When we talk and write about link development in search marketing, we aim to use link-building terminology that we believe is widely understood.
However, for beginners (including those learning about link building and clients looking for link services), this link-building guide will help clarify and explain some of the most common link-building terminology, from A to Z.
Here's an alphabetical list of link-building terms you should be familiar with.
A
Anchor Text
The text inside the anchor element and the keyword(s) you click on to proceed to a target page are referred to as anchor text.
Alt Tags/Attributes
Alt tags are used to describe images. When a person is visually impaired, screen readers use alt attributes to describe an image to them.
Attributes
In general, attributes provide additional information about a certain HTML element. For example, Alt is a link attribute for an image, as was just described.
B
Backlinks
Backlinks are links that take users from one website to another. Search engines evaluate the quality of a backlink to determine how important a page is.
Bots
Bots, sometimes known as robots, crawlers, or spiders, gather data from websites.
Brand Mentions
If your brand is mentioned in content without a link on a website or in social media, this is referred to as a brand mention.
Broken link
A link on your website that leads to an unavailable (or "dead") resource is a broken link. It can be both internal and external links.
C
Canonicals
A canonical element instructs a search engine which page should be used as the source to avoid duplicate material.
Citation Pattern
This Majestic trademark metric assesses a website's link equity.
Citations
These are references to your company's name and phone number. They are not linked and can increase a company's credibility with search engines.
Cleanup
Typically, this refers to removing potentially harmful or spammy connections, but it can also include clearing up any other site-related problems.
Click-through Rates
The CTR metric compares the number of times your website appears elsewhere with the number of individuals who click on a link leading to it.
Co-citation
The semantic analysis of the connections between multiple items.
Competitive Analysis
This refers to evaluating a website in light of its rivals. Link builders sometimes use competitive analysis to find links that other websites have but their own website does not, providing them with a list of links to pursue.
Content
Anything, such as text, films, infographics, etc., is considered content.
Content Marketing
Information marketing is the process of developing content that can spontaneously attract links once it has been shared and is frequently seen as a better way of saying that you are building links.
Conversions Rates
This is the proportion of users or visitors who reach a particular objective. This objective might be completing a contact form, downloading an ebook, making a purchase, etc.
Crawlability
The capacity of a search engine to obtain information on a page.
D
Deep Links
Links that lead to pages other than the home page are called deep links.
Deindexed
This occurs when a website is removed from a search engine's index for various reasons, most frequently for breaking the rules.
Directories
Websites that list other websites under various categories are called directories. Some are spam lists of sites with little actual use, while others may still be useful, particularly locally.
Disavow
Disavowing a link informs Google that you do not want the link to be associated with your website. Disavow lists can be sent directly to Google.
Disclaimer
Regarding link building, a disclaimer is a notification indicating that links on a page have been purchased or that the article is sponsored.
Dofollow link
The link that transfers PageRank, AKA a “followed” link.
Domain Authority
Moz developed the domain authority statistic to forecast how well a site will rank.
Domain Rating
This Ahrefs score measures the strength of a website's link profile.
Duplicate Content
Duplicate content can happen for various reasons, but it's undesirable because it sends a wrong signal to Google. Search engine bots can understand where the original page is by using canonical tags.
E
Editorial Links
An editorial link is one you receive from someone without asking for it.
Evergreen Content
Evergreen content is regarded as content that lasts long and does not become outdated quickly.
External links
Links that go to other websites from your website.
F
Followed Links
Links are always followed unless they include a rel="nofollow" attribute in the code. Search engines are instructed to "credit" links to the sites they lead to by using the term "followed" to assist the sites ranking higher.
Footer Links
These are the footer links on a website. They used to receive a lot of spam, but that is less common now.
404s
A page that cannot be found is indicated by the HTTP response code 404.
G
Google Analytics
A free website analytics tool provides you with a wealth of data about your website.
Google Search Console
Another free Google app, formerly known as Webmaster Tools. Search Console provides data about your website and may be integrated with Analytics. You may run a variety of reports to assist you in learning more about how your site is doing in the SERPs.
Google Webmaster Guidelines
Google Webmaster Guidelines can be found here but are subject to change. Your website may be penalized or deindexed for breaking its rules and guidelines.
Guest Posts
These are articles that weren't authored by someone who regularly contributes to the websites where they are posted. Google's link guidelines restrict large-scale guest articles with anchors full of keywords.
H
Hidden Links
Links coded not to appear as links are known as hidden links.
Href
This is a component of the anchor tag for links. It includes the URL in it.
Hashtags
They are widely used on social media networks to link a tweet or message to a specific item. They start with a #. Hashtags are used on Twitter social media to promote particular concepts. Hashtag searches can help link builders identify quality potential link targets.
I
Image Links
A picture like this can be used to connect to an internal or external page. Not all images have links in them.
Indexation
This describes a search engine's process to crawl and catalog a website.
Infographics
Infographics, which combine text and images into a single format, are a common type of content.
Internal Links
These point to different pages on your website. For navigation, your internal links are essential.
IP address
A machine is identified by a set of digits called an IP address.
J
Juice
The term "link juice" is still used to describe the worth of a link despite the strong dislike it has from many people.
K
Keywords
These words and phrases serve as a page's subject, an image's content, or the appropriate terms for a link's anchor text.
L
Landing Pages
When a user initially visits your website from any source, they land on these pages.
Link Exchange
A link exchange occurs when site A links to site B in exchange for B linking back to A. Link exchanges were once a standard method of link building.
Linking Domains
This is how many different websites have links to a particular website. Compared to the total number of links, it is different.
Link Reclamation
Adding links to your website from broken or unlinked mentions is a practice known as link reclamation.
Link Schemes
Google provides you with a list of violations, including various actions they consider link schemes.
Links Pages
These pages serve as resource guides by presenting several links.
M
Manual Penalty
Google will let you know through Search Console if a manual penalty is applied. A manual penalty is distinct from an algorithmic problem (formally referred to as a manual action by Google). If you receive a manual penalty, you have the opportunity to correct the issues and request a reconsideration from Google.
Mobile-First Indexing
This is how Google now indexes websites. They start by crawling and indexing the mobile version. If you do not have a mobile version, then your desktop version will be indexed.
N
Nofollowed Links
A search engine is instructed not to count a link toward the site it points to by adding the rel=nofollow element.
Noise Anchors
They include phrases like "click here," "website," etc.
O
Off-Page
Since it doesn't involve interacting with the website directly, link building is considered an off-page SEO strategy.
On-page
Anything done on the site to elevate its position in the SERPs is considered on-page SEO.
Open Rates
This represents the proportion of email recipients who open the message.
Outreach
Reaching out to websites you want to link to yours via phone, email, or social media is known as outreach.
P
Page Authority
Moz developed a metric called Page Authority to forecast how well a page will rank.
Page Not Found
Often known as a 404 error, it refers to a page that used to be there but is now missing.
PageRank
Google uses PageRank to determine how important a website is. This measure is no longer available to the general public. It used to be possible for anyone to see the toolbar PageRank.
Paid Links
A paid link went live in exchange for money, which is against Google's rules.
Position Tracking
The practice of analyzing your search ranking/position over time for different keywords.
PBNs
Networks of websites make up private blog networks (PBNs).
Q
Query
A query is a request for information sent to a search engine.
R
Rankings
This refers to your position for each query in the SERPs.
Reconsideration Request
Once the issue has been resolved, you should submit a reconsideration request to Google if you have been the target of a manual action or have been impacted by security issues.
Redirects
Redirects send a site or page elsewhere.
Referring Domains
Due to many connections coming from the same site, you may have 15000 links in your link profile but only 5000 referring domains.
Rel
Rel is an attribute that can only be found in a link's code.
Resource Pages
Pages that are primarily resource and link lists.
Robots.txt
This text file contains directives for search engines. It's frequently used to prevent crawlers from accessing certain parts of the website.
S
Search Operators
Words and symbols called search operators help narrow down a search.
SERPs
The list of websites returned by a search query is called the SERPs, or search engine results pages.
Sitemaps
A sitemap explains to a search engine how to access all of the pages you want it to crawl.
Sitewide Links
These are hyperlinks that appear on every page of a website, often in the blogroll or footer.
Source Code
A page's visible source code can be viewed in a browser. Not every code may be viewed in this manner.
Spam
Spam is a shorthand for anything unwanted or unsolicited that appears online and is sometimes referred to as "sites positioned above mine."
Spiders
crawlers of search engines.
Sponsored Posts
A post is considered sponsored if money is given in exchange for its publication.
T
Targets
The page you wish a link to take a user to is known as a target.
Templates
For outreach, many link outreach experts employ templates (that can be customised). Simply put, a template is an outline for something that is often used.
Toxic Links
These links are ones that could potentially hurt your website.
Traffic
It refers to how many people visit a page or website.
Trust Flow
This Majestic trademark metric assesses how well a website is categorized.
U
Unlinked Mentions
There is no connection to your website, yet your brand is mentioned in the site's text.
Unnatural Links
Links that are sponsored, spammy, or a part of a link exchange programme.
URLs
A website address is a URL.
URL Rating
The URL rating, another Ahrefs indicator, assesses the quality of a target's backlink profile.
V
Velocity
the rate of network expansion
W
Wayback Machine
You can browse the archived pages of a website from various dates using the Wayback Machine.
Widgets
Widgets are little pieces of code that are embedded on a page and are typically used to link to another page.
X
XML sitemap
Search engines utilize this to learn about all of your pages and where to find them. A markup language is XML.
Y
Yandex
A Russian search engine is called Yandex.
Z
There are no major link building phrases that start with the letter Z
This comprehensive link-building terminology glossary, will help you to level up as a beginner and guide you through several commonly used link-building terminology.
