Local Search & SEO Glossary

The qualitative component of a customer review. Google has experimented over the years with extracting and analyzing reviews for quality of experience, and for some business types often excerpts phrases like "expensive" or "good service" and displays them prominently on that business's Google Business Profile listing. See also: review, rating, Google+ Local

Search Engine Optimization copy writing is copy writing with an understanding of correct structure that benefits SEO and a search engines understanding of the page.

A practice in which webmasters and writers focus on increasing the quality and quantity of the traffic to their website(s) by improving the presence of a business and increasing its number of customers via all non-paid forms of search, such as organic, local, universal, and mobile. This is the fundamental basis that influences how a website is designed as it will impact how attractive to search engines it will become.

A SERP feature is any result on a Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP) that is not a traditional organic result (the old "10 blue links").The 15 main Google SERP features (as of March 2023) include:Featured SnippetsPeople Also Ask (PAA)Image PackVideo CarouselLocal Map PackRich SnippetsSitelinksPopular ProductsApp InstallKnowledge PanelsKnowledge Panel ReviewPeople Also SearchRelated SearchesRelated ProductsShops

A page containing a list of websites and any of the following: paid advertisements, business listings, knowledge panels, images, videos, news, or other media that best match a keyword. See also: universal algorithm / universal results, organic algorithm / organic results, PPC (pay-per-click), local algorithm / local results

One or more automatically generated logs of all actions performed by the server, often helpful in determining what caused a problem to occur.

Also known as SSI. A way to retrieve portions of a page from another web page.

Typically used to describe specific neighborhoods, towns, or radii served by go-to-client business models. Some local business listings allow business owners to list cities served in text or to draw a radius of service with a tool.

A term frequently used to describe go-to-client businesses that travel to customers' locations to render services, such as plumbers, electricians, and carpet cleaners. See also: go-to-client, brick-and-mortar

Generic term for the set of specific local business listings within a page of organic results. Over the years, Google and other search engines have experimented with variable numbers of results within the pack, from one to ten results.

Common term denoting positive actions or affirmations made by users of a social media site. People can 'like' or 'share' data to express approval of the content. See also: Facebook, social media (SM)

See: head keywords.

General term for the organization or hierarchy of a particular website; can also refer to the programming language or content management system that the site is built in. Site architecture, especially a site's internal linking strategy, is extremely important to consider in organic SEO. See also: internal link, organic algorithm / organic results, CMS (content management system)

Up to six algorithmically-chosen links that appear below the listing for the same website of a top-ranked organic search result. Pages can be blocked from appearing as sitelinks within the Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools. Also known as: Deep Links (Bing).

A sitemap is a file that lists your site's web pages to inform Google and other search engines about your site's organization. Search engine crawlers, like Googlebot, use it to efficiently crawl your site. Sitemaps also provide metadata, such as last update times, change frequency, and page importance. They help manage duplicate content by specifying canonical pages, ensuring search engines prioritize the correct URL among similar pages. Sitemaps can also include metadata for specific content types, like videos and images.

Refers to linking and navigational structure that is employed on every page of the website, such as in the sidebar or footer.

A link that appears on every page of a website, typically in a sidebar or footer of blogs or websites that use templates.

In the United States, small-to-medium business designation is defined by the size standards found in Title 13 of the Code of Federal Regulations. In the online marketing world, SMB is loosely used to describe both small and local businesses.

Different from the Google 3-pack, the "Snack Pack" refers to the local layout that that is missing the links to the business website or driving directions; instead of seeing these (useful) buttons, you get an image.

Novermber 30, 2017 Note: After testing longer search snippets for over two years, Google increased them across a large number of results. This led us to adopt a new Meta Description limit -- up to 300 characters from the previous 155 (almost doubling). Google confirmed an update to how snippets are handled, but didn't provide details.

Media utilized for social interaction on the Internet. This can include blogs; sharing sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Google+, and review sites like Yelp and other interactive platforms. In the local business arena, social media factors are playing an increasingly important role in online visibility. See also: blog, Twitter, Facebook, Facebook Local Search

Any factors that demonstrate authority and influence on popular social networking websites. For example, the social authority of a user on Twitter. Although many correlation studies have indicated that socials signals impact rankings (e.g., number of Likes/shares a piece of content receives), Google has publicly stated that social signals are not a direct ranking factor. Popular sites that have a lot of social media engagement tend to rank well for other reasons.

Occurs when a non-existent page (a page that has been deleted/removed) displays a "page not found" message or page to anyone trying to access it but fails to return an HTTP 404 status code. In other words, the content of a web page displayed is entirely unrelated to the HTTP response returned by the server.

See: Webspam

Another term for a custom field associated with a local business listing. Often used by owners to list their business' specialties.

Can refer either to the robotic script created by a search engine to "read" webpages See also: robot, crawl, algorithm

A controlled experiment used to compare at least two webpages to measure the effects of a different variable on conversions. After the pages are shown for a long enough period of time to site visitors to gather an adequate amount of performance data, a winner can be declared. Also known as: A/B Testing.

Abbreviation for Secure Sockets Layer. This is the standard technology for establishing an encrypted pipeline between the client (browser or email client) and the server.

A digital certificate used for website identity authentication and to encrypt information sent to the server using Secure Sockets Layer technology.

The response codes sent by a server whenever a link is clicked, a webpage or file is requested, or a form is submitted. Common HTTP status codes important to SEO: 200 (OK) 404 (Not Found) 410 (Gone) 500 (Internal Service Error) 503 (Service Unavailable)

A frequently used word. For example: a, at, for, is, of, on, the. Search engines have, in the past, ignored these words to save time and resources when indexing. Search engines have evolved greatly since the early days, and stop words sometimes are meaningful, so this isn't something to worry much about for SEO purposes.

An application within Google Maps which provides 360-degree photographic imagery of an area specified by the user.

A mention of a business name and address and/or phone number on an IYP or directory website. Structured citations may or may not be coded in hCard microformat or schema, but typically appear in a pattern that is easy for search engine spiders to read. Differs from an unstructured citation, which may appear as a one-off reference on a blog or other hyperlocal website.

A traditional review left on a major local search portal or IYP, accompanied by a numerical rating. Structured reviews may or may not be coded in hReview microformat, but typically appear in a kind of pattern that is easy for search engine spiders to read. Differs from an unstructured review, which may appear as a one-off reference on a blog or other hyperlocal website.

An internet domain which is part of a primary domain. For example, in the URL https://blog.localclarity.com/, blog would be a subdomain of the primary domain localclarity.com.

A major Internet Yellow Pages website. Local business owners can create a listing at SuperPages. See also: citation, IYP (Internet Yellow Pages)

A status notation in the Google Places for Business dashboard indicating that a business owner has marked a listing as "Suspended" in an attempt to prevent its display. An account may also be suspended by Google due to violations of the Google Local Business Information Quality Guidelines or due to bugs.

Combines traditional SEO with user experience (UX) best practices to optimize not only for visibility in search results but also for post-click engagement and satisfaction. Focuses on delivering relevant, fast, and user-friendly content that meets searcher intent and drives conversions.

Refers to a system of classification and categorization of a website to maximize content findability and help users complete desired on-site tasks. It is particularly important in faceted navigation such as is normally present in an e-commerce site.

The accumulation of outdated systems and workarounds that create complexity, slow innovation, and increase maintenance costs. As systems scale, this debt can hinder agility, making new development harder and more expensive over time.

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An historic term describing a once-dominant form of Google's local results, containing seven businesses. The 10-pack is no longer active, having been largely replaced by the 3-pack, and in some cases, by paid or partially-paid packs. See also: seven-pack (7-pack), universal algorithm / universal results, local algorithm / local results, OneBox, three-pack (3-Pack)

The gradual change in the meaning or usage of terms or brand names over time, affecting SEO as content with outdated terminology may drop in search rankings, which can be mitigated by updating key phrases to reflect current language.

Unlike reviews left on third-party platforms, testimonials are typically customer sentiments published by a business on its own website. Testimonials may be marked up with hReview microformatting or schema to enhance the ease with which search engines can understand testimonial content. See also: microformat, review

1) Can be used to describe any web-based data about a business that is not published by the business itself. 2) In reference to Google's local products, "third-party" is often used to refer to data stemming from any location other than a business' website or its Google Places/Google+ Local listing.

Currently Google's dominant form of local search results, consisting of three businesses. Note that as Google increases its revenue opportunity from paid search, many formerly-free 3-packs are becoming partially or fully-paid packs of results. See also: seven-pack (7-pack), universal algorithm / universal results, local algorithm / local results, OneBox, ten-pack (10-Pack)

An inexact estimation of how long a user spent looking at a particular webpage. Pages with high exit rates can greatly skew this data.

A piece of webpage code that search engines prioritize when determining the page's relevance. It appears as the clickable link in search engine results. Including keywords, especially geographic ones, in title tags is crucial for improving organic and local rankings. Related terms include meta tags, meta description, and SERP.

The process of converting text into a series of tokens (words, subwords, or characters) that can be processed by AI models. In the context of models like GPT, tokenization is a fundamental step that precedes model training and inference, affecting how the model interprets and generates responses.

With search engines, topical relevance is mainly used in conjunction with backlinks (incoming links). Websites that carry similar content are said to have topical relevance. Backlinks from websites that are topically relevant have more impact on a website's position in search results than backlinks from sites that are not related. Search engines assume that topically relevant links are used to offer users additional information that could be helpful. With unrelated links there is a high probability that they have been paid for or included for the purpose of improving a site's position in search results.

Topical Trust Flow is a Majestic trademark. This is a Majestic feature which provides website categorization. Majestic has now categorized the web so users can see in which industry sector the website has influence. The Topical Trust Flow helps users find influencers for specific categories and easily determine if a link clear up is required. Topical Trust Flow provides a series of numbers, on a log-based scale between 0-100. The number shows the relative influence of a web page, subdomain or root domain in any given topic or category.

The highest level in the hierarchical domain name system of the Internet. For the URL https://www.localclarity.com the TLD is .com

The people (and sometimes bots) who visit your website.

Founded in 2000, TripAdvisor is a major review and citation source for restaurants and hotels on an international scale. See also: review

In the local SEO arena, Google provides a small number of troubleshooter wizards that walk users through a short survey in an attempt to identify and resolve data issues. See also: penalty

An important but hard-to-quantify ranking factor in both organic and local algorithms. Trust can be gained via the following: consistent NAP information, citations from high-authority websites

Trust Flow, a trademark of Majestic, is a score based on quality, on a scale between 0-100. Majestic collated many trusted seed sites based on a manual review of the web. This process forms the foundation of Majestic Trust Flow. Sites closely linked to a trusted seed site can see higher scores, whereas sites that may have some questionable links would see a much lower score.

A link analysis technique used to separate good reputable seed pages from web spam.

A social media network on which users share short text-based messages See also: social media (SM), Facebook, Facebook Local Search

User-generated content. Content on a web page which is created by users, rather than by the site owner or webmaster. Forums and blog comments are both forms of user-generated content.

Where a listing for your business already exists on a business directory, but you do not have control over it.

Unique Content, as it relates to search engine optimization (SEO), means content is original and not duplicated anywhere else. Unique content plays a key role in search rankings because search algorithms rate unique content highly and can penalize websites for posting duplicate content.

People (searchers) who have visited a web page once during a specific period of time.

The term for a SERP containing a non-standard search result, such as video or shopping results embedded within the more familiar "ten blue links" default results.Any kind of content relevant to a particular keyword may be returned, rather than just web/text content. In the context of local search, this usually means a 7-Pack, 3-Pack, or Authoritative Onebox.

A major paid local listing services. Distributes local business data to a large number of search engines and directories. Was Aquired by AdviceLocal in 2015

When search engines pull data from multiple speciality databases to display on the same SERP. Results can include images, videos, news, shopping, and other types of results. Also known as: Blended Search.

Any links Google identifies as suspicious, deceptive, or manipulative. An unnatural link can result in Google taking manual action on your website.

A mention of a business name and address and/or phone number on a website that is not an IYP site or other traditional directory containing standardized listings for many other businesses. Examples would be a newspaper or magazine article, hyperlocal blog, or social media profile.

A text summary of a customer experience on a website that is not a traditional directory of standardized review information alongside business listings. May not be accompanied by a numerical rating. Examples would be a newspaper or magazine article, hyperlocal blog, or social media profile. See also: review, IYP (Internet Yellow Pages), directory, hyperlocal

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the web address used to access a specific resource on the internet. It consists of a protocol (e.g., http), domain name, and path, directing browsers to the location of web pages, images, or other content. URLs are essential for navigating the web.

The values added to a URL in order to track where traffic comes from (i.e., which link someone clicked on to discover your website or webpage).

Specifically, content that users can take something valuable from. While a funny video counts as engaging content, it doesn't necessarily count as valuable content in the same way a product review might help users make better buying decisions.

Every user on the internet has its own user agent, browsers, clients, crawlers, even feed readers and media players. The user agent identifies the user to the server, which, in turn, identifies itself back to the user via its own user agent.

Any online action taken by an user, including clicking on search engine results, time spent on a web page, leaving a review, using a check-in service, asking for driving directions, and many other factors. The extent of influence user behavior has on actual search engine rankings remains a matter of speculation and debate.

The overall feeling users have during or after interacting with a brand, its online presence, and its product/services.

Any form of content, videos, blog posts, comments, reviews, etc., that is created by users or customers.

The number of unique visitors to your client's GBP listing, broken down by device and platform. This metric is focused on unique visitors, so multiple visits in a day are only counted once. Also known as the number of people who viewed your Business Profile. This metric was launched in February 2021, and has not been changed since by Google.

The speed at which a local listing or a website accumulates outside references, such as links, citations, reviews, or check-ins. Most experts believe that a consistent velocity for each criterion - rather than a flood - indicates to the search engines that a business is vibrant without trying to be manipulative.

A 2012 update to Google's algorithm that appeared to increase the number of local results being returned for generic queries, as well as altering the ratio of first page rankings given to distinct local businesses.

These can only made after a customer has made an online purchase from a business. Verified reviews offer a more reliable way for real customers to leave feedback on Google, and the option must be turned on from within the Merchant Centre area.

The process of confirming your online business listings.

A vertical search engine, also known as a specialty or topical search engine, focuses on a specific segment of online content, such as shopping, automotive, legal, medical, scholarly, job search, or travel. Unlike general search engines that index much of the web, vertical search engines use focused crawlers to index only relevant pages for predefined topics.

A novel approach to software development that relies heavily on AI tools to generate and manage code.

A bot that uses natural language processing to perform tasks, such as conducting web searches. For instance, Apple's Siri or Microsoft's Cortana.

A generic term used to encompass the overall presence a business has established on the Internet. Local businesses seek visibility via search engine rankings, social media profiles, review profiles, and other platforms.

A type of voice-activated technology that allows users to speak into a device (usually a smartphone) to ask questions or conduct an online search.

Before search engines made it much easier to find websites than when the internet was still in its infancy, web catalogs were the go-to answer for finding a website. A web catalog is a collection of linked web pages which are generally sorted by specific criteria e.g. art. This was how individuals found web pages before search engines came about, and can still be useful for getting your website some additional traffic. Web catalog entry not only gives you additional eyes on your website, but it gives you a powerful additional backlink.

A web directory is a curated online list of websites organized into categories by humans, resembling the internet's Yellow Pages. Unlike search engines, which use automated indexing, web directories offer a more selective compilation of sites. To appear in a web directory, you must submit your site or be added by the directory owner.

The old name of the free service offered by Google for users with a Google account to claim ownership of a particular website. Bing's and Yahoo's versions are called Webmaster Center and Site Explorer, respectively. Allows users to submit verified sitemaps for that domain.As of May 20, 2015, Google rebranded Google Webmaster Tools as Google Search Console. In January 2018, Google introduced a new version of the Search Console, with a refreshed user interface and improvements.

These are guidelines are published by search engines, describing behaviors and practices which the search engine considers to be acceptable. Failing to comply with those guidelines can result in a loss of rankings or punitive action.

Connects webpages to help visitors find information. It includes main navigation (major topics), secondary navigation (related topics), footer navigation (informational resources), related links (e.g., "Most Popular"), content links (within articles), and breadcrumb navigation (page trails). This structure, also known as internal linking or site architecture, facilitates user exploration.

A system of interlinked web pages and resources accessed via the internet. It uses browsers to navigate websites through URLs and hyperlinks, enabling users to view and share information globally. Created in 1989, it's a key part of how we access and interact with online content.

See citation.

Refer to the number of times users click on a link, button, or element within a website. They are a key metric for measuring user engagement, interest, and the effectiveness of online content, ads, or calls to action.

Websites and web pages are different. A website is a collection of web pages that are connected to a central unique domain name. The central domain name often called the "home page", is the first page a user sees when they type in a web address. From there, clickable links, generally single words or phrases like "About Us" take users to subpages, or web pages, that will have a unique domain name (domain.com/aboutus) and are not directly accessed when typing in a website's name.A website can also be a single page, though, if it has no subpages or links to other pages under the same domain, called single-page websites.

When a website is created, a structure is put into place which helps the end user find what they are looking for. For example, your homepage will likely have links to subpages that cover particular topics. This is especially important to search engine crawlers as they have an easier time with well-structured web pages. Ensure that your homepage is the landing page that has links to your most important subpages. Your sitemap.xml and robots.txt will help a crawler better understand your page, so don't forget to make sure those are well laid out.

Any methods that exist solely to deceive or manipulate search engine algorithms and/or users. Also known as: Black Hat SEO, Spam, Spamdexing, and Search Spam.

An error message signaling that Google lacks data about a local business or is choosing not to display it. There have been ongoing issues with this error message appearing due to technical issues on Google's part, but this message can also stem from violations of the Google Local Business Information Quality Guidelines.

Commonly believed to imply following only practices which are deemed acceptable under the published webmaster guidelines.

The contact information kept on file by a domain registrar for the official owner of a domain name. Can be made private, but public WHOIS information may be viewed by the local search engines as a particularly trusted citation. See also: domain name, citation, URL (uniform resource locator)

An element of a graphical rather than a textual user interface that prompts users to act or displays information. It is usually a stand-alone element that can be embedded in a web page as an advertisement or interactive experience.