Glossary

A

Above the fold – term used to describe the viewable area of a website without using the scroll bar to move the page down.

Acrobat – set of applications developed by Adobe to create and view PDF files.

Active X – Microsoft programming language that delivers interactivity to normally static pages.

Adwords – Google’s Pay Per Click program

Adsense – Google’s contextual ad based program where third party sites host pay per click advertisings.

Affiliate Program – programs where third parties market traffic to other websites who will pay a commission on a sale generated from that lead.

Algorithm – complex set of rules that search engines use to present indexed web pages based on keyword searches.

ALT-attribute – Part of the image source tag in HTML that will display in place of that particular image on a site if a visitor chooses not to view graphic images on your website and will display that text upon mouse over of that image when using Internet Explorer as their browser.

Animate GIF – A GIF graphic file consisting of multiple images in a timed sequence to portray the effect of motion.

Animation – The rapid display of graphical images in a timed sequence to give the illusion of motion.

API – (Application Programming Interface) – Sets of rules that govern how apps exchange information.  When left open, they invite outsiders to harness that data.

Applet – small software application, typically in Java, used in websites.

ASP – Active Server Page - Microsoft’s server-side script engine for dynamically generated web pages.

Autoresponder – automated configuration generally used with an email application that will automatically respond a specified message to a received email.

B

Backlinks – incoming link to a web page which often measures the popularity and or importance of that particular web page.

Bandwidth – the amount of information the connection to the Internet can carry measured in bytes transferred over a prescribed period of time.

Bitmap image – meaning map of bits, is a graphic image composed of a pattern of dots in a specific arrangement.

Bookmark – Online marker that saves the location of a website for quick and easy access in the future.  Termed “favorite” in Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Browser – software that reads and translates HTML-coded web pages automatically making them viewable and functional to the site visitor.

Blacklist – referring to email marketing, is a list of entities or users that are denied the privilege of sending emails to particular recipients because of questionable practices.

Blog: Web Log – website where entries are input about particular topics of interest which are listed in chronological order.

Bulletin Board – portion of a website where site visitors can post announcements, ask / answer questions and share all other forms of information.

C

Cache – data from a webpage is temporarily stored on the computer’s hard drive to speed loading time the next visit.

CGI: Common Gateway Interface - interface that enables a web server to run external programs.  

CMYK – reference to the colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.

Compression – a technique of packing data to reduce file size and download times.

Cookie – file used to record a site visitor’s activity on a website to help customize future visits.

Corporate Identity – the persona of a company achieved through visual branding with use of logos, trademarks, color schemes, typefaces, page layouts and other such methods.

Crawl – action performed by search engine spiders that refers to the movement through links on a website to get from page to page for indexing.

CSS: Cascading Style Sheets – centralized document that states rules for how particular text elements are displayed across linked web pages.

Cybersquatting – the act of buying domain names with the intent of reselling for a profit or driving traffic to other sites rather than developing a legitimate website.

D

Database – structured collection of data which is stored for easy entry and retrieval.

Directory – centralized database of indexed web pages that do not utilize the use of spiders or robots.  Yahoo is a directory that is often mistaken for a search engine.

DNS: Domain Name System – translates URL text addresses into numeric Internet addresses or IP addresses.

DPI: Dots Per Inch – refers to the resolution and quality of a printer or other output device and the number of “dots” that are placed per inch.

Domain Name – the unique name that identifies a particular website on the Internet.

Dynamic Content – content on a website that changes automatically and is derived from a database or user information based on the actions of users or site visitors.

E

ecommerce – buying and selling of products and services on the Internet.

email branding – visual enhancement to the appearance of emails sent out which often uses images, text and links to websites.

email marketing – the act of communicating with a customer base by sending text or HTML emails.

encryption – converting data to an format that is unreadable by everyone except the intended recipient.

exact match – keyword search method where quotation marks (“ ”) are placed around a keyword or phrase to only produce documents containing those exact terms and not portions or variations of the words together.

Ezine: Electronic Magazine – collection of articles and information in a magazine style format for viewing.

F

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions – often a page on a website that lists questions and the respective answers to many common inquiries.

Flash – web based animation technology from Macromedia that provides visually enhancing motion and sound.

Font – size and style of text.

Forms – web pages containing input fields that collect data such as text and images.

Forums – centralized location site visitors can access to ask questions, answer questions and contribute information for other site visitors to view.

Freeware – free software available on the Internet for download.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol – allows the transfer of files from one computer to other computer or server through the Internet.

G

Gateway – bridging the gap between two applications or networks through use of hardware and / or software.

GIF: Graphics Interchange Format – compacted graphics file format.  Limited to 256 colors.

Gradient – gradual transition of colors sometimes used to give a normally solid colored image dimension.

GUI: Graphical User Interface – user interface that uses images and text to allow the site visitor to interact with functions of a website.

H

Hexadecimal – a numbering system (0-9 and A-F) used to determine color in web pages.

Hit – a single request for a webpage.

Hosting – storage of files on a server used for websites so they may be accessed by Internet users.

HTML: Hypertext Markup Language – primary programming language used to construct web pages.

Hyperlink – electronic connection between web pages.

I

ICANN: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - Nonprofit organization that governs the IP address system, regulates domain name registrars and settles cybersquatting disputes.

Icon – graphical image that represents a software program, file or function on a web page.

Image Map – a single graphic with multiple “hot spots” or clickable hyperlinks.

Impression – a single display of an image of advertisement often used as a measurement of exposure.

Index – refers to the database of documents a search engine has reviewed and stored.

IP address – number that serves as an address to each computer on the internet.

ISP: Internet Service Provider – the company that provides access to the Internet.

J

Java – programming language developed by Sun Microsystems for writing advanced programs that can be downloaded and used on different computers using different operating systems.

JavaScript – a supplemental programming language to Java that was developed to make web page graphics and navigations animated and dynamic.

JPG – file format for full-color and black and white graphic images.

K

keyword – word that is typed when searching for information on the search engines.

keyword density – the number of times a particular keyword or phrase is found in a particular web page or document.

keyword phrase or key phrase – two or more keywords used together when searching for information on the search engines.

L

Lead – potential customer’s contact data or someone that is interested or qualified to purchase the products and / or services of a business.

Link Exchanges – agreement to cross promote two, non-competing websites by placing links to one another’s websites on their own website.

Link Popularity – the measure of quantity and quality of inbound links to a particular web page.

Logo / Trademark Design – a graphical symbol or icon often used in conjunction with a unique typeface to elicit an immediate reaction and recognition of a certain company or corporation.

M

Mailing List – list of recipients to emails marketing campaigns and direct mail campaigns.

Manual Submission – the process of manually submitting web pages to search engines for indexing.

Meta-tag – HTML tag used to display specific information about a web page.

Mouseover – web graphic effect that changes the color or image when the mouse cursor is place over it.

Multimedia – simultaneous use of multiple media types such as text with animation or video with audio on a web page.

N

Navigation – structured set of links on a website that is used to easily move from page to page.

Newsgroup – electronic discussion group that users can post information and / or comments.

O

Opt-in – request to be part of or included in a distribution of a marketing communication such as an email marketing campaign.

Opt-out – request to be removed from a distribution list of a marketing communication.

Open Directory Project – massive database of documents available to other directories and search engines.

Optimization – structuring of a web page that is favorable for indexing on the search engines.

P

Page View – number of times a particular web page is viewed by a website visitor in a specific time period.

Pay Per Call – search engine advertising vehicle similar to pay per click but a unique phone number to the advertiser is provided and payment is only made when that unique phone number is dialed.

Pay Per Click – advertising vehicle available on the search engines where advertisements are placed in to provide links to a website or web page and the advertiser only pays when that link is “clicked on”.

PDF: Portable Document Format – file format created by Adobe Systems that allows high resolution documents to be easily transmitted across the internet and read by any computer with Acrobat Reader.

Podcasting: Personal Broadcasting – digital media file distributed over the Internet that can be downloaded for playback on portable media players and computers.

Q

Query – a search request submitted to a database to find information such as entering a keyword in a search engine.

R

Ranking – refers to the positioning on the results page of a search engine keyword search.

Robots – program designed to search the Internet and request specific web pages for recording and indexing of contents to create searchable databases.

Robots.txt – text file in the root directory of a website used to control which pages are to be indexed by a robot.

ROI: Return on Investment – measurement that compares the sales generated from a specific form of advertising to the investment of that advertising.

Royalty-Free Photos and Images – photos and / or graphics that are sold for a single fee and can be used by the purchaser as much as desired.

S

Script – type of program that processes requests in response to input from the browser.

Search Engine – program that indexes websites into a searchable database in which users can retrieve information by typing in keywords.

Secure Server – server that uses special software as a heightened level of security from tampering by third parties.

SEO: Search Engine Optimization – structuring of web page content to deliver favorable page ranking under keyword search results on the search engines.

Server – a host computer on a network that stores files.

SSL: Secure Sockets Layer – protocol used for secure data transmission in commercial transactions on the Internet.

Shopping Cart – section of a website that visitors can request and pay for products and services.

Sitemap – map of a website that contains links to every page on that website.

Spam – the act of sending out unsolicited bulk email communications.

Spider – search engine software that visits websites and indexes the pages of that website and stores them in that search engine’s database.

Splash Page – refers to the media rich (usually Flash) introduction to a website.

Streaming – refers to the immediate playing of multimedia files (such as video and audio files) instead of waiting for the entire file to download before playing.

Submission – the act of manually adding URLs to a search engine’s list of URLs to be indexed to their database.

T

Title Tag – contents of the title tag are displayed by the browser at the top of the browser window.  The search engines note the words used in the title tag as strong indicators of the page contents.

Thumbnail – a small version of a graphic image.

Traffic – refers to the visitors to or activity on a website.

U

URL: Uniform Resource Locator – used to specify the addresses of websites and web pages.

V

Vector – a graphic images drawn in shapes and lines based on mathematical equations which can be scaled without loosing image quality.

W

Web 2.0 – A vague term that can be defined in many different ways but refers to a set of technologies that let sites share and manipulate each other’s content.

Website – collection of electronic pages (web pages) linked together that display text, graphic images, and multimedia effects.

WYSIWYG – abbreviation for What You See Is What You Get.

X

Y

Z