SEO Glossary for Startup Founders
Plain-English definitions of every SEO term you'll encounter when building your startup's backlink profile — from Domain Rating to PageRank to anchor text. No jargon, no fluff.
Domain Rating (DR)
Ahrefs' 0–100 score measuring a website's backlink authority.
Read definition →
Dofollow Link
A standard hyperlink that passes PageRank from the linking site to yours.
Read definition →
Nofollow Link
A link with rel="nofollow" that tells Google not to pass PageRank.
Read definition →
PageRank
Google's original algorithm for measuring a web page's importance based on its backlinks.
Read definition →
Backlink
An inbound hyperlink from another website pointing to your site.
Read definition →
Link Equity
The SEO value passed from one page to another through a hyperlink.
Read definition →
Anchor Text
The visible, clickable text of a hyperlink.
Read definition →
Domain Authority (DA)
Moz's 0–100 score predicting a website's ability to rank in search engines.
Read definition →
Referral Traffic
Visitors who come to your site by clicking a link on another website, rather than from a search engine.
Read definition →
Knowledge Graph
Google's database of entities (people, places, companies) and the relationships between them.
Read definition →
Search Intent
The underlying goal or purpose a user has when typing a query into a search engine.
Read definition →
Organic Traffic
Visitors who land on your website from unpaid search engine results.
Read definition →
SERP
Search Engine Results Page — the page displayed by Google after a user searches for a query.
Read definition →
Put these terms to work
Understanding DR, dofollow links, and PageRank is only useful if you act on it. backlinks.fyi gives you a curated database of startup directories with DR scores, link types, and submission tips — so you can build your backlink profile systematically.
Browse free dofollow directories →