Web Glossary
We’ve put together a list of some of the more common Internet related terms that you may hear regarding the Web and Internet marketing below.
Affiliate Program – A type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts
Algorithm – A program that search engines use to determine what pages to display on a Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) for a particular search query
Analytics – The collection, measurement, analysis and reporting of Internet data for the purpose of understanding and optimizing Websites web pages and email campaigns
API (Application Programming Interface) – An interface for letting a program communicate with another program. In Internet terms, an interface allows web browsers or web servers communicate with other programs.
Authentication – The method used to verify the identity of a user, program or computer on the Internet
B2B – Business to Business
B2C – Business to Consumer
Bandwidth – The speed, or amount of data, sent and received through an Internet connection
Blog (Web Log) – A certain type of interactive website on which a person or group of users post opinions, information, responses and comments on a regular basis
Blogger – The person who is the main contributor to a Blog
Blogging – Writing posts or adding content to a blog
Bounce Rate – The percentage of website visitors who view only one page of a website before leaving
Bounce Out – The act of leaving a website after viewing only the entry page
Cache – A feature of web browsers or server which stores copies of web pages on a computer’s hard disk
Click – The act of clicking a mouse on a hyperlink on a webpage which takes the visitor to another website, web page or another part of the same web page
Click Through Rate -The percentage of website visitor’s click on a hyperlink on a web page
Cloud Computing – The delivery of services related to computing and storage to a community of Web based users
Computer Virus – A software program or code developed to harm a computer by displaying messages, deleting files, or destroying a computer’s operating system
Cookie (HTTP cookie, web cookie, or browser cookie) – a small piece of data from a website which is stored in a user’s browser while a user is browsing a website. When the user goes to the same website in the future, the data stored in the cookie can be retrieved by the website to notify the website of the user’s previous activity.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) – A style sheet language used for describing look and format of a document written in a markup language.
Content (copy) – The text or words on a web page
Database – Data stored on a computer in a way that a software program can retrieve and manipulate it
DHTML (Dynamic HTML) – HTML content that changes dynamically
Domain Name – A website address
Download – The Transfer of a file from a Web server to a Web client
Encryption – Converting data to a form that can only be read by someone that can un-encrypt it. The purpose of encryption is to prevent its unauthorized use
Firewall – Security Software that restricts unauthorized access to a network.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) – A common method of sending files between computers or networks
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) – A common image formats used on the Web
Gig (Gigabyte) – 1024 megabytes, commonly rounded down to one billion bytes
Hits – The number of times a web page has been viewed or downloaded
Home Page – The front page or main page of your website
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) – The computer language of the Web that is used to define the content, layout and the formatting of web documents and web pages
HTML Editor – A software program for editing HTML pages
HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) – An distribution protocol for collaborative and hypermedia information systems
IP (Internet Protocol) Address – A unique number that identifies every computer on the Internet
Java – A programming language developed by SUN Microsystems used to program web servers and web applets
JPEG or JPG – A common Internet image format
Keyword – A word used by a search engine to find relevant and authoritative content on the Internet
Link (hyperlink) – A connection to another web page or website, activated through the click of a mouse
Link building – Actively cultivating reciprocal links to and from a website
Link Farm – A group of websites that all (hyper)link to every other site in the group
Meta Tags – Terms that are inserted into the HTML code of a web page to describe its contents
MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) – Internet standard for defining document types
MP3 – An Internet audio compression file format
MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) – A set of standards for audio and video compression and transmission on the Web
MPG – The file extension for MPEG files
Multimedia – A presentation on the Web combining text, pictures, video, and / or sound
PPC (Pay Per Click) – Bid based Search engine advertising where the advertiser is charged on a per-click (through) basis
PDF (Portable Document Format) – A file format developed by Adobe, often used to make text documents un-editable
Plug-In – A program built in or added to a Web browser giving it the capability to handle a special types of data like movie files or animations
Search Engine – A computer program designed to search for, catalog and index information on the World Wide Web
SEM (Search Engine Marketing) – A form of Internet Marketing involving the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERP) through optimization and paid advertising
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – The process of improving the a website for better visibility in a search engine’s natural rank (non-paid) search results
SPAM – Unauthorized Commercial Email (UCE) – Sending multiple unauthorized email messages to a email list
Spyware – Software hidden in a computer which collects information about how it is used
SSL (Secure Socket Layer) – Encryption software used to secure and protect data transmissions and website communication
Social Media – A form of Internet based communications technologies used for interactive dialogue among organizations, communities and individuals
Social Media Marketing – The process of gaining website traffic or attention from social media sites
Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) – the listing of web pages returned by a search engine in response to a keyword query