Local Search & SEO Glossary

A sitemap is a file where you can list the web pages of your site to tell Google and other search engines about the organization of your site content. Search engine web crawlers like Googlebot read this file to more intelligently crawl your site. Also, your sitemap can provide valuable metadata associated with the pages you list in that sitemap: Metadata is information about a webpage, such as when the page was last updated, how often the page is changed, and the importance of the page relative to other URLs in the site. You can use a sitemap to provide Google with metadata about specific types of content on your pages, including video and image content. For example, you can give Google the information about video and image content. Sitemaps also help to define the canonical page when addressing the issues of duplicate content. If you have a single page accessible by multiple URLs, or different pages with similar content (for example, a page with both a mobile and a desktop version), you should explicitly tell Google which URL is authoritative (canonical) for that page. If you do not do this explicitly, Google will make the choice for you, or might consider them both of equal weight, which might lead to unwanted behavior, as explained in the next section.

See head keywords.

Up to six algorithmically-chosen links that appear below the listing for the same website of a top-ranked organic search result. Pages can be blocked from appearing as sitelinks within the Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools. Also known as: Deep Links (Bing).

General term for the organization or hierarchy of a particular website; can also refer to the programming language or content management system that the site is built in. Site architecture, especially a site's internal linking strategy, is extremely important to consider in organic SEO. See also: internal link, organic algorithm / organic results, CMS (content management system)

Common term denoting positive actions or affirmations made by users of a social media site. People can 'like' or 'share' data to express approval of the content. See also: Facebook, social media (SM)

Generic term for the set of specific local business listings within a page of organic results. Over the years, Google and other search engines have experimented with variable numbers of results within the pack, from one to ten results.

A term frequently used to describe go-to-client businesses that travel to customers' locations to render services, such as plumbers, electricians, and carpet cleaners. See also: go-to-client, brick-and-mortar

A link that appears on every page of a website, typically in a sidebar or footer of blogs or websites that use templates.

In the United States, small-to-medium business designation is defined by the size standards found in Title 13 of the Code of Federal Regulations. In the online marketing world, SMB is loosely used to describe both small and local businesses.

Different from the Google 3-pack, the "Snack Pack" refers to the local layout that that is missing the links to the business website or driving directions; instead of seeing these (useful) buttons, you get an image.

Any factors that demonstrate authority and influence on popular social networking websites. For example, the social authority of a user on Twitter. Although many correlation studies have indicated that socials signals impact rankings (e.g., number of Likes/shares a piece of content receives), Google has publicly stated that social signals are not a direct ranking factor. Popular sites that have a lot of social media engagement tend to rank well for other reasons.

Occurs when a non-existent page (a page that has been deleted/removed) displays a "page not found" message or page to anyone trying to access it but fails to return an HTTP 404 status code. In other words, the content of a web page displayed is entirely unrelated to the HTTP response returned by the server.

Media utilized for social interaction on the Internet. This can include blogs; sharing sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Google+, and review sites like Yelp and other interactive platforms. In the local business arena, social media factors are playing an increasingly important role in online visibility. See also: blog, Twitter, Facebook, Facebook Local Search

Novermber 30, 2017 Note: After testing longer search snippets for over two years, Google increased them across a large number of results. This led us to adopt a new Meta Description limit -- up to 300 characters from the previous 155 (almost doubling). Google confirmed an update to how snippets are handled, but didn't provide details.

A controlled experiment used to compare at least two webpages to measure the effects of a different variable on conversions. After the pages are shown for a long enough period of time to site visitors to gather an adequate amount of performance data, a �winner� can be declared. Also known as: A/B Testing.

A mention of a business name and address and/or phone number on an IYP or directory website. Structured citations may or may not be coded in hCard microformat or schema, but typically appear in a pattern that is easy for search engine spiders to read. Differs from an unstructured citation, which may appear as a one-off reference on a blog or other hyperlocal website.

A traditional review left on a major local search portal or IYP, accompanied by a numerical rating. Structured reviews may or may not be coded in hReview microformat, but typically appear in a kind of pattern that is easy for search engine spiders to read. Differs from an unstructured review, which may appear as a one-off reference on a blog or other hyperlocal website.

Another term for a custom field associated with a local business listing. Often used by owners to list their business' specialties.

An application within Google Maps which provides 360-degree photographic imagery of an area specified by the user.

Can refer either to the robotic script created by a search engine to "read" webpages See also: robot, crawl, algorithm

See: Webspam

A major Internet Yellow Pages website. Local business owners can create a listing at SuperPages. See also: citation, IYP (Internet Yellow Pages)

A digital certificate used for website identity authentication and to encrypt information sent to the server using Secure Sockets Layer technology.

The response codes sent by a server whenever a link is clicked, a webpage or file is requested, or a form is submitted. Common HTTP status codes important to SEO: 200 (OK) 404 (Not Found) 410 (Gone) 500 (Internal Service Error) 503 (Service Unavailable)

A frequently used word. For example: a, at, for, is, of, on, the. Search engines have, in the past, ignored these words to save time/resources when indexing. Search engines have evolved greatly since the early days, and stop words sometimes are meaningful, so this isn�t something to worry much about for SEO purposes.

A separate section that exists within a main domain.

Also known as SSI. A way to retrieve portions of a page from another web page.

One or more automatically generated logs of all actions performed by the server, often helpful in determining what caused a problem to occur.

These appear in some results in the SERPs, where numerous internal links are provided, making it easier for users to navigate directly to the portion of the site that interests them.

Previously called Google Webmaster tools, Search Console is a suite of free services from Google to check indexing status and optimize a site's visibility.

Abbreviation for Secure Sockets Layer. This is the standard technology for establishing an encrypted pipeline between the client (browser or email client) and the server.

Refers to linking and navigational structure that is employed on every page of the website, such as in the sidebar or footer.

An internet domain which is part of a primary domain. For example, in the URL�https://blog.localclarity.com/, �blog��would be a subdomain of the primary domain�localclarity.com.

Numeric responses given by web servers in response to a call from a browser. Each different numeric code signifies something different.

Improving the presence of a business and increasing its number of customers via all non-paid forms of search, such as organic, local, universal, and mobile.

A status notation in the Google Places for Business dashboard indicating that a business owner has marked a listing as "Suspended" in an attempt to prevent its display. An account may also be suspended by Google due to violations of the Google Local Business Information Quality Guidelines or due to bugs.

The hypothetical form of AI that possesses the ability to experience subjective perceptions, emotions, or consciousness. This concept goes beyond current AI capabilities, which include learning, decision-making, and problem-solving, to encompass self-awareness and the capacity to feel, understand, and experience the world in the same way as humans or animals. The term experienced a notable increase in usage in 2022, likely driven by discussions related to the emergence of ChatGPT and other LLMs. However, experts clarified that despite its advanced capabilities, they do not possess true sentience, and achieving genuine Sentient AI remains a distant goal. This clarification may have contributed to a significant decline in the term’s usage thereafter.

Organizing and categorizing a website to maximize content findability and help users complete desired on-site tasks.

Currently Google's dominant form of local search results, consisting of three businesses. Note that as Google increases its revenue opportunity from paid search, many formerly-free 3-packs are becoming partially or fully-paid packs of results. See also: seven-pack (7-pack), universal algorithm / universal results, local algorithm / local results, OneBox, ten-pack (10-Pack)

A piece of web page code that the search engines pay special attention to when deciding that webpage's relevance. On a traditional SERP, the text of a webpage's title tag is contained in the link to that web page. If you're on a Windows computer, the title tag of a web page appears in the blue bar at the top lefthand corner of your screen when you are browsing the internet. On a Macintosh, the title tag usually appears at the top middle of the browser screen, in a silver bar. Including keywords in your website's title tags is very important for organic rankings; many experts feel that including geographic keywords in your website's title tags is important for local rankings. See also: organic algorithm / organic results, meta tags, meta description, keyword, SERP (search engine result page)

An inexact estimation of how long a user spent looking at a particular webpage. Pages with high exit rates can greatly skew this data.

Unlike reviews left on third-party platforms, testimonials are typically customer sentiments published by a business on its own website. Testimonials may be marked up with hReview microformatting or schema to enhance the ease with which search engines can understand testimonial content. See also: microformat, review

An historic term describing a once-dominant form of Google's local results, containing seven businesses. The 10-pack is no longer active, having been largely replaced by the 3-pack, and in some cases, by paid or partially-paid packs. See also: seven-pack (7-pack), universal algorithm / universal results, local algorithm / local results, OneBox, three-pack (3-Pack)

1) Can be used to describe any web-based data about a business that is not published by the business itself. 2) In reference to Google's local products, "third-party" is often used to refer to data stemming from any location other than a business' website or its Google Places/Google+ Local listing.

An important but hard-to-quantify ranking factor in both organic and local algorithms. Trust can be gained via the following: consistent NAP information, citations from high-authority websites

In the local SEO arena, Google provides a small number of troubleshooter wizards that walk users through a short survey in an attempt to identify and resolve data issues. See also: penalty

Topical Trust Flow is a Majestic trademark. This is a Majestic feature which provides website categorization. Majestic has now categorized the web so users can see in which industry sector the website has influence. The Topical Trust Flow helps users find influencers for specific categories and easily determine if a link clear up is required. Topical Trust Flow provides a series of numbers, on a log-based scale between 0-100. The number shows the relative influence of a web page, subdomain or root domain in any given topic or category.

Founded in 2000, TripAdvisor is a major review and citation source for restaurants and hotels on an international scale. See also: review

The highest level in the hierarchical domain name system of the Internet. For the URL https://www.localclarity.com the TLD is .com

The people (and sometimes bots) who visit your website.

Trust Flow, a trademark of Majestic, is a score based on quality, on a scale between 0-100. Majestic collated many trusted seed sites based on a manual review of the web. This process forms the foundation of Majestic Trust Flow. Sites closely linked to a trusted seed site can see higher scores, whereas sites that may have some questionable links would see a much lower score.

With search engines, topical relevance is mainly used in conjunction with backlinks (incoming links). Websites that carry similar content are said to have topical relevance. Backlinks from websites that are topically relevant have more impact on a website's position in search results than backlinks from sites that are not related. Search engines assume that topically relevant links are used to offer users additional information that could be helpful. With unrelated links there is a high probability that they have been paid for or included for the purpose of improving a site's position in search results.

A link analysis technique used to separate good �reputable seed pages� from web spam.

Refers to a system of classification and is particularly important in faceted navigation such as is normally present in an e-commerce site.

A social media network on which users share short text-based messages See also: social media (SM), Facebook, Facebook Local Search

The process of converting text into a series of tokens (words, subwords, or characters) that can be processed by AI models. In the context of models like GPT, tokenization is a fundamental step that precedes model training and inference, affecting how the model interprets and generates responses.

Unique Content, as it relates to search engine optimization (SEO), means content is original and not duplicated anywhere else. Unique content plays a key role in search rankings because search algorithms rate unique content highly and can penalize websites for posting duplicate content.

Where a listing for your business already exists on a business directory, but you do not have control over it.

Uniform Resource Locator. Sometimes called the web address. For this site�s home page, the URL is https://localclarity.com. However, that�s not the actual address. The URL is translated to our IP address by the domain name server.

A major paid local listing services. Distributes local business data to a large number of search engines and directories. Was Aquired by AdviceLocal in 2015

Any links Google identifies as suspicious, deceptive, or manipulative. An unnatural link can result in Google taking manual action on your website.

The term for a SERP containing a non-standard search result, such as video or shopping results embedded within the more familiar "ten blue links" default results.Any kind of content relevant to a particular keyword may be returned, rather than just web/text content. In the context of local search, this usually means a 7-Pack, 3-Pack, or Authoritative Onebox.

A text summary of a customer experience on a website that is not a traditional directory of standardized review information alongside business listings. May not be accompanied by a numerical rating. Examples would be a newspaper or magazine article, hyperlocal blog, or social media profile. See also: review, IYP (Internet Yellow Pages), directory, hyperlocal

A mention of a business name and address and/or phone number on a website that is not an IYP site or other traditional directory containing standardized listings for many other businesses. Examples would be a newspaper or magazine article, hyperlocal blog, or social media profile.

When search engines pull data from multiple speciality databases to display on the same SERP. Results can include images, videos, news, shopping, and other types of results. Also known as: Blended Search.

The number of unique visitors to your client�s GBP listing, broken down by device and platform. This metric is focused on unique visitors, so multiple visits in a day are only counted once. Also known as the �number of people who viewed your Business Profile.� This metric was launched in February 2021 and has not been changed since by Google.

Any form of content � videos, blog posts, comments, reviews, etc. � that is created by users or customers.

Every user on the internet has its own user agent, browsers, clients, crawlers, even feed readers and media players. The user agent identifies the user to the server, which, in turn, identifies itself back to the user via its own user agent.

The overall feeling users are left with after interacting with a brand, its online presence, and its product/services.

Specifically, content that users can take something valuable from. While a funny video counts as engaging content, it doesn't necessarily count as valuable content in the same way a product review might help users make better buying decisions.

Any online action taken by an user, including clicking on search engine results, time spent on a web page, leaving a review, using a check-in service, asking for driving directions, and many other factors. The extent of influence user behavior has on actual search engine rankings remains a matter of speculation and debate.

The values added to a URL in order to track where traffic comes from (i.e., which link someone clicked on to discover your website or webpage).

People (searchers) who have visited a web page once during a specific period of time.

User-generated content. Content on a web page which is created by users, rather than by the site owner or webmaster. Forums and blog comments are both forms of user-generated content.

The speed at which a local listing or a website accumulates outside references, such as links, citations, reviews, or check-ins. Most experts believe that a consistent velocity for each criterion - rather than a flood - indicates to the search engines that a business is vibrant without trying to be manipulative.

A generic term used to encompass the overall presence a business has established on the Internet. Local businesses seek visibility via search engine rankings, social media profiles, review profiles, and other platforms.

The process of confirming your online business listings.

A 2012 update to Google's algorithm that appeared to increase the number of local results being returned for generic queries, as well as altering the ratio of first page rankings given to distinct local businesses.

A vertical search engine is distinct from a general web search engine, in that it focuses on a specific segment of online content. They are also called specialty or topical search engines. Common verticals include shopping, the automotive industry, legal information, medical information, scholarly literature, job search and travel.In contrast to general web search engines, which attempt to index large portions of the World Wide Web using a web crawler, vertical search engines typically use a focused crawler which attempts to index only relevant web pages to a pre-defined topic or set of topics.

These can only made after a customer has made an online purchase from a business. Verified reviews offer a more reliable way for real customers to leave feedback on Google, and the option must be turned on from within the Merchant Centre area.

A type of voice-activated technology that allows users to speak into a device (usually a smartphone) to ask questions or conduct an online search.

A bot that uses natural language processing to perform tasks, such as conducting web searches. For instance, Apple�s Siri or Microsoft�s Cortana.

An error message signaling that Google lacks data about a local business or is choosing not to display it. There have been ongoing issues with this error message appearing due to technical issues on Google's part, but this message can also stem from violations of the Google Local Business Information Quality Guidelines.

See citation.

When a website is created, a structure is put into place which helps the end user find what they are looking for. For example, your homepage will likely have links to subpages that cover particular topics. This is especially important to search engine crawlers as they have an easier time with well-structured web pages. Ensure that your homepage is the landing page that has links to your most important subpages. Your sitemap.xml and robots.txt will help a crawler better understand your page, so don't forget to make sure those are well laid out.

While many will use web directory and search engine interchangeably, the two terms mean something very different. A search engine is an automated piece of software that crawls through the internet indexing information.A web directory, on the other hand, is something akin to the Yellow Pages of the internet. A listing of websites, under a category, put together by humans. A web directory will not be as complete when it comes to results, but it is a more curated listing of sites.These are generally put into categories that go from broad to narrow, the more you hone in on what you are looking for.If you want to get on to a web directory either submit your site to the owner of the web directory or hope they find your webpage and add it naturally.

A webpage is connected to the World Wide Web and can be viewed or "visited" using a web browser (e.g., Chrome), a browser on your phone, or a search app. In the 1990s, webpage content was mostly text and links. Today, webpage content includes many forms of media (such as images, videos, etc.) and functionality (such as online shopping features, email, calculator functionality, online games, etc.).The webpage that first appears when you go to a website is the startpage (frequently a homepage). The website's other pages are referred to as subpages.

Before search engines made it much easier to find websites than when the internet was still in its infancy, web catalogs were the go-to answer for finding a website. A web catalog is a collection of linked web pages which are generally sorted by specific criteria e.g. art. This was how individuals found web pages before search engines came about, and can still be useful for getting your website some additional traffic. Web catalog entry not only gives you additional eyes on your website, but it gives you a powerful additional backlink.

The old name of the free service offered by Google for users with a Google account to claim ownership of a particular website. Bing's and Yahoo's versions are called Webmaster Center and Site Explorer, respectively. Allows users to submit verified sitemaps for that domain.As of May 20, 2015, Google rebranded Google Webmaster Tools as Google Search Console. In January 2018, Google introduced a new version of the Search Console, with a refreshed user interface and improvements.

Websites and web pages are different. A website is a collection of web pages that are connected to a central unique domain name. The central domain name often called the "home page", is the first page a user sees when they type in a web address. From there, clickable links, generally single words or phrases like "About Us" take users to subpages, or web pages, that will have a unique domain name (domain.com/aboutus) and are not directly accessed when typing in a website's name.A website can also be a single page, though, if it has no subpages or links to other pages under the same domain, called single-page websites.

Any methods that exist solely to deceive or manipulate search engine algorithms and/or users. Also known as: Black Hat SEO, Spam, Spamdexing, Search Spam

An element of a graphical rather than a textual user interface that prompts users to act or displays information. It is usually a stand-alone element that can be embedded in a web page as an advertisement or interactive experience.

Commonly believed to imply following only practices which are deemed acceptable under the published webmaster guidelines.

The contact information kept on file by a domain registrar for the official owner of a domain name. Can be made private, but public WHOIS information may be viewed by the local search engines as a particularly trusted citation. See also: domain name, citation, URL (uniform resource locator)

Originally released as a blogging platform, WordPress has become a popular platform for the development of whole websites

These are guidelines are published by search engines, describing behaviors and practices which the search engine considers to be acceptable. Failing to comply with those guidelines can result in a loss of rankings or punitive action.

The number of clicks on the website link provided in your client�s business profile. This new metric has been added to the �Interactions� section of the Performance page and it doesn�t include clicks on the website from Google Business Profile websites, so this number may be different from what you see on the Insights page or in Performance reporting.

Stands for "What You See Is What You Get." Usually refers to interfaces in content management systems that allow someone who doesn't know computer code to create and edit webpage information. See also: HTML (HyperText Markup Language), CMS (content management system)

How a website connects its webpages to help visitors navigate that site. Website navigation comes in a few different forms, including: Main Navigation: The major topics or subjects your website is focused on. For instance, on SEJ our Main Navigation consists of SEO, News, PPC, Content, and Social. Secondary Navigation: Topics related to the main navigation. For instance, on SEJ secondary navigation includes links to webinars, podcasts, guides, SEJ Summit, and other topics. Footer Navigation: Typically this includes links to pages that contain important informational resources about a brand or business. These pages usually aren't important for ranking purposes. For example, SEJ's footer navigation links to our About Us page, privacy policy, and our various social profiles. Related Links: This area usually appears in the right rail or beneath content. It might be called Most Popular, Most Read, or Trending Now. Content Links: Links that appear within your main content (e.g., articles, landing pages). Breadcrumb Navigation: This type is less popular than it once was. Essentially, each webpage shows a trail to help quickly tell visitors where they are on your site. For example: Home > SEO > Link Building > What Is Website Navigation? Also known as: Internal Links (or Internal Linking), Site Architecture

Bare-bones computer code that is very easy for search engines to read. XML is similar to HTML but is not really intended to be read by humans. Sitemaps are usually uploaded to Google Webmaster Tools and are in XML format.