I try to be straightforward when I write and speak to people. But I still drop into jargon when I feel it’s appropriate.
I hope this list helps clarify some of the posts on Writing For SEO. And, if I’ve left out something from this list, please tell me.
Algorithm – mathematically, a step-by-step procedure for calculations. On the web, how search engines determine the order of search results
Blog (originally weblog) – a website with sequential posts, normally dated and sometimes timed as well
Content Management System (CMS) – an application, normally running on a web server that enables you to publish, edit and modify content easily from a central interface
Content writing – writing copy for websites
Copy – what professional writers produce for websites, advertising, brochures, books and magazines
Copywriting – commercial, marketing, advertising and sales writing (never, never ‘copy writing’. If anyone ever tries to sell you ‘copy writing’, run. Don’t hesitate. Get the hell out of there! They don’t know what they’re doing)
CSS – cascading style sheets, a standard for formatting web pages
HTML – hypertext markup language. The programming language of the Web
key phrases – the words (more than one) that people type into search engines
key words/keywords – the words people type into search engines. Strictly single words, but Google calls key phrases keywords
Natural/Organic Search results – results on the search engines that come naturally from that search engine’s algorithm
Organic SEO – strategies to enable a website to rank higher on SERPs
Organic traffic – visitors to your site from the natural/organic search results
PPC – Pay Per Click or paid search such as Google AdWords
SEO (search engine optimisation) – the art and science of making your website perform well on the search engines
SEO Copywriting – writing content that contributes to a website’s performance on SERPs
SERPs – short for Search Engine Results Pages
Traffic – people coming to your website
URL (uniform resource locator) – otherwise, web address. Typically www.domain.com, blog.domain.com/index.html
Voice – writing style. Particularly applicable to the kind of personal copy used on websites