Every industry has certain words and acronyms that are considered a part of the basic vocabulary by those in the industry, yet often confused or misunderstood by new entrants or observers. The SEO and SEM industry, along with website design, has quite a few terms that are commonly misunderstood or misused due to common acceptance over time of the improper term. One of the ones that always got me was the use of "ALT tags" instead of ALT Attributes, but once I was corrected I have been careful to use "attributes" since.

An excellent thread at WebMasterWorld forums begins with Moderator Tedster who quotes George Orwell as follows (partially):

Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble.

he goes on to list some commonly made errors when "speaking Google," including ALT Tags, PageRank, Java vs JavaScript, and a list of others. He asks WMW members to share what they feel are other common errors, and the thread has rapidly grown to its second page.

Join in an find out if your use of search engine otpimisation and web design terminology is right or wrong, or share your own "words that make you want to cringe" at WebMasterWorld Forums.

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