Natural Language Understanding (NLU)

AI technology that enables machines to interpret human language, grasping meaning, context, and intent beyond literal words. Google uses NLU extensively to match conversational queries with the most relevant content.

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Related Terms

NAP

Short for Name, Address, and Phone Number — the core business details that must be identical across every directory, citation, and online profile. NAP inconsistencies confuse search engines and erode local ranking performance.

Natural Link

A backlink that another website places voluntarily because they find your content genuinely valuable. Natural links are the gold standard in SEO because they represent authentic, unsolicited endorsements that search engines reward.

Navigational Query

A search where the user already knows the website they want to reach and uses Google as a shortcut to get there (e.g., searching "KarmaLinks login" instead of typing the URL). Ranking for your own branded navigational queries is table stakes.

Negative SEO

Deliberately attacking a competitor's rankings with black-hat tactics — such as building thousands of spammy backlinks to their site or scraping their content. Google's algorithms have become better at ignoring these attacks, but the disavow tool remains a safety net.

Nofollow

A link attribute (rel="nofollow") that signals search engines not to pass ranking value through that hyperlink. Publishers use nofollow on paid links, user-generated content, and untrusted URLs to stay compliant with Google's guidelines.

Noindex Tag

A directive in a page's HTML or HTTP headers telling search engines not to include that URL in their search index. Noindex is useful for keeping internal pages, staging environments, and thin pages out of search results.