URL is the preferred version of a set of duplicate pages. It helps search engines identify the original source of content and avoid duplicate content issues.
Cloaking is a black hat SEO technique that involves presenting different content to search engines and users. This deceptive practice violates search engine guidelines and can result in penalties.
A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a network of servers distributed geographically to deliver web content more efficiently to users. CDNs help improve website performance, reduce latency, and enhance user experience.
Core Web Vitals are a set of user-centered metrics that measure key aspects of web page performance, including loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability. These metrics are essential for optimizing user experience and search engine rankings.
Canonical tags are a critical SEO element that helps search engines identify the primary version of a webpage. By implementing canonical tags, you can consolidate ranking signals, manage duplicate content, and improve crawl efficiency. Learn how to implement canonical tags effectively and avoid common pitfalls.
A dofollow link is a hyperlink that passes authority and SEO value from one webpage to another. It is a standard HTML link that search engines can follow to discover new content and determine the relevance and authority of the linked page.
Domain Rating (DR) is a metric that measures the strength of a website's backlink profile. It predicts a domain's ability to rank in search engine results based on the quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to the site.
A Google penalty is a punitive action taken by Google against websites that violate its Webmaster Guidelines. Penalties can result in a significant drop in search engine rankings, traffic, and visibility.
The H1 tag is an HTML element that represents the main heading of a webpage. It is a crucial on-page SEO element that helps search engines understand the content and structure of a page.
Header tags are HTML elements used to structure and format content on a webpage. They play a crucial role in SEO by providing context to search engines and improving readability for users.
Keyword cannibalization is an SEO issue that occurs when multiple pages on a website target the same keyword or keyword phrase. This can lead to confusion for search engines and dilution of ranking signals, impacting the site's visibility and performance.
Keyword difficulty is a metric that assesses the competitiveness of a keyword in search engine optimization (SEO). It helps marketers and website owners evaluate the effort required to rank for a specific keyword based on factors like domain authority, backlink profile, and content quality.
Keyword ranking refers to the position of a webpage in search engine results pages (SERPs) for a specific keyword or query. It is a key metric in SEO that indicates how well a page is performing in organic search.
A manual action is a penalty imposed by Google's search quality team for violating the search engine's webmaster guidelines. It requires manual intervention to resolve and can result in a drop in search rankings or removal of web pages from search results.
Meta tags are snippets of HTML code that provide information about a webpage to search engines and website visitors. They help search engines understand the content and context of a page, influencing its ranking and appearance in search results.
Nofollow is an HTML attribute that tells search engines not to follow a link or pass link equity to the linked page. It is commonly used to prevent spammy or untrusted links from influencing search rankings.
The noindex tag is an HTML meta tag that instructs search engines not to index a specific webpage. It is used to prevent a page from appearing in search engine results pages (SERPs) while still allowing search engines to crawl and follow links on the page.
Off-page SEO refers to the activities and strategies that take place outside of a website to improve its search engine rankings. This includes building high-quality backlinks, social media marketing, influencer outreach, and other external factors that impact a site's visibility and authority.
On-page SEO refers to the optimization of individual web pages to improve their search engine rankings and attract organic traffic. It involves optimizing content, meta tags, images, and other elements on a page to make it more relevant and user-friendly.
Open Graph meta tags are snippets of code that help control how content appears when shared on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. By optimizing these tags, you can enhance your content's visibility, click-through rates, and engagement on social networks.
A redirect chain occurs when there are multiple redirects between the initial URL and the final destination URL. It's best to avoid long redirect chains as they can dilute link equity and slow down page load times.
Robots.txt is a text file that instructs search engine crawlers on how to access and index a website's pages. It can be used to block specific pages or directories from being crawled, or to allow access to certain user agents.
A sitemap is essentially a file that lists all the pages on your website, providing information about each page's content and its relationship to other pages. Think of it as a table of contents for your website, but one that's primarily designed for search engines rather than human readers.
Technical SEO refers to the process of optimizing a website's infrastructure to improve its search engine visibility and crawlability. It involves addressing technical issues that may hinder search engines from indexing and ranking a site, such as site speed, mobile-friendliness, and structured data markup.
Thin content refers to web pages that have little to no valuable or unique content for users. It typically consists of low-quality or duplicate content that offers little value to visitors and search engines. Thin content can negatively impact a site's search engine rankings and user experience.
The X-Robots-Tag is an HTTP header that allows webmasters to control how search engines index and display their web pages. It can be used to prevent search engines from indexing specific pages or to set other directives for search engine crawlers.