Do you hear SEO tossed around, but are afraid to raise your hand and admit that it sounds like a foreign language? No worries! We’re giving you a super quick and easy SEO vocabulary lesson for the day! Are you ready?! Here’s a few of the most common terms to help you have a better understanding of basic SEO. 

So what is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. This basically means optimizing your site so that it appears in Google search results. You want to optimize your site using specific keywords so that it climbs higher in the rankings and people searching for your services or your content can easily find you when they are searching for it. 

Keyword

So what is a keyword? A keyword is a word or phrase within your content that someone might type into the Google search bar when they are looking for certain information. You want to select a keyword or phrase that you can work into your content multiple times, so that Google recognizes that keyword.

Meta-description

This sounds super technical, but this is actually really simple! You know when you search for a term in the Google Search bar, and then when your search results appear there’s a little excerpt underneath the website or page titles that appear? THAT is a meta-description! You can customize this description so you can include relevant keywords that would show up in search! 

Alt-text

Ever wonder how Google Images works? You type in the type of photo you’re looking for like a picture of a bird and then all these bird photos show up and it’s magical! Actually, this is alt-text at work! Alt-text is actually meant for people who are visually impaired to have context for what images websites are screen readers, but including relevant keywords in your alt-text also helps your website appear in search. 

This all might sound overwhelming, and that’s ok! No one learns SEO overnight! However, if you’re a WordPress user we HIGHLY recommend the Yoast plugin. We like to think of it as SEO training wheels. It helps you optimize your web pages and blog posts! You’ll be optimizing your site like a pro before you know it! 

Until next time!

Jade