404 page: A URL that tells the visitor that the webpage does not exist

Algorithm: An automated software that helps locate information to answer a user’s query

Bounce rate: The percentage of website visitors who view one page and then leave the site

Breadcrumbs: A row of internal links at the top or bottom of the page that allows visitors to quickly navigate back to a previous section or the homepage

Broken link: A link that leads to a web page that no longer exists.

Crawlers: Automated software that crawls (fetches) pages from the web and indexes them

Crawling: The process of finding new or updated web pages

Domain: The core part of a website’s URL, or internet address

Featured snippet: A special box that displays information about a search in the results page

HTTPS: An internet communication protocol that protects the integrity and confidentiality of data between the user’s computer and the site

Indexing: The process of Google saving and organizing website information to display in the search engine

Google Business Profile: A tool that allows local businesses to tailor how their information appears on Google Search and Google Maps

Google knowledge panels: Information boxes that appear on Google when someone searches for people, places, organizations, or things that are available in Google’s knowledge database

Googlebot: The generic name of Google's crawler

Keyword: A search term that people use to find information, products, or services online

Keyword research: The process of finding terms and phrases that people use in search engines

Keyword stuffing: The practice of loading a webpage with keywords or numbers in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in the search results

Meta description: Provides the search engines a summary of what the page is about

Mobile-friendly webpage: A webpage that is designed to load quickly and render well on a phone screen

Organic search: Unpaid results a search engine produces when a search is performed

Query: The words typed into a Google Search bar

Rank: A webpage’s position in the search engine results pages (SERPs), which is determined by an algorithm

Rich results: Enhanced results in Google Search with extra visual or interactive features

Search algorithm: An automated process that helps locate information to answer a user’s query

Search engine: Software that provides information on a search query

Search engine optimization (SEO): The process of increasing the visibility of website pages on search engines in order to attract more relevant traffic

Search engine results pages (SERPs): The results pages that appear when someone performs a search query

Sitemap: A file that provides information about the pages, videos, and other files on a site, and the relationships between them

Structured data: Code used to better describe a webpage’s content to search engines

Subdomain: The subset of a larger domain used to organize an existing website into a different page URL

Subpage: A lower-level page that appears below the homepage of a website

URL: The address of a webpage or file on the internet

Webpage title element: Text that provides both the users and search engines with a page’s topic