Whether you are new to the SEO game or have been around for a long time, you have to admit that the jargon of the industry can leave newer folks confused. Much like with any industry, jargon can be a prevalent force that insiders use to truncate or shorten the amount of time and text they have to spend explaining certain things. Fortunately, SEO jargon and terms tend to be relatively straightforward – once you have an idea of the core subjects. For those who are just getting into the act of search engine optimization, we’ve picked out a few different terms below to elaborate upon and explain their significance in the world of SEO.

Bounce Rate

This term may seem confusing, but makes sense once you understand the premise. A website’s bounce rate is an indicator of the percentage of people who visit your website and then leave it without inspecting any other pages. In essence, bounce rates are used by search engines and SEO enthusiasts alike to determine how valid a website is to a particular audience.

Algorithm

Simply put, an algorithm is a complex series of variables and weights that determine – in the world of SEO – how best to rank select pages or assign value to them. Google and many other search engines find themselves pinging websites for data, and then using algorithms to determine how best to rank them.

CPC/PPC & CPM

These two terms can quite often appear when dealing with marketing, so it is important you understand them. CPC and PPC refer to two different types of paid advertising campaigns you can do through Google, Bing and other platforms. CPC and PPC mean cost per click/price per click, and both indicate a campaign that is billed each time somebody clicks on an advertisement. CPM means cost per mill, and indicates a campaign is billed for each 1,000 impressions of the displayed ad.

White Hat/Black Hat

White hat and black hat are two terms you will hear often, and relate to the tactics many webmasters and SEO enthusiasts use to improve website performance in search. White hat refers to ethical, legitimate and proven behaviour that can improve search performance. Black hat refers to potentially risky and non-condoned behaviour that can sometimes result in websites being penalized by major search engines.

Conversions

In laymen’s terms, a conversion is best described as engagement. You may want someone to click on your social media page, share an article, or sign up for an email list. All of these actions can be measured and are referred to as conversions, due to the fact that you have “converted” someone and made them act as intended.

SERP

The term SERP is commonly used when referencing search engine results. SERP stands for search engine results page, and is simply the result of a query initiated by a user. Whenever you type in a key phrase, such as “what is the best strategy for pinging websites and content?”, the page that displays the result is the SERP.