SEO Lingo for Fishing Guides

“I was out early this morning, dropped my line in and started jigging.”

“Catch any lunkers?”

“Nope. I tried spinnerbaits, flukes, I even tried a crank and C-rig a little bit, but nothing. Think I’ll go back to the rattletrap next time.”

To the untrained ear, all of this fishing lingo might be confusing—it might even sound like a foreign language. But for those in the know, it’s just a normal conversation. And just like fishing, SEO has its own language.

If you’re a fishing guide, all of this talk about SERPs and backlinks and long-tail keywords might sound like gibberish. But to those who work in SEO, it’s just another day at the office.

In this guide, we’ll demystify some of the most common SEO terms and help you become more fluent in the language of search engine optimization. If you prefer to spend your time on the water rather than trying to decipher SEO jargon—consider this your cheat sheet.

Commonly Used SEO Terms for Fishing Guides

SEO: Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving the ranking of a website on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. (But these days, with 92% of searches happening on Google, most people are just referring to it when they talk about SEO.)

PPC: Pay-Per-Click. A type of online advertising where you pay a fee every time someone clicks on your ad.

SEM: Search Engine Marketing. A type of online marketing that encompasses both SEO and PPC.

SERP: Search Engine Results Page. This is the page that you see after you type a query into a search engine like Google. The SERP includes organic results (i.e. results that are not paid ads) as well as paid ads.

Rank: The position that your website, webpage, or content occupies in the search results for a given keyword. Can also be used as a verb, as in “I need to rank higher for this keyword” or “My business is ranking #1 for my target keywords since I contacted Page One Fishing.”

Organic Search: A type of search where the user finds a website without the help of paid advertisements.

Paid Search: A type of search where the user is shown websites that have paid to be at the top of the SERP.

Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who click on a search result out of the total number of people who see it. A higher CTR usually indicates that a listing is relevant and useful, which can help it rank higher in search results.

Algorithm: A set of rules or guidelines that a search engine uses to rank websites. Google’s algorithms are constantly changing, which is why SEO is always evolving.

Content: Content is anything on your website that can be consumed by visitors, whether it’s a blog post, an image, or a video. Good content is relevant, informative, and engaging, and it’s one of the most important ranking factors for SEO.

Keyword: A word or phrase that a user enters into a search engine when they are looking for something. For example, if you were looking for a fishing guide, you might search for “fishing guides near me,” or if you were looking for digital marketing for fishing guides, you might search for “fishing website design” or “fishing SEO.”

Long-Tail Keyword: A keyword that is very specific and usually quite long. Long-tail keywords are often less competitive and easier to rank for than more general keywords—but not always.

Backlink: A link from one website to another. Backlinks are important for SEO because they help search engines understand which websites are reputable, valuable, and relevant to a user’s search keywords. All backlinks are different: Good backlinks can improve your website’s ranking, while bad backlinks can actually hurt it.

For example:

• Having other reputable sites with fishing-related content link to your site would be valuable for your search engine rankings.
• A backlink from a 1-month=old website about shoes would be less helpful for your rankings.
• A backlink from a forum known for spam could hurt your rankings.

Black hat: Black hat SEO refers to techniques and strategies that violate Google’s guidelines. These techniques might get you short-term results, but they’ll ultimately hurt your website in the long run.

White hat: White hat SEO refers to techniques and strategies that are in line with Google’s guidelines. These are the kinds of techniques that will help you build a sustainable, long-term SEO strategy that won’t come back to bite you down the line.

Conversion: A conversion is when a website visitor takes a desired action, such as signing up for a newsletter, sending you mail through the contact form, or making a purchase. Conversions are important for businesses because they represent revenue, and they’re one of the key metrics that SEOs track.

Bounce Rate: The percentage of people who leave your website after only viewing one page. A high bounce rate is usually an indication that something is wrong with your website, whether it’s the design, the content, or the user experience.

Duplicate Content: Duplicate content is when there are multiple pieces of content on the internet that are identical or very similar. Duplicate content can hurt your SEO because it confuses search engines and makes it harder for them to determine which piece of content is the original.

Inbound Marketing: A type of marketing that focuses on getting people to find and interact with your company, typically through content marketing, SEO, and social media.

Analytics: Analytics is the process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data. Google Analytics is one popular tool that SEOs use to track website traffic and conversions.

WordPress: WordPress is a popular content management system (CMS) that businesses can use to create and manage their website. Page One Fishing specializes in fishing website design on WordPress, as well as optimizing WordPress websites for SEO.

Google My Business (GMB): Google My Business is a free listing that businesses can create to appear in Google Maps and Google’s local search results. Having a GMB listing is important for businesses that want to be found in the local search results.

Local SEO: Local SEO is the process of optimizing your website and online presence for local search results. This can include things like building citations, optimizing your GMB listing, and creating local content.

This is just a small sampling of the terms that you might come across as you learn more about SEO. Search Engine Optimization is a complex topic, but we’ve tried to cover some of the most important terms here that you’re likely to encounter.

If you’re a fishing guide or other fishing business owner who’s learning about SEO, you’ll undoubtedly come across new terms and concepts. SEO is always changing, which is why it’s important to keep up with the latest trends and best practices.

But even if you’re not an SEO expert and have no desire to be one, understanding the basics of how search engines work can help you be more strategic with your fishing website and your content, so that you can attract more visitors and reach more customers.

I hope this guide has helped you understand some of the most important concepts. If you need help marketing your fishing business online and reaching your target audience, click here to reach out to us.