Search Terms Also known as keywords or question terms, search terms are the word(s) or phrase(s) a user enters into a search engine's Query crate. A Search Engine Results Page (SERP) ranks indexed sites according to how relevant the Search Engine deems them to the search terms that were queried. One of the most significant SEO Strategies companies can hire is to optimize their site pages with content that contains targeted search terms relevant to their products or industry.