SEO and SEM Terms: An Entrepreneur’s Guide
Sometimes when surfing the Internet you might be reading about a topic and the author tosses out a term that is unfamiliar to you. Sometimes you may be looking for a professional and you want to understand their industry. This reference guide will help you with commonly used terms in SEO and SEM.
SEO = Search Engine Optimization-Adjusting your website to maximize the opportunity of search engines locating your website and listing your site in results when a user searches for information.
Example: Google, Yahoo, etc.
SEM = Search Engine Marketing-implementing a marketing strategy based on search engine optimization that yields a higher conversion rate of your target market to customer.
SEO Specialist = Search Engine Optimization Specialist-A person knowledgeable in optimizing your website for search engines.
SEM Specialist = Search Engine Marketing Specialist-A person knowledgeable in Internet marketing who can assist you in developing and implementing a strategy to obtain more customers through search engine optimization.
White Hat Procedure=search engine optimization and search engine marketing techniques that comply with ethical standards of Internet usage.
Black Hat Procedure= search engine optimization and search engine marketing techniques that do not comply with ethical standards of Internet usage; penalties may include a search engine not listing the URL to your website in results, banning your website and/or blocking your ISP address.
URL= “Uniform Resource Locator”-the address of your website on the Internet.
Example: the URL for this blog is http://ablogforentrepreneurs.com
ISP=”Internet Service Provider”-the company that gives you access to the Internet.
Example: Comcast, Verizon, etc.
Web Directory=is different from a search engine; the websites in a directory are typically reviewed and entered by humans instead of algorithms and computers like a search engine; does not rely on keywords; websites are grouped in categories.
Example: DMOZ, Yahoo Directory, etc.
