The Idea People SEO Terms & Definitions

As you begin to learn more about SEO, you will be interacting with these terms. So there's no time like the present to become familiar with them!

301 Redirect - Method of redirecting an old webpage to a new location. More simply, to display another web page for the web address that you are trying to visit. 301 implies that the move is permanent (as opposed to temporary, etc.)

Alt Tag – Adding an HTML tag to each image within a website so that the images are included in search engine results, as well as the website text.

Back link - Links originating from one website and pointing to another website or web page. Back links aid in organic search engine rankings.

Black Hat SEO - The use of unaccepted or frowned upon SEO practices in order to get higher rankings and more traffic. These websites are usually caught and removed from the search engines!

Bot (Robot) - Programs written to scour the web automatically for various reasons (to index web pages, for spamming purposes, etc.) aka web robots, web crawlers, internet bots, and spiders.

Cloaking - Showing a different web page to a search engine spider than what is normally seen. Method typically used by spammers.

Conversion - Web traffic that fulfills a pre-established goal, such as purchasing of a specific product or filling out a registration form on your website that comes from a search engine.

Keywords - Words that are used by search engines to determine the topic of a given web page. They are used within the web page text and behind the scenes of a web page.

Landing Page - A content-rich web page geared around a particular topic, product or conversion goal. This is where people “land” on your website from a search.

Meta Data / Meta Tags - Web page specific, descriptive information that helps a search engine identify the purpose and topic of a given web page. Common Meta data include a web page's description and keyword listing.

Organic Search - Search results in a search engine that are not paid advertisements. The results that come up naturally based on their indexing within a search engine. Organic search results are good. We all want to come up on top for organic searches using keywords we are optimized for.

Paid Link Building - Websites who are willing to link back to your site for a fee in order to boost your rankings/weight in the search engines.

SEM - Search Engine Marketing - The act of marketing a website via search engines, whether this be improving rank in organic listings, purchasing paid listings or a combination of these and other search engine-related activities.

SEO - Search Engine Optimization - The art of manually working within a web site so that it will rank higher in organic listings of search engines.

Spider - Programs written to search the web automatically for various reasons (to index web pages, for spamming purposes, etc.) Also known as web robots, web crawlers, bots, and internet bots.

Static Website - A website or web page whose content is fixed (does not change or has to be manually changed).

Title Tag - A Meta data element that determines the actual "title" of a given webpage. The title is what shows up in the top bar of your browser. It is also the hyperlink that shows in search engine results listings.

TLD - Top Level Domain - The three main domain extensions: .com, .net, and .org.

URL - Uniform Resource Locator. Or, more commonly, a web address.

White Hat SEO - The use of accepted SEO practices in order to get higher rankings, more traffic, etc. (Opposite is Black Hat!)

The Idea People Selected as a "Top 25 Web Design Company"!

"We were very surprised and excited when we heard that The Idea People had been selected as one of the Top 25 Web Design Companies in Charlotte," said Jay Joyce of The Idea People. "This came out of the blue and means a great deal in helping us further differentiate our company from others."

The Charlotte Business Journal is known for researching, assembling, rating and compiling their annual on-going list of Top 25 businesses in most categories. "It certainly is nice to be sitting in the Top 25 of web companies in Charlotte," added Joyce. "Our clients are also happy to hear the news!"

The Idea People will continue to grow and expand within the web design, development and Internet marketing industry as new technologies and methodologies emerge. "Our largest differentiating factor with the websites that we design is the overall beauty and artistic value in each site," added Joyce.

"Our client websites have to creatively represent each client while attracting prospective customers. It is all the behind-the-scenes knowledge, experience, and technical savvy that helps our client websites generate new customers and subsequent revenues for those clients."

NC State Women's Basketball Legend Selects The Idea People!

We are very proud to announce that Dr. Genia Beasley of All Ages Vision Care in Charlotte has selected The Idea People as their web design and Internet marketing agency!

"Dr. B, as her patients call her, is a very successful, high-profile vision care therapy specialist and is known across the country," said Bill McCown of The Idea People. "She wants the very best web design, the very best Internet presence, and the very best patients from around the southeast...and we're going to deliver these needs to this large vision practice!"

In addition to being one of the most sought-after vision therapists in the country, Dr. Beasley is a former basketball superstar from NC State. Beasley, a 6-2 forward/center from Benson, established standards and records by which Wolfpack Women will be measured for many, many years to come.

Twenty-seven years have passed and Beasley’s name is still at the top of points scored and rebounds grabbed in the NC State record book. Beasley was the first NC State women’s basketball player to score 2,000 or more points, finishing with 2,367.

Only one other player in Wolfpack history has scored more points — Rodney Monroe with 2,551. She produced career averages of 18.5 points and 9.7 rebounds in 128 games.

Her jersey, No. 50, hangs retired in the rafters of Reynolds Coliseum.

"This is a very exciting client that we are very proud to work with," said McCown. "Their new website should be completed by the first of January 2010 with the Internet marketing to begin immediately after the launch."

Introducing the Charlotte Web Design Pavilion

The Charlotte Web Design Pavilion is the only workshop and meeting place of its kind in Charlotte! Business owners and marketers gather to learn, share and grow their businesses by learning the latest in web marketing techniques and creative design trends.

We will be holding a FREE web design, development and Internet marketing workshop on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 from 3p-5:00p. You will learn tips on effective web marketing and how to improve your website to convert visitors into prospects, and tips on how to target customers and lead them through your company's website. You are a small to medium-sized business owner or person in charge of company marketing. To RSVP, please call Jay Joyce at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.

The Idea People is sponsoring a FREE SEO and Internet marketing workshop on Tuesday, January 5 from 3:00pm-5:00pm. You will learn basic SEO techniques, how search engines view your website, how to use a blog successfully, and how to increase the visibility of your website. You are a small to medium-sized business owner or marketing position. To RSVP for this FREE workshop, please call Jay Joyce at 704-398-4437 or email jay@theideapeople.com.

The Charlotte Web Design Pavilion will hold workshops every month. Keep checking our schedule for more dates and times!