A search term, otherwise known as a search query, is the word or phrase someone enters into a search engine, such as Google. A search term often contains (or is itself) a keyword: a word or phrase search marketers bid on in their search campaigns and try to rank for in the organic search results.

The definition of a search term (or search query) is straightforward. A search term is a single word or multiple words (search phrase), a user types into the search box of a search engine. Search engines such as Google, interpret the search terms to understand the intent of the user and return the most relevant results.

A search term, or search query, is the word or phrase someone enters into a search engine to search for on the internet. These can be single words or names, like [Yoast], or a combination of words, such as [buy robot vacuum cleaner], or even complete questions, like [how do I train my puppy?].