The search engine optimization and online marketing industries have a lot of jargon - some of which actually has meaning, some of which is mostly buzzwords thrown around by “glass-jawed” SEOs so people think they know what they are talking about. So without further do, here are the ABCs of SEO and SEM - in other words, 26 terms that our Chicago SEO company thinks matter most.

A is for Analytics. Good search engine optimization is all about getting results, and analytics allow us to measure and assess our performance, test different strategies, and improve our techniques. Analytics software lets track our pageviews, user paths, inbound links (and how much traffic they each deliver) and much, much more.

B is for Blogging. The search engines love constantly updated dated content and blogs are a great way to organize and manage that content. Also, it is a good for building authority on a given topic, bloggers love to link other blogs, and a great blog is excellent starting point for social media marketing.

C is for Conversions - Getting visitors to sign up for your services, buy your products, or otherwise do what you want them to do is the whole point of SEO and SEM. Everything should be performed with that goal in mind, and websites need to be optimized for both users and search engines. Furthermore, your keywords should be selected and reviewed with conversions in mind (think local and targeted).

D is for Description - Search engine results pages and directory listings both typically list a little snippet of text - the description - next to your site’s title. This text is incredibly important, and it must contain your keywords as well as being compelling enough to entice human visitors to click on the link. For directories, you can usually write the text yourself; some use the meta description tag (same as the search engines).

E is for External Links - External linking send visitors to other domains; some SEO companies believe in link hoarding (e.g. never linking out because it sends visitors away), however, linking out to authority websites, especially ones relevant to your niche, tends to build trust. Furthermore, linking to other blogs/websites is a way to network.

F is for Flash - Flash technology can be used to build rich interactive websites with amazing visuals; however, it is often the bane of an SEO’s existence, since sites built entirely with flash contain so little indexable content. Yes, this is slowly changing, but the search engines aren’t going to be fully capable of crawling Flash for some time. That said, having a few Flash elements on your website won’t necessarily hurt your rankings.

G is for Google - As the biggest search engine by far, a page one ranking in Google’s organic SERPs can make or break an online business. Google also provides lots of free webmaster tools, analytics, and of course, Adsense and Adwords for pay-per-click campaigns, along with a number of other applications (like Gmail, Google Trends, and Google Ad Planner) that many SEO companies use every single day.

H is for Homepage - Typically, your homepage is the easiest page to rank for and get inbound links to (most outside sites will link to the homepage first, after all); it is also the first page many of your visitors will land on. However, it is important to remember that the search engines index all the content on your site so users arrive through many different doorways, so branding and navigation should be maintained throughout the site.

J is for Javascript - A scripting language that can be embedded into HTML to add dynamic features and rich content (not unlike Flash) to a website, Javascript is not capable of being fully indexed by the search engines.

K is for Keyword - At their most basic, keywords are the words and phrases that users type into the search engine text box. Keyword selection involves careful research in order to target the visitors that are most likely to convert, and keywords must be placed in several important areas of your website, such as the meta descriptions, titles, anchor text, and more.

L is for Links - Links - inbound links, internal links, and link building - are the core of search engine optimization. Search engines consider a link a vote of trust or a sign of authority; sites with lots of backlinks are ranked more highly. Ideally, your links will have your keywords or brand name as anchor text.

M is for Meta Tags - The meta description and titles are often grouped together and called meta tags; it is absolutely essential to have accurate and unique information about the site (and the keywords!) in the meta tags, as they are often what the search engines rely on most when indexing the site. What’s more, they are usually displayed under the site’s title in the SERPs, so they are first thing users encounter as well.

N is for Natural Search Results - A natural or organic front page ranking is often part of the goal of an SEO campaign (the main goal being increased visitor conversions); it is been proven that users most often click on the natural results instead of the paid ads, and of course, it is always much more difficult to rank highly naturally than it is to purchase advertising.

O is for On-Site Optimization - Besides making sure that all the necessary SEO components are part of the website’s code, the site must be optimized for the users with simple navigation and useful content. SEO should be part of the overall web design strategy.

P is for Pay-Per-Click - This is the most common pricing model for web advertising. PPC ads only charge advertisers if a potential customer actually clicks on the ad. Google’s popular Adwords program is pay-per-click.

Q is for Quality Content - Quality content with well-placed keywords and links appeals to everyone - potential customers or clients, other websites (quality content tends to lead quality links), and even the search engines, as content that is duplicated or overly keyword dense (e.g. keyword stuffing) may get penalized.

R is for Relevancy - A measure of how useful searchers find their search results - are they related to their query? Is the information useful? How closely does it match what they were searching for? And of course, the keywords a site ranks highly for should be relevant to its topic or niche.

S is for Social Media - Social media is the umbrella term that covers many different types of networking and content-sharing sites, including social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us or furl, along with networks like Facebook or LinkedIn.

T is for Titles - Titles are key aspects of SEO and SEM strategy; the title element should be descriptive, unique to the page, and not excessively long. Ideally, it should contain your keywords, since people tend to use titles as anchor text when linking to an article; a title should also be catchy and compelling enough for people to click on it.

U is for Usability - How easy is it to for visitors to find what they are looking for and perform their desired actions? The internal linking system, text, and navigation all affect a site’s usability - and if a site is not usable for its visitors, it does not matter what other other SEO or online marketing techniques are performed.

V is for Viral Marketing - Also known as word of mouth marketing, viral marketing is a self-propogating technique that involves creating content so compelling (or useful, controversial, humorous, etc.) that people link to it, email it, and talk about it on their own. Social media sites often feature viral content.

W is for White Hat SEO - Ethical search engine optimization is sometimes referred to as “white hat SEO”; essentially, it means using only those techniques that are not considered deceptive by the search engines (and may result in a site getting penalized or dropped in the rankings).

X is for Xenu Link Sleuth - Xenu is a free software tool that allows SEOs to find and fix broken links on their sites, which helps to maximize their internal linking strategy.

Y is for Yahoo - The other biggie in the search engine world, Yahoo is losing market share to Google but still drives a good amount of traffic; their directory is also one of the oldest and most respected on the web.

Z is for Zero Impression Keywords - These are keywords that are not generating any results, for whatever reason - that is why SEOs must use analytics, track their performance, and provide reports in order to avoid such problems.