Alternative text tags:
also known as alt tags. These tags are placed on an image to enable text browsers to describe the image to a visitor to a site, especially people who are visually impaired.
Content management system:
this is a software system that allows a person with very little knowledge of web programming languages to create and manage website content.
Header tags:
these are an effective way to communicate to the search engines and readers what a page is about. They convey the importance of the text inside of the header tag. Often times, the header tags are not in the proper order.
Meta tag:
an HTML tag that is placed inside the head of the web page. These tags hold specific information relative to the Meta tag and are not displayed on the page.
Semantics:
this is the study of the meaning of words. It also refers to the meaning of a word, phrase, sentence or piece of text. In SEO terms, semantics has to do with code that describes the content it contains.
SEO:
the process of marketing a website through HTML manipulation and link generation. This targets keywords and keyword phrases so that a website appears high on the search results pages.
SMO:
this is social media optimisation. It is using social media activity and the internet methodically in order to attract new visitors to website content.
Spam:
unsolicited emails that promote products or services. This is also referred to as unethical on-page optimisation techniques in SEO.
Spiders:
these are programmes that browse the internet in a methodical, automated and orderly way. They are used by search engines to, among other things, return search results.
Sponsored links:
these are links to websites that pay for placement on the top and sides of search engine results page. The most popular of these are Google AdWords.
Viral:
this refers to viral marketing. It is also known as word-of-mouth marketing. A marketing strategy is considered viral if the idea it promotes spreads rapidly (like a virus) and reaches a large audience.
White hat SEO:
this is all SEO activities that are carried out to conform to the guidelines, rules and policies of search engines. Websites using white hat SEO are considered ethical and will not be penalised by search engines
Black hat SEO:
this is the opposite of white hat SEO. It refers to all SEO activities that do not conform to search engine guidelines. Black hat SEO is considered unethical. Websites that use black hat SEO techniques will be banned or penalised by search engines.
Grey hat SEO:
this lies between black and white SEO techniques. The website disobeys some of the search engine guidelines, but ensures limited disobedience so that it is not classified as black hat.