Write the best return policy for your eCommerce business

No matter how successful or large your eCommerce brand is, you’ll have to deal with returns. It’s inevitable. Many different reasons account for customers returning products they buy online. They may receive an item that’s been damaged during shipping, or one that’s defective. They may get a piece of clothing that’s the wrong size or color, or they may simply change their mind about the purchase. Whatever the reason, once you’ve received a return, there isn’t a lot that you can do besides providing your customer with a refund or replacement. 

Here’s some good news though: Even though returns will never be completely eliminated, they can be reduced. One way to do this is to offer a clear, concise, and easily understood return policy. But first, let’s take a look at just how rampant returns are. 

eCommerce returns by the numbers

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), the total amount of online sales returns for 2020 was about $102 billion, which is double the amount that was returned in 2019. In the same report, the NRF found that for each $1 billion in sales, retailers have about $106 million in returns on average. That’s almost 11% of sales that are returned. 

As you may have guessed, clothing (including shoes and accessories) is the category that has the most returns, followed by electronics, furniture, home décor and garden, and food items. If you sell apparel, you can expect a return rate of as much as 30%. 

Here are some best practices that small business owners can use to write a good return policy:

1. Be clear

Handling returns starts with your return policy. There isn’t a set policy that is right for every eCommerce seller, so you have to make your policy unique to your business. For example, if you sell expensive electronics, you probably don’t want to have a “no questions asked” policy. However, that may be a perfect strategy for a clothing retailer who wants to stay competitive. 

While your store’s return policy should fit your business, there are some best practices that all return policies should follow, including: 

• Visibility – Your return policy should be easy to find on your store’s website. At the minimum, there should be links to it on your checkout page, FAQ page, and in your website footer. 
• Clarity – It’s critical that you don’t leave any room for interpretation in your return policy. It should include the following: 
• How long the customer has to make a return
• Clear instructions for what items can or cannot be returned
• How customers will be refunded (credit to their payment method, exchange, store credit, etc.)
• Who is responsible for return shipping costs 
• How long the process will take 

Keep in mind that every return policy is an opportunity for branding, as well as for customer retention. Make sure that your return policy reflects your brand.

2. Offer customers a choice of return type

When a customer places a return request, offer them a few different options. Perhaps they would prefer to exchange their product for another one of a different size, color, or other attributes. Maybe they would like to have a store credit or gift card to use at a later time. Or they may simply want a full refund. Offering choices of return type to your customers is good customer service and it may also help with customer retention. These choices can be written down on your return policy or you can simply choose the best one to offer to the customer.

3. Require a return request form

There are many possible reasons for returns, so be sure to ask on the return request form. You have to know why products are being returned to understand how to reduce your return rate. For example, if a product is returned by multiple customers, it may be due to a manufacturing defect, in which case you may need to switch suppliers. If you’re constantly performing exchanges on a certain t-shirt, it may be because its sizing isn’t accurate, but with a simple note in the description about its true fit, you can eliminate some of the returns. 

4. Indicate shipping schedule– and make it fast

It’s important to make sure that your order fulfillment and shipping process is quick. You don’t want to make customers wait too long for their orders. Delays in shipping can result in customers canceling orders and finding another merchant to buy from. 

So, speed your delivery process and allow your customers to track their order from the time it enters fulfillment until it’s delivered to their door. 

5. Keep customers in the loop about their returns

Just like it’s a good idea to let customers know the status of their orders, you should also keep them in the loop about returns. During the return process, customers should be able to track the product as it’s headed back to your warehouse and be notified when it arrives to confirm you’ve received it. They also need to know an ETA on when they should receive a refund or replacement. Email updates are good, but if you can use Facebook Messenger or SMS, they will likely get the updates even faster. 

Remember, brand perception is the name of the game for online businesses. You don’t want any negative customer feedback to sully your reputation with other potential customers. 

Tracking to mitigate returns

You have to track the right metrics to understand your return rates and whether your efforts to lower them are working. Look for an eCommerce solution that allows you to keep track of returns metrics like: 

• Return rate for each product
• Return rate for each product category or line
• Return rate for products overall
• Return rates for specific time periods important to your business (holidays, seasonal, etc.) 
• Return rates by geographical market
• Customer satisfaction score after return interactions

With nearly 11% of all eCommerce purchases being sent back to retailers, returns are not something you can afford to ignore. Do all that you can to lower your returns by using the best practices on writing a return policy listed above, but keep in mind that some returns are unavoidable. When it happens, find out why and track responses so you know where you can make further changes to lower your return rate.

In the bustling world of eCommerce, having a well-crafted return policy isn't just an option; it's a piece of your business that can significantly impact your success. As small business owners running eCommerce shops, you understand the value of customer trust and satisfaction. A clear and customer-friendly return policy plays a pivotal role in building that trust. It reassures your potential buyers that if they're not entirely satisfied with their purchase, they have a safety net.

This sense of security encourages hesitant customers to take the leap and make a purchase, knowing they won't be stuck with an item that doesn't meet their expectations. A transparent return policy showcases your commitment to exceptional customer service, reinforcing the positive perception of your brand. It's not just about handling returns; it's about cultivating lasting customer relationships and establishing your eCommerce shop as a reliable and customer-centric destination. So, whether it's easing purchase anxieties or fostering loyalty, having an eCommerce return policy is a business-savvy move that every small business owner in the eCommerce arena should embrace.

Your domain name is taken, now what?

So you’ve come up with a great domain name...only to find out that it’s already taken. Don’t stress! There are many great domain names out there, and plenty of ways to find another one that will work for you
or to potentially claim the one you want. Here are some helpful hints for what to do next:

Make a small change

If the exact domain name you want isn’t available, a very similar name may still be. Sometimes making a simple change will result in a name that’s available. Remember: the key word is simple.

Use a new domain ending

One way to keep the domain name you want may be to simply change the ending. The most common domain ending or TLD (top-level domain) is .com, but there are now a variety of TLDs, ranging from .academy to .coffee to .photography. A TLD that’s relevant for you may even help explain and describe what you do. Get the full scoop on less traditional TLDs and whether one is right for you in our post about how to choose between traditional and new domain endings.

Make a tweak

Are there any easy additions or subtractions you can make that will change your name slightly? If you’ve already established a brand or business name, you can try different ways of building on the name.

Don’t complicate things

The key to a good domain name is simplicity, so be careful not to complicate your name in an attempt to find one that’s available. For example, avoid things like hyphens, numbers or funny spellings—they’re hard to type and remember, and can lower the perceived credibility of your website. It’s better to go with a simpler second choice for a domain name than to over complicate your domain in an attempt to get closer to your original pick.

Stick with your first choice

Stuck on your favorite name? These may be your only options for landing it. It might not be possible, but it’s worth a shot.

Try to buy it

You can always offer to purchase the name you want from the current owner. If the Whois information is public, you can reach out to the domain owner directly and see if they’re interested in selling. If the info is private, you can see if they have contact information listed on their website. Keep in mind: it’s pretty unlikely that the owner will want to sell, or they may demand a steep price.

Legal action

If you own the trademark to the name used in the domain, you may have an option to take legal action to claim the domain name. This generally applies only if someone is offering similar goods or services as you, and if they began using the name after you. The first thing to do if you believe your trademark is being infringed upon is to discuss the issue with your lawyer or legal team.

Start fresh

The easiest and best option might be to come up with a new name. Here are some good reasons why:

Red flag

If the name you want is already taken, it means that there’s already another entity using that name. Trying for a similar domain name might create an originality issue or customer confusion, as well as potential legal issues. Do some research to find out if the name you want is already a brand name or trademark. Your domain name should be unique to you, as well as free of any potential infringements.

Forget perfection

An important thing to remember is that there’s really no such thing as the perfect domain name. You can waste a lot of time trying to work with your original idea when a perfectly great domain name is out there right now. Why not go back to the drawing board and come up with something new, fresh, and memorable?

For help brainstorming a new name, check out some tips in our post about domain name basics.

With these strategies, it’s time to start planning your next move. Our last bit of advice: it’s wise to come up with a few backup names in case your top choice isn’t available.

Ready to take another stab at finding a great domain name? Start searching now at Domains Buy Design.

What Are New Domain Extensions

When you choose a domain name, the focus tends to land on the middle part after www. Not much thought goes into the domain name suffix at the end of the web address (URL). But that overlooks the extensive world of new top-level domains. 

A top-level domain (TLD), or a domain extension, is the last part of a URL. It’s the .com in ipage.com. Common top-level domains include .com, .net., .edu., and .org. 

Over the last few years, new domain extensions were introduced, widening the scope of options to include various endings like .me, .store., and .yoga. 

These custom domain extensions provide new options and have advantages and disadvantages, including lack of memorability but a chance for branding. It’s worth learning about new domain extensions when you set up your business website and choose a domain name. 

Read on to learn more about: 

• The categories of top-level domains 
• What the most popular top-level domains are 
• What new domain extensions are 
• The advantages and disadvantages of choosing a custom domain extension 
• The Different Types of Top-Level Domains

There are multiple types of domain name extensions: 

• Generic TLDs (gTLDs) are the most commonly used, including .com and .biz. New gTLDs include options like .store and .casino.
• Sponsored TLDs (sTLDs) are for certain organizations including governments at .gov and educational institutions at .edu. 
• Country code TLDs (ccTLDs) are for specific countries, including .cn for China and .uk for the United Kingdom. 

The world of domain endings can seem strange and confusing. But by learning domain extension meanings, you can better understand the websites you visit and how to improve your own domain name management.

Many people just want to use .com for their website and call it a day. But if you do extensive work in another country or are trying to gain credibility for your new educational organization, it’s essential to consider the best domain to choose. 

Most Popular Domain Extensions

• .com (Short for commercial)
• .net (Short for network)
• .org (Short for organization)
• .co (Short for Colombia, but often used for company)
• .us (Short for United States)

The list of commonly used TLDs is not surprising. But as more websites get registered every day, your company will likely have to choose a new domain extension for your website. 

What New Top-Level Domains Are

New TLDs, or custom TLDs, are the new options available for domain extensions. Examples include: 

• .clothing
• .blog
• .tech
• .store
• .online

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) manages the domain name system, which connects domain names to IP addresses. Until a few years ago, there were only 22 generic top-level domains. In 2013, ICANN started releasing new TLDs. 

There are currently more than 1,200 custom domain extensions available. Some are general keywords, and others are for brands like .Toshiba and .Macys.

The list continues to grow, but at a slower pace than the first few years, with .cpa and .gay being the only new additions in 2019. 

Though these domain suffixes have been around for a few years, they’re still relatively uncommon. Let’s look at what you should consider before using a custom TLD. 

Disadvantages of Using Custom Domain Extensions

The biggest concern with using a new domain extension is that you’re going against the norm. People are used to .com and .org. So .food or .radio might be confusing for users. 

There’s also the issue that new domain extensions aren’t as easy to remember. A GrowthBadger study found the most memorable TLD is a .com domain name at 44% correct recollection. And .com was the most-guessed option when an extension was forgotten. 

Another concern is trustworthiness. Will people trust a domain extension they don’t recognize? 

GrowthBadger also found .com was ranked as the most trusted domain extension. But at number six was .blog, which proves new domain extensions have the potential to be as trusted as the main extensions. 

While these disadvantages may be deal-breakers for selecting your domain name, custom TLDs will become more common as the internet evolves. That gain in popularity will also make custom TLDs more recognizable. 

Advantages of Using Custom Domain Extensions

One of the main reasons to consider a new domain extension is if your first extension choice is taken. Custom TLDs have more options and availability. 

Because there’s a long list of choices, you can choose a new domain extension to give your business a unique domain name. It can even be a conversation starter like Driftaway.Coffee’s blog post explaining their domain choice. 

A descriptive domain extension can also help with your business. You can choose a custom TLD like .dentist or .attorney to help your business with branding. A customer will understand your service just by seeing your URL.

Choosing a custom extension can also navigate people to other parts of your website. For example, Emirates.store is Emirates’s official store page. 

Domain names can affect search engine optimization (SEO), and domain extensions also play a role in SEO. While Google has said that it doesn’t rank new TLDs any higher, there are still some advantages to using a custom TLD. 

A custom TLD can add keywords to your URL, which SEO agency Globe Runner found helpful to rank in relevant search and improve conversion rates. A custom domain name can also create a long-tailed keyword, which can help SEO.

Final Thoughts: What Are New Domain Extensions and Why You Might Want One

While ICANN released custom domain extensions almost a decade ago, they’re still gaining momentum on the internet. New domain extensions provide options outside of the commonly used domain suffixes. 

New TLDs might be less recognizable and memorable, but they can make your URL more informational and contribute to SEO.

When you choose a domain suffix, consider a custom domain extension. 

Are you ready to set up your new domain name with a custom TLD? Take a look at Domains Buy Design Wordpress hosting packages or Website Builder packages today. 

SEO GLOSSARY

 

301 Redirect

A forward to a new URL from an old URL with a transfer of all search authority permanently. Current inbound links and traffic will be redirected over to the new URL. 301’s are used for permanent URL redirection when the intent of the webmaster to replace the page with a different one for good.

302 Redirect

forward to a new URL from an old URL for temporary purposes. They differ from a 301 as they are used as temporary redirects. They are typically used for A/B testing and maintaining good user experience during downtime of webpages.

404 Error

Also called a 404 Not Found, Page Not Found, or Server Not Found error. It means a browser is not able to communicate with a server, or the server cannot deliver a request. 404 Errors will show if a server cannot disclose information, or when a user clicks on a broken or dead link.

A

Above the Fold

Referring to newspaper publishing, above the fold refers to content that shows at the top half or front page of a website. Like headlines in newspapers, the top section of a website should grab attention. And appearance on a desktop, tablet, or mobile device should be taken into account.

AdWords (Google Ads)

Currently known as Google Ads, it’s the system where advertisers bid on keywords for their ads to show up in Google Search results above organic results. These ads can be service offerings, products, videos, or brief copy.

Algorithm update (Google algorithm update)

Every year Google and other search engines make hundreds of updates to their algorithms for serving up search results. These updates can range from small tweaks to Natural Language Processing to large hits to current SEO strategies. When these algorithm updates are big enough they are named (i.e. Penguin, Panda, or Hummingbird).

Alt text (alt attributes, alt descriptions, alt tags)

Descriptions of photos that are rendered when the element cannot be rendered. The purpose of alt text is not necessarily to describe the contents of the image literally but to give context and guide purpose to the overall page. The alt text is used as an alternative for the image that wasn’t rendered.

AMP

An abbreviation for Accelerated Mobile Pages, it’s an online publishing format created by Google. This language is similar to HTML but optimizing a site for mobile web browsing.

Anchor Text (link text)

Text that is used as an “anchor” for an HTML hyperlink. Search engines view anchor text with more regard as typically they are used to describe what is contained within the hyperlink but that does not have to be the case. Strategies regarding anchor text have changed in the past as search engines evolve and learn how to weigh the importance of content.

B

Backlink (Inbound link, Incoming link)

Backlinks are hyperlinks that direct a user from one website to another. Search engines view these connections as integral to their ranking algorithms. Depending on the frequency, quality and timeliness of links they can have a wide range of effects on the authority of your site. If your site has backlinks on another site then you would consider those “inbound links” as they are driving traffic back to your site from another.

Bounce rate

A valuable term in website analytics. A “bounce” is when someone navigates away from your site without interacting with it further. Bounce rate refers to the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page.

Branded Keywords

Keywords that include a company’s name or are related to a brand’s identity. In our case, any keyword that includes “Boostability” is a branded keyword regardless of the other words around it. These are keywords customers use when looking for specific information about a business or brand.

Browser

A software application that allows users to access the internet by interpreting HTML files and display a graphical user interface in the format intended by the website owner. Popular browsers include Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Internet Explorer.

Business Directory

A listing of local businesses in different categories. Directories can often be found online but they may be printed as well. Consumers use business directories to find businesses to meet their needs. Many of these directories include paid services or premium options to help businesses be seen on their site more prominently.

C

Canonical URL (Canonical tag)

HTML link tags that demonstrate to search engines that different URLs host the same information and that only one should be considered for indexation. Webmasters use canonical URLs to avoid issues with duplicate information. This tactic is similar to the 301 Redirect without actually redirecting traffic. Instead it identifies the canonical link as the one with the most authority so the duplicate pages are viewed as part of the link.

Comments

Opinion content generated by users to comment on the subject matter of a certain page. Comments can be used on blogs or other sites to allow readers to interact with the content by posting a comment.

There are two types of comment sections, gated and non-gated. Non-gated comments are open to everyone on the internet. Gated sections require users to identify themselves in some way to the site as a way of monitoring what is being commented.

Content

Information developed by a company to inform their consumers of products, services or answers. Content can include videos, blog posts, articles, social media posts, etc. Content is how you communicate with your consumer.

Conversion

An important indicator in website and business performance. A conversion occurs when a visitor to a website performs a desired action like completing a purchase or filling out a form. What a conversion looks like will differ from website to website depending on what the site’s goals are.

Conversion rate

The percentage of unique visitors who complete the desired action on a website and turn into customers. In most cases the higher the conversion rate, the more successful your website is.

Conversion rate optimization (CRO)

The act of optimizing lead funnels and interactions to achieve a better conversion rate. This can include changing assets, media or altering content on your website. Many marketers will use A/B testing to see if A method converts better than B method for CRO.

Cookies (Internet cookie, web cookie, browser cookie)

A small packet of data that is sent from a website and stored browserside. They are typically used to remember information regarding e-commerce or record browsing activity. There are many different types of cookies that serve different purposes but the modern web uses authentication cookies to know whether or not to serve up sensitive information.

Cornerstone content

The most important pages and pieces of content on a website. These are pieces of content that other pages on your site link to in order to direct users to your best content. This internal linking structure can also guide web crawlers to know what you consider your best content. Cornerstone pieces are detailed, typically longer, and teach what a user needs to know about a subject. Normally, cornerstone pieces aren’t meant to sell content or push products, but to inform. Cornerstone content also includes the most competitive keywords that a site wants to rank for.

Crawl

The act of scraping and indexing content from the internet for the purpose of serving search results to a search engine and browser. There are many types of crawls but one of the most common is a website crawl. This type will start at the homepage and grab links from there to search through a whole site. Each link followed from that point is another level in depth.

Each website has what is called a “crawl budget” that is determined by the bot. A crawl budget is the maximum number of pages that the crawler will visit on a website. This typically is only an issue for larger sites but can affect the indexation of pages further down the crawl.

Crawler (Bot, Spider, Web crawler, Googlebot)

A software application that fetches, analyzes and files information from web servers. A web crawler systematically browses the internet for the purpose of indexation. Because of the enormous size of the internet even the biggest and most complex crawler falls short of a fully complete index. A robots.txt file can request that crawlers only visit specific parts of a website or nothing at all.

D

De-indexed

The act of a website being removed from the search results page. Typically being de-indexed comes from a violation or manipulation to the rules setup by search engines like Google. These infractions are in the form of spammy content, toxic linking or keyword stuffing as well as others.

De-indexed is used synonymously with a Google Manual Penalty but is not always the case. It could be a human error that you had made on the back-end of your site that is causing the de-indexation. Depending on what was the cause of deindexation you will need to take appropriate action to have it reversed.

Direct traffic

Direct Traffic is attributed to the portion of traffic on your site when Google Analytics cannot determine the source or channel. Typically this happens when users come to your site through entering your URL into their browser directly or using a bookmark. Although it should be said that this is not the full answer. Traffic can also be Direct if incomplete UTMs have been placed on links or shared social media links from apps that don’t transfer referral information.

Do-follow link

The default value that is assigned to the rel attribute of an HTML anchor element to instruct search engines that this link should pass along authority. As opposed to a nofollow attribute that tells search engines not to pass along authority.

Dwell time (Time Spent on Page)

The amount of time a user spends on a website. The duration starts when the user lands on the site and ends when they leave. Google has used dwell time as an indicator for page rank as this metric can be an indicator of satisfied user intent.

E

Ethical SEO

See White Hat SEO

Expertise-Authority-Trust (E-A-T)

E-A-T is a term that Google uses for the Quality Rater’s Guidelines for judging how much clout the website and author has. The correlation between website and author and how much expertise, authority and trust they have is used to determine if they provide quality content or not. There are many different strategies for improving your website’s E-A-T score that you can check out here.

External Link (Outbound Link)

Links that point towards any domain other than the one they are on. They lead to an external source domain

F

Featured snippet (Rich answer, Direct answer)

Special boxes found in the SERPs that provide results in a format that is dissimilar to the normal lists of links. If your domain ranks for a Featured Snippet for a search term then it will NOT HAVE AN ORGANIC LISTING on the same results page. Because of this there are many different strategies that go into whether trying to land a snippet is ideal or not.

Not every search query has a featured snippet in the SERP but they are typically included on question queries. They are different from Knowledge Cards from Google’s Knowledge Graph that are used to enhance the results page.

Fresh Content

Typically understood as “timely” content regarding breaking news stories but can also mean the frequency at which a site posts content to add new pages or even how often they update content. The concept of fresh content can be extremely powerful for SEO rankings if implemented correctly.

The term “evergreen” content is sometimes mixed in with fresh content but is different in ideation and execution. Evergreen content is content that is meant to stand the test of time while fresh content is the idea that you hit the topic while the iron is hot and move on.

G

Google (Google Search, Google Web search)

A technology company that was started by Larry Page and Sergey Brin that has a wide variety of products and services. The initial product was the Google Search Engine that was created with the idea of PageRank as opposed to frequency of search terms and has evolved into what we now know today.

Google Search is always evolving and has many algorithm updates that change what results are being shown and how to rank for those results. The industry that seeks to optimize for and understand those changes and how they relate to businesses is called Search Engine Optimization or SEO.

Google Ads (see AdWords)

Paid advertisements which appear in SERPs with the Search Network or appear on websites through the Display Network and Google’s AdSense program.

AdWords are focused around keywords where advertisers will make a list of target keywords that are pertinent to their business’ offerings. After the list is determined they bid on these keywords and depending on how much they are willing to pay as well as their Quality Score determines which ads appear.

Google Analytics

Launched in 2005, Google Analytics is a service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. This website activity is displayed as different metrics like session duration, bounce rate, events, ect. You can modify Analytics to track conversions as well as assess traffic trends to help optimize your site for better user experience.

Google Keyword Planner

A free tool paired with Google Ads to help select which keywords to target and how to be competitive in bids for those keywords in the Google Search Network.

This tool is also used for more robust keyword research for campaigns and also for historical statistics. You can see the competitiveness of specific keywords and terms as well as how many times per month any term is searched in Google’s search engine.

Google My Business (Google Business Listing)

A free tool for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence on Google’s Search and Maps. You can verify your business location, post updates, respond to reviews and tell your story from this platform. Google My Business is intrinsically tied to local SEO in that it helps Google recognize your business as an entity located in a specific location.

Google penalty (Manual Action Penalty)

When a Google reviewer has looked at your site and deemed that it is violation of the Quality Rater Guidelines you can receive a Manual Penalty. These penalties are not to be confused with algorithmic devaluation that can come from changes to Google’s core algorithm.

You can check to see if your site has a Manual Penalty in the Google Search Console under the Security & Manual Actions tab. Reversing a penalty can be a complicated fix but if you have completed all the allotted changes Google requests of you then you can submit your site for a re-evaluation with a reconsideration request.

Google Quality Rater Guidelines (QRG)

The Quality Rater Guidelines are a set of guidelines given to a group of people that Google contracts to check sites manually to better train their algorithm’s results. The Rater Guidelines are located right here and can be viewed publicly. You can read through them and see exactly what Google is looking for and extrapolate what they view as quality content.

Google Search Console (previously Google Webmaster Tools, GSC)

A web service provided by Google that allows webmasters to check indexing status as well as test for mobile effectiveness. This product is constantly being updated with new features and reports to help webmasters understand how Google visits their site. Some of the most prominent features are the implementation of sitemaps and robots.txt files on GSC.

Google Tag Manager

A free tool that allows you to manage and deploy marketing tags, triggers and variables on your website without modifying the underlying code. This is especially valuable to marketers as they can implement pixels and code without fear of harming their site. Third-party tags can all be managed with Google Tag Manager and campaign tracking can give amazing insights on performance.

Google Webmaster Guidelines

Guidelines that have been published for the benefit of webmasters so they know what Google considers “good” and “bad” practices. For example, they have a few basic principles like:

Make pages primarily for users, not for search engines.

Don’t deceive your users.

Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. A good rule of thumb is whether you’d feel comfortable explaining what you’ve done to a website that competes with you, or to a Google employee. Another useful test is to ask, “Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn’t exist?”

Think about what makes your website unique, valuable, or engaging. Make your website stand out from others in your field.

Google also lets us know what we should be avoiding. Things like link schemes or little to no original content on your site. They have also denounced hidden text and abusing structured data markup. The Google Webmaster Guidelines are very similar to the Quality Rater Guidelines but they are written for webmasters as opposed to raters.

GoogleBot

The web crawler software that Google uses to collect documents and build a searchable index. GoogleBot is characterized by two different types of web crawlers: a desktop crawler and a mobile crawler. You can use your robots.txt file to give specific instructions to the GoogleBot or other web crawlers on how to crawl your site.

As of July 1, 2019 Google announced that all new websites crawled by GoogleBot will be on a mobile-first index standard. This means that when a site is crawled that the mobile version of the site will be served to their index. Making your site “mobile friendly” is now more important than ever to avoid indexation issues.

Guest posting (Guest blogging)

The act of writing content for another business or website where you are featured as a guest author in order to attract traffic and boost authority with inbound links. The nature of guest posting has changed many times in the past. Prior to Matt Cutts 2014 denunciation of the practice it was commonplace to share content and links without regard to quality but now only the best content and an organic relationship should be considered.

As with many SEO tasks, guest posting can be done in a “Black Hat” or unethical manner but if done correctly can be a great tool for digital marketing. Avoid spam bloggers and do not allow low-quality content to be shared on your site. Remember Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines when considering content from an unknown guest blogger and keep your site’s users in mind.

H

Homepage (Main page)

An introductory page of a website that typically serves as a “table of contents” for the overall site. They often are used to help a user navigate throughout the website or present headlines to entice potential customers.

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)

A basic markup language for tagging text documents designed to display in a web browser. HTML uses tags that are character-based data types, character references and entity references. Tagging is done to modify font, color, graphic and hyperlink effects. Tags normally come in pairs like <h1> and </h1>.

HTML can help describe the structure of a web page and help interpret the content by emphasizing as well as improving accessibility of web documents

HTML Headings

The most common HTML headings or “tags” come in pairs like <h1> and </h1>, <h2> and </h2>, <h3> and </h3>. They help delineate importance from 1-6 with 1 being the most important tag on the page.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

A protocol application for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. It functions as a request–response protocol in the client–server computing model and is the foundation of data communication for the Internet.

HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure)

An extension of HTTP, HTTPS is used for secure communication over a computer network. With this type of connection the protocol is encrypted. The request URL, query parameters, headers, and cookies are all encrypted to provide a more private and secure connection.

Hyperlink (Link)

A clickable reference to another source of data. The data source is typically another webpage. Hyperlinks are most commonly set to text called Hypertext but can also be an icon, graphic or a picture. Hyperlinks were integral to the formation of the World Wide Web in that they connect websites together.

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Impression

A measurement of how many users see an ad or other type of digital media. This measurement is not action-based and simply refers to how many times the media was seen. Impressions are generally used for campaigns aimed at increasing brand awareness.

Inbound Link

A link coming from another website to your site. Inbound links serve to direct users from one site to your site to learn more and serve user intent based on the anchor text they incorporate. Authoritative inbound links are an important aspect of good SEO.

Index

Where search engines store the information they have gathered and processed from across the internet. It serves as a database of all the content that meets their quality standards. Search engines pull results from their index whenever a user performs a search so websites must be indexable (visible to search engines) to be found by users.

Global search engines, like Google, maintain indexes for each separate market. Different countries can access results from national indexes that specialize results for the search behavior of that country. Likewise, local indexes focus on results catered to a specific region or city. Common queries like “near me” and those that contain geographical names will return results from local indexes.

Indexability

How accessible and transparent a web page is for search engine web crawlers. The easier a site is for crawlers to download and catalog, the more indexable the site is. Indexability is a key factor in determining web positioning, or how visible a site is on the web.

Internal link

A link on a site that links to another page on the same website. Internal linking allows your web pages to share their link authority and is the first signal to search engines that your pages are important. Your most important pages (i.e. product pages, your homepage, etc.) should be linked to the most.

International SEO

The idea of geotargeting your SEO to be either friendly with many countries or targeting a specific country with your SEO strategy. This can be done with the use of language tags and performing SEO with language based keywords or location based keywords. International SEO is similar to local SEO in strategy and practice in that you tailor your content for a specific location. You may also need to consider different search engines with your international strategies like Yandex in Russia or Baidu for Chinese search results.

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Keyword

A word or concept of great significance. In SEO, keywords are used to help describe the content of specific pages best. Search engines use keywords to help with data retrieval as they help you find sources that are associated with your keyword or keyword phrase. These search engines are always evolving to better serve user intent and are constantly being tweaked

Keyword competition (Keyword difficulty, Keyword SEO difficulty)

How difficult it is to rank for a specific keyword or keyword phrase. The higher the competition, the higher the difficulty of ranking. Search frequency, domain age, site structure and overall quality of content can help mitigate some of the issues that arise with high keyword difficulty. There are also many tools that help with keyword research and help determine the keyword difficulty.

Common phrases can be extremely competitive and not worth small businesses time to try to rank for. That’s why doing proper keyword research and competitive analysis is integral to a quality SEO campaign.

Keyword Research

The practice that SEO professionals use to determine the right keyword to target for a particular business so as to appear higher in the search results. These practices can vary widely depending on the website’s niche and campaign intent but are all similar in nature. Typically a researcher will use tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner, SEMrush’s Keyword Magic Tool, Ahref’s or Moz’s Keyword Explorer to select keywords that are attainable for the website.

Knowledge graph

A knowledge base or index that Google uses to enhance SERPs with information gathered from various sources. Typically seen as an Infobox on the side of a SERP, a Knowledge Card was incorporated into Google’s search structure in 2012. The implementation of this information was done to provide a more useful and relevant experience to searchers.

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Landing page

A web page that appears in response to clicking on a link in the SERPs or marketing advertisement.

Link building (Link acquisition, Linkbuilding)

As part of SEO, link building is the act of increasing the number and quality of inbound links to a webpage. This is done to increase search engine rankings and traffic. There are many types of links a website can acquire of various levels of authority and trust as well as methods for gaining these links. Link building can build brand awareness but, if done poorly, can result in a penalty from Google. When link building, always remember to add value to end users and abide by Google’s terms of service for best results.

Link equity (Link authority, Backlink authority, Link juice, Link value, Quality Link)

A term used to describe how much authority a link is able to pass to another site or webpage. Link equity is closely tied to Google’s old PageRank in that it views a backlink profile as a way to determine search engine rankings. Some of the key indicators of good link equity are relevancy, indexation and overall quality of the sites involved in the link exchange.

Link profile (Backlink profile)

The entirety of inbound links pointing towards your site constitutes it’s link profile. Having a good backlink profile means having multiple relevant and authoritative links linking to your site. These links can come from a wide variety of locations like other domains, directories, comments or social media shares. They can also be either no- or dofollow for a natural, healthy mix that search engines like to see.

Local Business

A company that provides goods or services to a local population is considered a local business. Often identified as a “brick and mortar” location. Local businesses have different online strategies for getting foot traffic in their area than you would see for a national business without a location near a consumer. A local business can be a locally owned business or a corporate business with multiple locations operating in a specific area.

Local pack (Local Listings, Map Pack)

A group of three to five local business listings that appear in a map box relative to the searcher’s location or search query that includes a specific location. These results are pulled directly from Google My Business listings as opposed to the organic search index.

Local SEO

Optimizing a business’ online presence to rank for local searches. The strategies for local SEO are very similar to traditional but involve business listing sites like Yelp, Angie’s List and Manta as well as social campaigns to help rankings/visibility. Reputation management and review transparency also play a large role in Local SEO success. These strategies also include ranking for locational queries in order to pull local traffic to a physical location.

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Meta Description

Part of a website’s head section typically under 160 characters and used to describe the page’s content. These descriptions are served up on SERPs and should be optimized to get engagement and click-through-rate. Meta descriptions help users see what is on the page as they appear in SERPs. A Meta Description is a type of Meta Tag but should not be used interchangeably as Tags can include many different elements that are only for crawlers.

Meta Tags (Microdata, Meta Data, Meta Elements)

Meta Tags are similar to descriptions but are used to more distinctly tell search engines what is on a page. They are used for the search engine’s benefit as they are found in the source code only. Sometimes the term Meta Tags is used in place of Meta Descriptions but they are, in fact, not to be used interchangeably.

Mobile optimization

Modifying a website’s content to ensure that mobile visitors have a good experience.

This can be achieved by optimizing videos, content, images, buttons, using responsive templates and considering site load speed. Changes like these to a site will help overall user experience. Google offers their Accelerated Mobile Pages as a solution to many of these mobile optimization challenges.

Mobile-first indexing

The mobile version of your website is what Googlebot crawls and archives in their search index. This is different from what it was in the past as it would pull the desktop version of a site. Mobile-first does not mean mobile-only and if a website doesn’t have a mobile version served up then the desktop version will be included in the index. Not having a mobile version of your site COULD harm your ranking potential.

Mobile-friendly website (Responsive design)

The capability of a website to be rendered on a mobile device or the ability for a web page to render appropriately on different size windows or screens.

There are two types of mobile-friendly sites—an entirely separate site designed to serve up on mobile and a responsive design that is a site that auto-adjusts itself based on screen size. If a site is truly “mobile-friendly” then it will be easy to navigate and load on mobile devices. If a user is able to easily navigate your website no matter the screen size it can help with Google ranking factors in an SEO campaign.

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Navigation

The process of navigating SERPs on a web browser. Think of web navigating as a road map that enables website visitors to explore and discover different areas.

Nofollow

An HTML attribute that instructs search engines that the hyperlink should not influence the ranking of the link’s target relative to the source. A nofollow attribute will not stop a search engine’s crawl but will diminish or lessen the authority typically passed. The reason it only diminishes the effectiveness is because a healthy backlink profile has a good mix of both followed and nofollowed links.

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Off-page SEO (Offsite SEO)

Optimizations done on sites other than your own for the purpose of increasing your site’s search engine ranking. This is done by sharing content, review cultivation, influencer outreach, guest blogging and social media. Good SEO strategies take into account both on and offsite SEO strategies for overall success.

On-page SEO (Onsite SEO)

Optimizations done to your own website for the purpose of increasing your search engine rankings. This can be done by optimizing keywords, content, titles, meta descriptions, headlines, microdata, site speed, internal links, mobile friendliness and alt tags. Because these things are all done on your own website they are considered onsite optimizations and are a good starting point for any SEO campaign.

Organic Links

Links that are gained without explicit agreement to exchange links.They are placed in a piece of content for the purpose of enhancing the content or validate the stance of the author. They can also be called authoritative links. The idea of organic link building is that you produce content on such a high level that you will organically get people and sites linking to your own because of quality.

Organic Search Results (Organic rank)

On a SERP there are two types of results: organic and paid. Organic rankings are everything that is not a paid result. On the front page there can be anywhere from 7 to 10 organic results with the most desirable being the first result. With the advent of featured snippets and what is considered “position zero” by some there is debate as to whether being in top position is better or ranking for the featured snippet is better.

Organic traffic

Traffic that comes to your site from a search engine results page (SERP) for free. On a SERP there are two types of results: organic and paid. If you have a page on your site that ranks highly for a search query you have more potential for acquiring more organic traffic.

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PageRank (Page Authority, PA)

Google’s PageRank was named after one of their founders Larry Page. It was a link analysis algorithm that assigned a numerical value of 0-10 to denote importance or authority of a webpage. On April 15, 2016 Google turned off the display that showed PageRank data of their toolbar. While it still uses PageRank to determine rankings in search results it is no longer visible to site owners as is not considered an important metric to track.

Page Authority (PA) is often confused with PageRank but should not be used synonymously. Page Authority is a number between 1-100 that Moz uses to denote the quality of a page based on their own proprietary algorithm and is still visible with their MozBar tool.

Page speed (Page load speed, Page load time, Page response time)

The amount of time it takes for a web page to load. There are different types of ways to measure page speed by some of the most common are: time to first byte, first meaning paint and fully loaded page. There are some things that each webmaster can do to help their loading time like upgrading your hosting, cleaning up your code and optimizing your images. There are many different tools you can use to check your page load speed like Google’s own tool.

In April 2010 Google made page speed a ranking factor and in 2018 they ramped up the importance of this metric in their algorithm.

Page title (Title tag)

A short description of a page on a website. This is typically under 70 characters and appears on the top of the browser window and in SERPs. A page title often has the focus keyword for the page.

Paid traffic

Any traffic to your site that the webmaster has paid for. This includes advertising promotions on PPC campaigns and social media advertisements. The strategies involved for obtaining the right kind of paid traffic can be very complex and can be extremely targeted towards specific audiences.

Penalty

See Manual Penalty

PPC (Pay Per Click)

A type of Internet marketing where advertisers pay a fee each time their ads are clicked. The most popular platform for PPC advertising is Google Ads but other platforms like Bing and Facebook have adopted this type of paid advertisements.

Bid-based PPC is when advertisers compete against other advertisers in a private auction for a specific ad spot that is typically tied to a specific keyword. This auction plays out automatically every time a visitor triggers an ad spot. These ad spots can either be in the SERPs or hosted on a third-party partner website that then shares the ad revenue pulled.

Q

Quality Content

Content is the method by which a website presents their audience with information. This content can be in the form of text, graphical, video or audio. Quality content is content that provides value for users, generates more sales, evergreen, shareable, SEO optimized and/or enhances usability of the site.

The actual quality level of content can be interpreted from a few different angles. Quality content for users might be different than quality content for web crawlers. Google is always tweaking their algorithm to bring those two inline but sometimes they can differ. Following Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines can be a great touchstone for what qualifies as quality content.

Quality Link

A backlink to your site that fits into your content and backlink profile in a manner that enhances visitors experience, increases traffic and/or verifies authority. Quality links can be different depending on what your campaign goals are and the type of website you manage.

Query

A query, in web search terms, is a question that is entered on a search engine to satisfy the informational needs of a user.

Wikipedia illustrates 4 different types of web queries:

Informational queries – Queries that cover a broad topic (e.g., colorado or trucks) for which there may be thousands of relevant results.

Navigational queries – Queries that seek a single website or web page of a single entity (e.g., youtube or delta air lines).

Transactional queries – Queries that reflect the intent of the user to perform a particular action, like purchasing a car or downloading a screen saver.

Connectivity queries – Queries that report on the connectivity of the indexed web graph (e.g., Which links point to this URL?, and How many pages are indexed from this domain name?).

Web search queries can be structured to be more specific than just a textual question with search operators.

R

RankBrain

A machine learning search engine algorithm update that Google released on 26 October 2015. This update was a great step forward towards Google’s search engine understanding user intent and serving up better, more relevant results. SEO tactics surrounding this update emphasised quality content.

Ranking

A search result position that is displayed on a results page. There are different factors that play into positions on a results page with some of the most prominent being backlinks, website optimization and content structure.

Redirect

See 301 Redirect or 302 Redirect

Referral traffic

A traffic type that Google identifies as a visit from outside their search engine. This can include people clicking on links from another website or social media.

Relevancy

The idea of relevance in relation to SEO and search engines is the concept of how the content corresponds to a search term or keyword. The higher the ability to relate to the purpose of a keyword the higher you should rank for said term.

Reputation management (Rep management, Online reputation management, ORM)

Influencing the way people think about you or your brand online. A good reputation online will help your sales and is essential in a modern competitive landscape for small to large businesses. You see small businesses live and die by their online reviews and campaigns directed towards gathering good reviews is a legitimate strategy that should not be ignored.

Companies, brands and people will seek reputation management services when they see that negative news is being shared. Because this type of PR is done online companies will use social media and SEO tactics to help lead their reputation management campaigns.

Rich Result (Rich Snippet)

Often used interchangeably with Featured Snippet but a rich result is more encompassing than just a featured snippet. Rich results can include People Also Ask boxes, video results, knowledge cards or carousels. The strategy for ranking for these results involves microdata markup (like Schema.org) loading on the page.

Robots.txt (Robots exclusion protocol)

A standardized way websites communicate with web crawlers about which areas of the website should be crawled and which shouldn’t. Not all crawlers follow the Robots.txt directives as there are some that scan for security vulnerabilities. Not to be confused with a sitemap, robots.txt file is often used in conjunction with traditional XML sitemaps.

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Schema.org (Schema Markup)

A set of vocabulary that was created collaboratively by Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Yandex to structure metadata (microdata) on web pages. This markup can help search engines understand content of a page and website for enhanced results on the SERP.

An example of microdata would be a website’s homepage having logo, organization, contact and social media markup for knowledge card results. There are three ways to implement Schema.org microdata on your site: HTML, RDFa and JSON-LD with JSON-LD being the most popular and recommended method.

Search Box (search field, search bar)

A GUI element used to accept user input for queries of a database. Typically seen in search engines but a search box can be used for any database that has a search function.

Search engine (SE)

A software system that is designed to carry out website crawling, web searches and archiving data to be queried by a user at a later time. Each search engine has their own algorithm that is continually updated with better, more intelligent functions to crawl, search and index more effectively.

When a search engine decides on ranking there are specific factors that are weighted differently that each engine looks at to attribute a location for displaying on the SERP. Frequently when you hear about algorithm updates the community is referring to the Google search engine and their algorithm.

Search engine marketing (SEM, Search Marketing, Search engine advertising

A form of Digital Marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in SERPs. SEM encompases PPC, SEO, Social Media, website and content optimizations directed at results page rankings.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The process of increasing website traffic through improvements in visibility on a search engine results page. You can improve your visibility through various methods that many SEO companies offer. SEO is solely focussed on natural or organic results and omits paid search methods like PPC or adspace.

An SEO campaign is fulfilled differently depending on website, audience, competition and niche. Because of this variety an SEO professional needs to be competent in how search engines work, algorithm updates, search volume, search terms, website structure and audience tendencies to have success. Typically optimizations are characterized under two classes: on-site and off-site optimizations. This means that you need to take into account both your website and influences not on your website.

Search engine result page (SERP)

The pages displayed by a search engine in response to a query.

These results used to be a simple 1-10 position ranking that started with the best, most linked-to result being in the top spot on the page. But due to many changes in the online landscape there are now snippets, cards, carousels, ads and other elements that are competing directly with the traditional 1-10 spots.

Search History

The list of web pages a user has visited recently. Typically this data is recorded by the web browser along with page title and time of visit. Sometimes third-party services record web browsing history for various reasons.

Search Query

A question that is posed to a search engine in order to search onlines databases for a response of web pages. Typically search queries were associated with a search term or keyword but as algorithms get smarter and understand human speech we get further and further away from short keywords and go towards actual conversational dialog.

Search traffic (Web traffic)

Traffic that visits your site from a search engine.

Search volume

The number of searches that are anticipated for a specific keyword in a 30 day time period.

SEO Copywriting

A form of online writing that contains keywords, helps rankings, and increases traffic. When writing you have to take into account both the user and a search engine crawler. One may understand the context of the content but the other may not so using keywords to help illustrate this intent is essential.

SEO-Friendly URL

A URL that illustrates context to users and crawlers. Understanding how search engine crawlers use URLs is essential to selecting a good URL slug that is SEO-friendly.

Best practices for this type of URL selection vary but the general consensus in the past has been that the slug should contain the keyword that it looks to rank for

SEO site audit (Site audit, SEO audit)

A process by which a webmaster or SEO agency audits a website to see how optimized it is for search engines. This includes technical aspects like pagespeed, site structure and mobile optimization as well as content and keyword placement. Tools that are typically used are ScreamingFrog or other common tools like SEMrush or aHrefs.

SERP (Search Engine Results Page)

A list of results pulled for a query or search. These results are pulled from an index that is archived by a crawler. A SERP can change many times a day as modification to search engine algorithms happen regularly as well as ranking changes due to new content and ranking signals.

SERP features

Features that modify the typical 1-10 spot display of a search engine results page.

These features constantly change but are traditionally seen as rich results like featured snippets or carousels but can also be as simple as paid ads. Recently, due to the COVID-19 pandemic Google has included pagination for terms that are more ambiguous. For example if you search “COVID-19” you will get 5 different pages you can flip through like Overview, Statistics, Health INfo, Testing, Coping and News. These types of changes could see widespread implementation for more ambiguous, informational terms.

Site Age (Domain Age)

Site Age refers to the amount of time during which a domain has existed. Site age is a factor in SEO ranking only as far as content is concerned. If a site has been around for a long time it is assumed that it is constantly being worked on and producing new content. If this is not the case then site age would mean nothing as no credibility was being built. Just because your site is older does not mean it will rank better.

Sitemap

A sitemap is a list of pages on a website.

There are two main types of sitemaps that SEO deals with. One is a structured listing intended for web crawlers and search engines that tells them what to do and where to go. The other is a user-visible listing that helps with navigation of your site by visitors. This is typically done in a hierarchical fashion for ease of access.

When a sitemap is intended for a crawler it is typically called sitemap.xml and helps the bot find pages that aren’t accessible through links.

SMM (Social Media Marketing)

Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms to connect with your audience to build your brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic.

The major social media platforms that marketers use (at the moment) are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, WhatsApp and Snapchat.

Social media marketing can indirectly help your SEO in terms of visibility for your content. If someone shares and likes your content then more and more people will be visiting your site and search engines view these visits favorably for ranking purposes over time.

Spam (Spammy tactics, Black-hat SEO)

Spam, in the SEO sense of the word, is the deliberate manipulation of search engine indexes and algorithms to better your position on SERPs. This is done in many ways such as keyword stuffing, poor link building practices and duplicate content.

The history of quality SEO has evolved significantly over the years. Many tactics that were once accepted as common, good practice have fallen out of favor with search engines and, in turn, the SEO community.

Structured Data (Microdata)

Structured data is another term for microdata and describes entities and their relationships through a standardized list of attributes (aka Schema.org) . This data is organized or structured to show a format or rule set that is readable by crawlers. You often see this in SERPs as rich results, star reviews(in the past) or breadcrumbs.

Subdomain

A subdomain is another part of a main domain that typically illustrates different parts of an organization. For example, blog.boostability.com would indicate that blog content would be available underneath the domain boostability with com being the top level domain or TLD.

Not all sites have subdomains and their use is a hotly debated topic in the SEO realm. Most SEO experts have the opinion that subfolders serve the same purpose and require less overhead to manage and, therefore, more preferable to subdomains.

T

Time on page

A metric used to determine how long a user stays on a page of a website. Longer time on page indicates that the content being viewed is satisfying the visitor’s intent.. Short times on page can indicate the content is too thin or no longer relevant for users. This metric is also used by crawlers when determining SERP rankings.

Thin content

Content that inadequately explains a concept or a proposed idea. Thin content may not be long enough, or lack important details. With the general trend towards actionable content, your site may not be indexed if your content does not provide answers to users or encourage them to move forward in their customer journey. Thin content can sometimes be identified by higher than normal bounce rates.

 

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