Glossary Terms
U, V & W
Unethical SEO
Some search engine marketers lacking in creativity try to market their services as being ethical, whereas
services rendered by other providers are somehow unethical. SEO services are generally neither ethical or
unethical. They are either effective or ineffective.
SEO is an inherently risky business, but any quality SEO service provider should make clients aware of potential
risks and rewards of different recommended techniques.
Update
Search engines frequently update their algorithms and data sets to help keep their search results fresh and
make their relevancy algorithms hard to update. Most major search engines are continuously updating both their
relevancy algorithms and search index.
See also:
Google Terminology - Video where Google's Matt Cutts discusses various commonly used terms inside Google.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator is the unique address of any web document.
URL Rewrite
A technique used to help make URLs more unique and descriptive to help facilitate better sitewide indexing by
major search engines.
See also:
Apache Module mod_rewrite - Apache module used to rewrite URLs on sites hosted on an Apache server.
ISAPI Rewrite - software to rewrite URLs on sites hosted on a Microsoft Internet Information Server.
Usability
How easy it is for customers to perform the desired actions.
The structure and formatting of text and hyperlink based calls to action can drastically increase your website
usability, and thus conversion rates.
See also:
Don't Make Me Think - Steve Krug's book about designing an easy to use website.
The Big Red Fez - Seth Godin's short book on common website usability errors.
useit - Jakob Nielson's newsletter on usability and web design.
A User Interface Usability Checklist for Ecommerce Websites - Kim Krause's website usability checklist.
Usage Data
Things like a large stream of traffic, repeat visitors, multiple page views per visitor, a high clickthrough rate, or a
high level of brand related search queries may be seen by some search engines as a sign of quality. Some
search engines may
Usenet
A search service which is focused on a particular field, a particular type of information, or a particular information
format.
See also:
Google Groups - a popular Usenet archive interface.
V
Vector Space Model (see Term Vector Database)
Vertical Search
A search service which is focused on a particular field, a particular type of information, or a particular information
format.
For example, Business.com would be a B2B vertical search engine, and YouTube would be a video based
vertical search engine.
Viral Marketing
Self propagating marketing techniques. Common modes of transmission are email, blogging, and word of mouth
marketing channels.
Many social news sites and social bookmarking sites also lead to secondary citations.
See also:
Unleashing the Ideavirus - free Seth Godin ebook about spreading ideas.
Virtual Domain
Website hosted on a virtual server.
Virtual Server
A server which allows multiple top level domains to be hosted from a single computer.
Using a virtual server can save money for smaller applications, but dedicated hosting should be used for large
commercial platforms.Most domains are hosted on virtual servers, but using a dedicated server on your most
important domains should add server reliability, and could be seen as a sign of quality. Dedicated servers
usually run from $100 to $500 a month. Virtual servers typically run from $5 to $50 per month.
W
Wales, Jimmy
Co-founder of the popular Wikipedia.
Weblog (see Blog)
Whois
Each domain has an owner of record. Ownership data is stored in the Whois record for that domain.
Some domain registrars also allow you to hide the ownership data of your sites. Many large scale spammers use
fake Whois data.
See also:
DomainTools Whois Source - shows Whois information by domain name. Paid members may also view other
domains on the same IP address and the domain ownership history.
White Hat SEO
Search engines set up guidelines that help them extract billions of dollars of ad revenue from the work of
publishers and the attention of searchers. Within that highly profitable framework search engines consider
certain marketing techniques deceptive in nature, and label them as black hat SEO. Those which are considered
within their guidelines are called white hat SEO techniques. The search guidelines are not a static set of rules,
and things that may be considered legitimate one day may be considered deceptive the next.
Search engines are not without flaws in their business models, but there is nothing immoral or illegal about
testing search algorithms to understand how search engines work.
People who have extensively tested search algorithms are probably more competent and more knowledgeable
search marketers than those who give themselves the arbitrary label of white hat SEOs while calling others black
hat SEOs.
When making large investments in processes that are not entirely clear trust is important. Rather than looking for
reasons to not work with an SEO it is best to look for signs of trust in a person you would like to work with.
See also:
White Hat SEO.com - parody site about white hat SEO
Black Hat SEO.com - parody site about black hat SEO
Honest SEO - site offering tips on hiring an SEO
SEOConsultants.com - reviewed directory of SEO professionals
SEO Black Hat - blog about black hat SEO techniques
Wiki
Software which allows information to be published using collaborative editing.
Wikipedia
Free online collaborative encyclopedia using wiki software.
See also:
Wikipedia
Wordnet
A lexical database of English words which can be used to help search engines understand word relationships.
See also:
Wordnet - official site
Wordpress
Popular open source blogging software platform, offering both a downloadable blogging program and a hosted
solution.
If you are serious about building a brand or making money online you should publish your content to your own
domain because it can be hard to reclaim a website's link equity and age related trust if you have built years of
link equity into a subdomain on someone else's website.
See also:
Wordpress.org - download the software
Wordpress.com - offers free blog hosting
Wordtracker
Feature rich paid keyword research tool which collects data from a couple popular meta search engines, like
Dogpile.
Due to Wordtracker's small sample size their data may be easy to game.
See also:
Wordtracker.com - official site
Digital Point Keyword Suggestion Tool - free keyword research tool which returns keyword research data from
Overture and Wordtracker side by side.
X, Y & Z
U, V & W
Unethical SEO
Some search engine marketers lacking in creativity try to market their services as being ethical, whereas
services rendered by other providers are somehow unethical. SEO services are generally neither ethical or
unethical. They are either effective or ineffective.
SEO is an inherently risky business, but any quality SEO service provider should make clients aware of potential
risks and rewards of different recommended techniques.
Update
Search engines frequently update their algorithms and data sets to help keep their search results fresh and
make their relevancy algorithms hard to update. Most major search engines are continuously updating both their
relevancy algorithms and search index.
See also:
Google Terminology - Video where Google's Matt Cutts discusses various commonly used terms inside Google.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator is the unique address of any web document.
URL Rewrite
A technique used to help make URLs more unique and descriptive to help facilitate better sitewide indexing by
major search engines.
See also:
Apache Module mod_rewrite - Apache module used to rewrite URLs on sites hosted on an Apache server.
ISAPI Rewrite - software to rewrite URLs on sites hosted on a Microsoft Internet Information Server.
Usability
How easy it is for customers to perform the desired actions.
The structure and formatting of text and hyperlink based calls to action can drastically increase your website
usability, and thus conversion rates.
See also:
Don't Make Me Think - Steve Krug's book about designing an easy to use website.
The Big Red Fez - Seth Godin's short book on common website usability errors.
useit - Jakob Nielson's newsletter on usability and web design.
A User Interface Usability Checklist for Ecommerce Websites - Kim Krause's website usability checklist.
Usage Data
Things like a large stream of traffic, repeat visitors, multiple page views per visitor, a high clickthrough rate, or a
high level of brand related search queries may be seen by some search engines as a sign of quality. Some
search engines may
Usenet
A search service which is focused on a particular field, a particular type of information, or a particular information
format.
See also:
Google Groups - a popular Usenet archive interface.
V
Vector Space Model (see Term Vector Database)
Vertical Search
A search service which is focused on a particular field, a particular type of information, or a particular information
format.
For example, Business.com would be a B2B vertical search engine, and YouTube would be a video based
vertical search engine.
Viral Marketing
Self propagating marketing techniques. Common modes of transmission are email, blogging, and word of mouth
marketing channels.
Many social news sites and social bookmarking sites also lead to secondary citations.
See also:
Unleashing the Ideavirus - free Seth Godin ebook about spreading ideas.
Virtual Domain
Website hosted on a virtual server.
Virtual Server
A server which allows multiple top level domains to be hosted from a single computer.
Using a virtual server can save money for smaller applications, but dedicated hosting should be used for large
commercial platforms.Most domains are hosted on virtual servers, but using a dedicated server on your most
important domains should add server reliability, and could be seen as a sign of quality. Dedicated servers
usually run from $100 to $500 a month. Virtual servers typically run from $5 to $50 per month.
W
Wales, Jimmy
Co-founder of the popular Wikipedia.
Weblog (see Blog)
Whois
Each domain has an owner of record. Ownership data is stored in the Whois record for that domain.
Some domain registrars also allow you to hide the ownership data of your sites. Many large scale spammers use
fake Whois data.
See also:
DomainTools Whois Source - shows Whois information by domain name. Paid members may also view other
domains on the same IP address and the domain ownership history.
White Hat SEO
Search engines set up guidelines that help them extract billions of dollars of ad revenue from the work of
publishers and the attention of searchers. Within that highly profitable framework search engines consider
certain marketing techniques deceptive in nature, and label them as black hat SEO. Those which are considered
within their guidelines are called white hat SEO techniques. The search guidelines are not a static set of rules,
and things that may be considered legitimate one day may be considered deceptive the next.
Search engines are not without flaws in their business models, but there is nothing immoral or illegal about
testing search algorithms to understand how search engines work.
People who have extensively tested search algorithms are probably more competent and more knowledgeable
search marketers than those who give themselves the arbitrary label of white hat SEOs while calling others black
hat SEOs.
When making large investments in processes that are not entirely clear trust is important. Rather than looking for
reasons to not work with an SEO it is best to look for signs of trust in a person you would like to work with.
See also:
White Hat SEO.com - parody site about white hat SEO
Black Hat SEO.com - parody site about black hat SEO
Honest SEO - site offering tips on hiring an SEO
SEOConsultants.com - reviewed directory of SEO professionals
SEO Black Hat - blog about black hat SEO techniques
Wiki
Software which allows information to be published using collaborative editing.
Wikipedia
Free online collaborative encyclopedia using wiki software.
See also:
Wikipedia
Wordnet
A lexical database of English words which can be used to help search engines understand word relationships.
See also:
Wordnet - official site
Wordpress
Popular open source blogging software platform, offering both a downloadable blogging program and a hosted
solution.
If you are serious about building a brand or making money online you should publish your content to your own
domain because it can be hard to reclaim a website's link equity and age related trust if you have built years of
link equity into a subdomain on someone else's website.
See also:
Wordpress.org - download the software
Wordpress.com - offers free blog hosting
Wordtracker
Feature rich paid keyword research tool which collects data from a couple popular meta search engines, like
Dogpile.
Due to Wordtracker's small sample size their data may be easy to game.
See also:
Wordtracker.com - official site
Digital Point Keyword Suggestion Tool - free keyword research tool which returns keyword research data from
Overture and Wordtracker side by side.
X, Y & Z
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