Glossary of terms

10 Blue Links was formerly the way a search engine presented the 10 first link entries as suggestions, when you entered a query on it. It was used just to stand out and present results by sticking to what the user was looking for in their search. However, this strategy somehow evolved and now we can observe that not all the information given sticks to that information, but instead goes beyond the titular links. Although it's considered to be an outdated expression, we can currently still see it when simply referring to SERPs.

The content that is 10 times better than the top or highest ranking result for a specific keyword. In order to achieve a 10x content we should take into consideration the following steps:

• To provide a great UX on any device.
• Content must be interesting, useful, high quality and, of course, remarkable.
• Content must be, somehow,  different from your competitors’ content.
• Content must be, in some way, an emotion creator. Readers should experience some sort of feeling towards what they're reading.
• Content has to become a problem or a necessity solver for readers and, at the same time, provide accurate, comprehensive and unique information or resources.
• Content must be presented to readers in the most pleasurable and attractive style possible.

The HTTP 200 OK response code is a success status response that indicates that a request has been succeeded and received correctly on the server. When in an SEO environment the 200 OK response code will ensure us that our site is working properly and that all the linked pages are working as they should.

The 2xx status codes are a three digit code response to the request a website server receives from the browser each time you visit a new page on a website. This is the HTTP status code.

When it comes to SEO, these codes are differently handled by search engines, so it is most important to understand how they work and learn to use them correctly. Otherwise, when used incorrectly, HTTP status codes could cost major technical SEO issues to your site.

The 301 status code is a code that tells the browser that a web page has been moved permanently to a different page, which means that its former URL has changed. Any references to these resources in the future should be using one of the URLs included in the response.

When it comes to SEO, the 301 status should be used every time a URL is changed  permanently, as this redirect sends your current link equity from your content to the new website. However, links resulting in a status code 301 usually gives less link equity than 200. So, as a piece of advice, if you have several links going through a 301 Permanent Redirect, you should eventually fix those links immediately.

The 302 status code is a code that, like 301s, tells the browser that a web page has moved to another page with a changed URL. The difference between these two status codes is that while 301 shows a permanent redirect, the 302 status code only shows temporary page redirects.

When it comes to SEO strategy, you should be applying a 302 redirect when you want to move bots and users temporarily from one page to a new page. Mind also that if the page is not going back to the former page, you should always use a 301 permanent status code instead.

A 304 not modified status code is an HTTP status that indicates the users that the website they're trying to access hasn't been updated since the last time it was accessed.

In other words, usually accessing a web page or URL for the first time, the browser would request access to it from a web server and it will save (or cache) the information so it doesn't need to download that data every time. So when clicking on a web page or URL that hasn't been modified since the last time we accessed it, the web server will send back a 304 not modified status code, which will let the browser know to use a saved (or cached) version of that web page.

The 404 error is the most common 4xx code response from the server and it tells the users that the page they requested could not be found. In other words, users  will not access the page, although it may have not been deleted at all. A 404 error code can happen because of several site problems, though the most repetitive are the ones resulting after a web owner has removed a page on site but this page is still linked to internally; or maybe it also can happen simply because of a bug in the system.

In any case, even in some SEO strategies that a 404 error seems to be a useful and strategic resource, it should be avoided at all costs if possible.

The 410 Gone is a status code from the server that indicates to the user that the target resource has been deleted and, as it seems, this condition will be permanent. This status may be similar to a 404 one. However, while the 410 mainly indicates that the page has been permanently removed, the 404 status just indicates that the page could not be found.

Mind that a 410 status code should only be applied to pages that are to be removed permanently and that these will never come back to use. If you are not entirely sure whether the page will be coming back, you may just use a 404 status code instead.

The 4xx status code, or also known as 4xx Client error status code is a status response that indicates that a website or a page could not be reached, either because it's unavailable or because the request itself contains bad syntax.

When it comes to SEO strategy, 4xx status codes should be taken in serious consideration as, apart from giving the user a terrible experience, it will definitely affect all your SEO efforts.

A 5xx error code is a status response that indicates to the user that, although the request was valid and correctly sent, the server was unable to process the request itself. When experiencing a 5xx error code status for your website you should take a look at your server right away, as this kind of error status can cause big issues for your SEO results.

Mind that if you are hosting your own server, you'll need to start debugging to find out why the server is not responding properly. However, if you're using an external hosting provider you may need to reach out to them so they can recheck it.