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Above the Fold

Content that appears on a website before the user scrolls. In 2012, Google created the Page Layout Algorithm to lower the rankings of websites featuring too many ads in this space.

Absolute Link

A link that uses the entire URL, a link that doesn’t use the domain is called a ‘relative link’, for example:

https://ilanshabad.com/seo/ <Absolute>

https://www.ilanshabad.com/seo/ <Absolute>

/seo/page/ <Relative >

/seo/ < Relative>

A/B Testing

The process of running competing ads or pages against each other to improve performance:

1. Create two variants
2. Run against each other
3. See which one performs the best
4. Ensure statistical significance
5. Remove the lower performing variant
6. Make a copy of the higher performing variant with a slight change
7. Repeat

This process is commonplace in PPC advertising where ads are run against each other in pairs using this process. If more than two ads or entities are run against each other, it is called MVT or multi-variant testing.

Adaptive Website

A website technology that allows the site to adapt its layout, design, and features based on the screen size of the device accessing the site. This is one of several methods or technologies that are available to meet the need to scale a site to the devices and screen sizes that are used to access it. Other options include:

• Responsive sites
• Responsive adaptive sites
• Mobile sites

Adobe Analytics

Adobe Analytics is a web analytics solution for applying real-time analytics and detailed segmentation across all your marketing channels. You can use this tool within your business to discover high-value audiences and power customer intelligence.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a well-known link and very popular backlink research tool. Ahrefs provide a range of tools for SEO but are most known for the backlink data. Using their own proprietary bot and index which they say uses a trillion webpage connections upon which to base their data.

AJAX

is an acronym for ‘Asynchronous JavaScript and XML’. This is a type of programming and is used primarily because it provides the following benefits:

1. Update a web page without reloading it
2. Request data from a server after the page has loaded
3. Receive data from a server after the page has loaded
4. Send data to a server in the background

Algorithm

Search engines use algorithms, which are essentially process-driven calculations performed on computers. In the context of search engines, they are used to determine where to rank webpages for search terms and what type of results to show.

Algorithms are the perfect solution for search engines as there are hundreds of components factors that need to be quantified, weighted, and calculated when returning search results. Everything from your search history, browsing history, time of day, and device used are considered by the algorithm.

Google also uses an algorithm to detect attempted manipulations of their algorithm when analysing content and links.

You are most likely to hear this term used in the context of ‘Google’s algorithm’.

Algorithm Update

An algorithm update typically leads to significant changes in search results. Algorithms can be changed or updated at any time, but noticeable alterations are generally infrequent.

Alt Attribute

Alt attributes, or alt tags, are text alternatives for images used when an image cannot be loaded or rendered by the browser. Hovering over an image on a webpage with the mouse should display a text box containing the alt tag’s content. For example:<img src=”http://example.com.au/image.jpeg” alt=”example text”>

Analytics

Analytics involves tracking and analyzing website data, providing insights into website performance and user behavior. Google Analytics offers a free version that allows for easy tracking and analysis of a wide range of data.

Analytics platforms supply tracking codes for each page on a site, as well as additional codes for custom event tracking (e.g., making a purchase). This enables tracking of:

• The number of site and page visitors
• The duration of site or page visits
• The number of link clicks or form completions
• The value of sales made

This information is crucial for understanding website performance, attribution modeling, optimisation, and measuring success.

Analytics Platform

An analytics platform is a typically web-based tool that offers users customizable tracking code to monitor web data and an interface for data analysis and exportation. Several analytics platforms include:

• Google Analytics
• Omniture
• Adobe Analytics

Google Analytics is widely used, particularly among smaller sites, and offers a free version.

Anchor Text

Anchor text is the clickable portion of a link on a webpage that typically loads a new page when clicked. An example of code used to create a text link with the anchor text highlighted:

<a href=https://ilanshabad.com/seo/>Anchor Text Example</a>

Incorporating relevant keywords in anchor text provides relevance for the target page. Excessive use of keywords in backlink anchor text may result in a Google penalty. It is best practice to vary anchor text when linking to pages.

Attribution

Attribution is the process of assigning value to each step in a path to purchase. For instance, if a user visits a site three times from different sources and makes a purchase on their last visit, attribution involves determining the value assigned to each click:

• The last click
• The first click
• Distributed between the first and last clicks
• Distributed among all clicks

Attribution Modeling

Attribution modeling is the process of assigning values to each step in a path to purchase and performing calculations. Understanding the value of each step is essential for:

• Allocating time, money, and resources to marketing channels
• Identifying effective and ineffective channels
• Improving and optimizing the path to purchase
• Determining channel-specific ROI

Audits

Various types of SEO audits can be conducted to identify opportunities and weaknesses in your site or competitor sites. Common audit types include:

• Technical audit
• On-Page Optimisation audit
• Backlink audit
• Keyword audit
• Competitor audit

Audits can reveal indexation or technical issues, assess penalty risks, or provide a list of backlink or optimization opportunities. Many businesses perform these audits annually due to the frequent changes in sites and search engine results pages (SERPs).

Authority

Authority is based on backlinks and the relationships they establish between sites. It serves as a metric to algorithmically determine rankings. Various tools offer proprietary authority and trust metrics, attempting to emulate Google.