Authority – Also called “Domain Authority”, this is a rating or metric that indicates how search engines recognize a website and whether it qualifies as a relevant and robust source of information to present in response to search queries. High-authority sites build their authority by publishing high-quality content on a consistent basis, which gains visitor traffic. Any links coming from high-authority domains will in turn raise the authority of any linked sites and content therein.

Bounce Rate – This is the frequency at which a visitor navigates away after arriving on a page. A high bounce rate indicates that more than half of all visitors leave the page by way of a “back” button within 30 seconds of initially clicking through to the page. A low bounce rate is maintained when the majority of visitors have reasons to engage with the page’s content and do not navigate away to find alternative sources of information.

Click-Through Rate – Also written as “Click-Thru Rate”, this metric is used to indicate the rate of search engine users who see a website listing on a SERP and click on that result based on its relevance to their key phrase query and desired content.

Domain – This is a website’s identifier. It works as a programming interface that defines a realm of online content. It is not the same as a website or URL. In the context of SEO, search engines use domains to identify a property and ascribe authority, which contributes to its content ranking criteria.

Dwell Time – This is the amount of time a visitor spends on a webpage. A longer dwell time indicates that a page offers value to a visitor, which contributes to search engine rankings. Dwell time can be increased by providing website visitors with reasons to engage through high-quality, relevant content.

Landing Page – This is a general term for a page of content that includes information about a targeted term and serves as a point to drive traffic as part of a broad SEO marketing strategy or specific campaign. When a landing page is created to drive conversion by persuading a visitor to take a desired action, such as completing a form or making a purchase, it is referred to as a conversion page.

Relevancy – This is how content relates to search queries and suits the expectations and needs of an internet user. The relevancy of a landing page or other type of content is determined by how well it satisfies the sensibilities and needs of the visitor and encourages them to engage, progress along the path to conversion/purchase, complete the call to action, etc. Relevancy is also supported through a thematically-driven site architecture, link-building, and other forms of strategic content development.

SERP – This is the acronym for “Search Engine Results Page”. In SEO-based marketing, the primary goal is to be ranked at the top of multiple SERPs for a range of search queries.

Thematic Relevance – This is a concept based on a category or theme-driven structure. Thematic relevance conforms with the search engine algorithm’s use of “context clues”, links, and surrounding content that directly supports and leads to the targeted content. Thematic relevance helps search engines connect specific information with a broad range of queries rather than a text-for-text keyword match. Thematic relevance is created through what is presented on the page itself, as well as how it is linked and where it is located within a website’s architecture.