If you want your website to be found in Google, you soon run into SEO. And right after that, a pile of terms: crawling, backlinks, meta description, bounce rate. Below they are listed in one place, grouped by topic, with a few sentences on what each term means. That way you know right away what a conversation about your site is about.
What is SEO?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) means improving your website so search engines like Google can find and show it better. The goal is to rank higher in the search results when people search for something that fits your business. The higher you rank, the more people click through, and some of those visitors become customers.
The SEO terms in one place, by topic
Keywords
Keywords are the terms people search for in Google. They can be a few words ('schoenen', shoes) or longer phrases ('waar koop ik de beste hardloopschoenen', where do I buy the best running shoes). With SEO, you make sure your pages match the keywords that fit your business.
Long-tail keywords are more specific, usually longer search phrases with less search volume, but someone who searches that specifically often already knows what they want and is more likely to become a customer. For example: “SEO specialist in Eindhoven” instead of just “SEO”.
On-page SEO
On-page SEO is everything you improve on your own pages to be easier to find. Think of:
Title tag: The title of your web page that is shown in the search results. It also appears at the top of your browser tab. A good title tag contains your most important keyword and invites people to click.
Meta description: A short description of your web page that can appear in the search results under the title tag. Google doesn't use it to rank your page, but a good description can get more people to click through.
Headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.): Headings in your text, of which the H1 is the most important. Give every page one H1 that clearly names the topic, preferably with your most important keyword in it. The H2s and H3s divide the text below into sections.
Alt text: A short description for an image. Search engines use it to work out what the image is about, and people with a visual impairment have the text read aloud by their screen reader.
Internal links: Links from one page to another within your own website. Through those links, search engines find your pages and understand how they relate. They also spread the “link juice” (authority) across your site.
You can see how your own page scores on these points with the free SEO checker: within a few seconds your titles, headings, meta descriptions and alt texts are lined up.
Off-page SEO
Off-page SEO refers to all activities outside your own website that influence your position in the search results, such as:
Backlinks: Links from other websites to yours. Google sees such a link as a recommendation: another site thinks your page is worth it. The more good backlinks you have, the more authority your site gets. By good I mean: coming from a site that is itself trusted and that is about something related.
Link building: Actively earning backlinks from other websites. That can be through guest posts, listings in industry directories and partnerships, or by making something others link to on their own, like a handy calculator or an explanation that is better than what's already online.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is about the technical side of your site: can search engines find, read and quickly load your pages? The terms you come across there:
Crawling: The process in which search engines scour the internet and visit web pages to find new or updated content.
Indexing: After crawling, the search engine decides whether a page goes into its index, the big database from which the search results are compiled. Only an indexed page can show up in Google.
Sitemap: An XML file that helps search engines find and index all the pages on your website.
Robots.txt: A text file that tells search engine crawlers which parts of your website they may or may not visit. It controls crawling, not indexing: if you really want to keep a page out of Google, you use a noindex tag.
Load time (page speed): How fast your website loads. A slow page costs you visitors, and Google counts speed when determining your position.
Mobile optimization: Making sure your website works well and looks good on a phone or tablet. Google works mobile-first: it looks at the mobile version of your site to decide where you end up.
Schema markup: Code you add to your website so search engines better understand what is on a page, such as a product, a recipe or an event. Sometimes that gets you a richer search result, for example with stars, prices or availability.
Local SEO
Local SEO makes sure you get found when people in your area search, for example for “kapper Utrecht” (hairdresser Utrecht) or “loodgieter in de buurt” (plumber near me). Then you want to be in the map block with businesses at the top of Google. These terms go with it:
Google Business Profile: Your free business listing in Google, formerly called Google My Business. In it you manage things like your opening hours, location, photos and reviews.
NAP details: Stands for Name, Address and Phone number. Put those details down exactly the same everywhere: on your site, in your Google Business Profile and in business directories. Then Google knows for sure it's always the same business, and that counts for local SEO.
Local citations: Mentions of your business on other websites, especially in online business directories and industry-specific platforms.
Analytics and measurement
Google Analytics: A free tool from Google for analyzing website traffic, including where visitors come from, how they use your site and whether they convert.
Google Search Console: A free tool from Google that shows how your website performs in the search results, which search terms your pages are shown and clicked for, and whether there are technical problems you need to fix.
Conversion: The moment a visitor takes the action you want, such as filling in a contact form, requesting a quote or placing an order.
Conversion rate (CR): The percentage of visitors who take a desired action. For example: if 100 people visit your site and 5 fill in the contact form, your conversion rate is 5%.
Bounce rate: The percentage of visitors who leave your website without doing anything, like clicking a link or viewing a second page. Google Analytics 4 by default counts a visit as a bounce if someone stays less than ten seconds, does nothing you measure as a conversion and views only one page.
SERP (Search Engine Results Page): The page with results you see after entering a search in a search engine.
CTR (Click-Through Rate): The percentage of people who click on your listing in the search results after seeing it. A high CTR means your title tag and meta description persuade people to click.
The four parts of an SEO approach
The terms above fall roughly into four parts. A good SEO approach works on all four at once:
- A technically healthy site that Google can easily crawl and index
- Text that answers what your audience is searching for
- Backlinks from sites that carry weight in your industry
- Pages where a visitor can easily get in touch or buy something
You can read how I handle those four for clients on the page about my approach with Vizibly System. Still stuck on a term you don't understand, or want to know how your own site is doing? Send me your question through the contact page.
