SEO Glossary

• a
• b
• c
• d
• e
• f
• g
• h
• i
• j
• k
• l
• m
• n
• o
• p
• q
• r
• s
• t
• u
• v
• w
• x
• y
• z

Database-driven
As in "database-driven web site." The term means that a website is connected to a database and web page content is based in part on information extracted from that database. Most dynamic websites, such as online stores, are database-driven sites.

Database-generated
As in "database-generated web page." The term means that a web page is created dynamically on-the-fly from a content stored in a database, in contrast with a static HTML page. See “database-driven.”

Dead link
A dead link is a hyperlink whose target no longer exists or can no longer be accessed through the link, perhaps because it had been renamed.

DDL
Acronym for Data Definition Language.

Deep linking
Deep linking refers to linking to content buried deep within a website. They are referred to as "deep" because they are often two or more directories deep within a website, or nested deep in a series of pages.

Deep submitting
When submitting URLs to a search engine, deep submitting would refer to submitting other pages aside from the main starting URL. For example, if a site consisted of 200 pages, and the webmaster submitted 150 of those pages, that would be called deep submitting. This is a frowned-upon practice as search engine spiders only require the starting URL to be able to find all the other pages on its own, barring pages that don't have any clear link.

Default
An advertising term used to describe when an advertiser doesn't have enough advertisments to fill the websites inventory. Usually defaults are filled with PSA ads, or blanks. In a general computing context, default means the preset value of data or option of a program. Unless a setting, for example, is changed, it will take on the default value set by the programmer.

Description
Descriptive text summarizing a webpage and displayed along with the page title and URL when the page appears as the result of a user query on a search engine or directory. Some search engines use the description in the description meta tag, others generate their own description from text on the page. Directories often use text provided at registration.

Description Meta Tag
The description meta tag is used as the summary of your Web site when listed in the search results. Some search engines will generate their own based on some arbitrary text gleaned from your Web page.

DH
Acronym for Direct Hit, a search engine.

DHTML
Acronym for Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language.

Directory
A directory is a web site that focuses on listing web sites by individual topics, similar to a table of contents for the Web. A search engine lists pages, while a directory, such as The Open Directory Project, lists websites. Also, in further contrast to a search engine, a directory is compiled by hand and doesn't rely on spiders to index website content. Directories are often organized by topic, with each topic having lists of websites that are relevant to it.

DML
Acronym for Data Manipulation Language.

DMOZ
Acronym for Directory MOZilla, otherwise known as the Open Directory Project. The name comes from the domain name of the site, which is Directory.MOZilla.org.

DNS
Acronym for Domain Name System.

DNS lookup
A DNS lookup is a request to a DNS server to convert friendly names, such as http://www.google.com, into the actual numerical IP addresses. A DNS lookup may also work in the reverse direction, to discover the friendly names for IP numbers.

DOC
Standard filename extension for Microsoft Word documents.

Dogpile
Dogpile is a metasearch engine that can gather results for a particular search from a number of other search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, and Altavista.

DOM
Acronym for Document Object Model.

Domain
The domain (of a website) is the upper-level network to which it belongs. The highest level is called a top level domain, or TLD. Examples of TLDs are .com, .net, and .org. Below them are the specific mid-level domain names, such as fender.com, slashdot.org, or sourceforge.net.

Domain name registration
The process of registering a domain name with an Internet domain registrar, such as ICANN.

Doorway domain
A domain designed to redirect traffic to a main website located on another domain.

Doorway page
A page designed as an entrance to a website. Many doorway pages a specifically optimized to rank high on a particular search engine. Doorway pages are sometimes called gateway pages or welcome mats and may feature a number of links into the main website and its relevant pages.

Download
To retrieve information from a server, as seen from the point of view of the client retrieving or requesting the information.

DRP
Acronym for Directory Results Page.

DTC
Acronym for Direct Traffic Center.

DTD
Acronym for Document Type Definition.

Dynamic content
Dynamic content is webpage content that is generated on-the-fly, as opposed to static content. Dynamic content is commonly seen on discussion forum sites, online merchants or catalogs, or web mail providers. Dynamic content is usually generated from content in a database.

Dynamic IP address
An IP address that varies every time a user connects to the Internet, as opposed to a fixed, static IP address. Dynamic IP addresses are typically assigned to home users, while static IP numbers are assigned to commercial websites and servers.

Back to Top