LEXICON

A glossary for making decisions

Short definitions without false precision or unexplained acronyms.

Canonical

The URL proposed to search engines as the reference version among equivalent URLs. This signal is not a redirect.

An HTTP response that points to another address. Its status conveys details including whether the move is permanent or temporary.

An indication of equivalent language or regional versions. It does not replace fully translated content.

The decision or task someone wants to accomplish, inferred from context rather than one isolated keyword.

Processing through which an engine may retain a page in its index. Accessibility does not guarantee indexing.

Automated access to website resources. Crawling, indexing and ranking are different operations.

An action defined as a useful outcome. Its definition, attribution and time period need documentation.

Clicks divided by impressions within a defined scope. Changes also depend on presentation and context.

Measures of loading, responsiveness and visual stability. Laboratory and field data describe different conditions.

An instruction requesting that a page not be indexed. An engine needs access to the page to read it.

A file presenting URLs for discovery. It guarantees neither indexing nor rankings.

A link from another website to a page. Its existence does not prove genuine endorsement or relevance.

The interface in which an engine presents answers. Its contents vary with queries and context.

Information added to a URL to identify a campaign. Avoid putting personal data in it.