Glossary of Terms
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S U V W
ad banner:
An advertisement on a Web page that links to an advertiser's Web site or buffer page. Ad banners are the most common unit of advertising on the Web and cost anywhere from free to upwards of $15,000 - $150,000 per month depending on the amount of page views the Web site (and thus the ad banner) receives. It's called an ad "banner" because the original online advertisements were always in the shape of a banner, usually at the top of a page. Nowadays, there are many sizes of online ad "banners" for example, see the IAB. The standard size for an ad banner set by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) is 468 pixels wide by 60 pixels high.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
ad server:
A program or a type server that manages and maintains ad banners for a Web site or collection of Web sites. These programs are extremely sophisticated and are capable of keeping track and reporting Web site usage statistics. Ads can then be targeted towards certain types of individuals. It also provides the ability to rotate banners so a user won't see the same ad every time they come back to the same page.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
access time:
The time it takes a computer to retrieve stored data. Technically speaking, access time is the time interval between the instant a computer calls for data from a storage medium (such as a hard disk, CD-ROM, or the Internet) and the instant the data is delivered. This can be a matter of seconds or minutes on the Web, depending on the speed of your connection. If you leave your computer and your browser stays idle for too long, your ISP may automatically "cut your time off" and you'll have to dial-up to get access again.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
affiliate:
Businesses that run affiliate programs pay a commission on sales of their products or services generated from your website. Commission amounts vary. As an affiliate, you host a link or banner promoting the company's website or product.
alt text:
The text you see before an image is loaded on a Web page;or with some Web browsers , the text that appears when you put your mouse on top of an image. A Web site author can code an alt tag when building a Web page to say anything he/she wants. Usually it is a description of the picture/image or verbage such as "visit our sponsor." The HTML syntax or code looks like this: <img src="/logo.gif" alt="NetLingo: The Internet Language Dictionary">
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
ASCII:
American Standard Code for Information Interchange (pronounced: ass-key) The world-wide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes, each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111. This is also used to describe files that are stored in clear text format. Some rather inventive individuals have developed what is known as ASCII art, a lowbrow art in a high tech medium, using only the ASCII character set to create images.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
banner ad:
See "ad banner"
benchmark:
Something that serves as a standard by which others may be measured or judged.
Resource: Merriam Webster's Dictionary
browser:
A program used to view, download, upload, surf or otherwise access documents (pages) on the World Wide Web. Browsers can be text-based meaning they do not show graphics or images but most however are text and graphical based. Browsers read "marked up" or coded pages (usually HTML but not always) that reside on servers and interpret the coding into what we see "rendered" as a Web page. Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are examples of Web browsers. The program you are using right now to view this information is called a browser.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
browser compatibility:
A term that compares the way a Web page looks on one WWW browser as opposed to another. Usually this is done with Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) and Netscape Navigator/Communicator, but can also refer to cross platform compatibility, which is for example the way a page renders or displays on a Windows system as opposed to a Mac. The reason these incompatibilities exist is due to the way a browser interprets the Web page's code (HTML).
Browser compatibility is also used in conjunction and should not be confused with the term browser support that refers to the ability of a particular browser to even recognize and interpret certain HTML or other Web page codes. For example Netscape Navigator 2.0 introduced the ability to render a page layout in frames. Therefore it can be said that Navigator 1.0 did not "support" frames.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
bulletin board:
An electronic forum that hosts posted messages and articles related to a common subject.
click rate:
The percentage of impressions that resulted in users clicking on an ad banner.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
click/click through rate:
Clicks divided by ad requests or ad impressions.
Source: IAB Canada
confirmation page:
A page that is displayed in a web browser after a form has been submitted by a user.
conversion rate:
An equation that determines the number of visitors that become something else like subscribers, buyers or members. For example, the conversion rate of visitors that subscribe to a newsletter = number of visitors divided by number of subscribers. If a website has 10,000 visitors and 500 subscribe, the conversion rate equals 1 in 20.
cookie:
Where a Web server stores a small piece of information with a browser that uniquely identifies that browser. While cookies only identify unique computers - as opposed to individuals - the inactivity constrain on the calculation of visits, i.e. 30 minutes, should make it relatively safe to use cookies to determine the page requests associated with one. One caveat is caching: reportedly, some online services are caching the cookies, thus requesting pages for multiple visitors. Another occurs when you count visits just by cookies; you will end up with a batch of pages for visitors without cookies. You must use one of the other methods to estimate the numbers of visitors that created this batch of requests.
Source: IAB Canada
dial-up service:
This is the way you access the Internet from your computer. The ISP gives you a local telephone number that you dial to connect to his computer, which is connected to the Internet full time. Dial up service should cost about $20/month for unlimited connection time to a local toll-free number.
discussion group:
A Web that supports interactive discussions by users. Users submit topics or responses by entering text in a form.
domain name:
The "address" or URL of a particular Web site. This is also how you describe the name that is at the right of the @ sign in an Internet address. For example, netlingo.com is the domain name of this Internet dictionary. There is an organization called InterNIC that registers domain names for a small fee and keeps people from registering the same name. Most recently, more domain names will be allowed due to new suffixes coming out. These are:
- .arts for arts and cultural entities
- .firm for business
- .info for information services
- .non for individuals
- .rec for recreation and entertainment
- .store for merchants
- .web for Web services
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
DNS Domain Name System:
A database system that translates an IP address into a domain name. For example, a numeric IP address like 207.219.116.4 is converted into netlingo.com. The DNS is a static, hierarchical name service and it uses TCP/IP hosts, and is housed on a number of servers on the Internet. Basically, it maintains this database for figuring out and finding (or resolving) host names and IP addresses. This allows users to specify remote computers by host names rather than numerical IP addresses.
Also referred to as domain name service and domain name server.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
dynamic content:
Information on a Web site or Web page that changes often, usually daily and/or each time a user reloads or returns to the page. Content that is also structured based on user input. For example, when you search on some keywords on a search engine, the resulting page you get is a "dynamic" page, meaning the information was created based on the words you typed into the form on the previous page.
Dynamic Web sites are usually driven by Web application environments such as Microsoft ASP or Allaire's Cold Fusion, and the content is taken from a database each time a page request is made. [There are many Open Source options as well.]
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
e-commerce : Electronic Commerce:
Quite simply it means conducting business online. In the traditional sense of selling goods, it is possible to do this electronically because of certain software programs that run the main functions of an e-commerce Web site, such as product display, online ordering, and inventory management. The software works in conjunction with online payment systems to process payments and resides on a commerce server.
The definition of e-commerce has expanded to include all kinds of commercial online transactions, for example: selling products via credit cards, charging for advertising on a highly trafficked Web site, or trading stock in your brokerage account; basically anyway a company can derive revenue online is thought of as e-commerce. E-commerce has become a very hot topic and complex issue due to privacy rights and fraud as well as the enormous amount of money it can generate for some businesses.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
e-zines:
On line magazines, also called "zines"
FAQ :
Frequently Asked Questions. A common type of document that contains a list of questions and answers.
FTP:
File Transfer Protocol. The Internet service that transfers files from one computer to another, over standard phone lines.
functionality: functional capability:
Use is deprecated in contexts where just "function" means the right thing. (Marketing people seem to think the two are synonymous and that "functionality" has a more impressive sound to it.)
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
GIF : Graphics Interchange Format:
Developed by Compuserve using compression technology from Unisys. On the World Wide Web pictures and graphics you see on Web pages are usually in GIF format because the files are small and download quickly. Another type of graphics format used commonly are JPEG these files download even faster and contain a better resolution but cannot be interlaced so many Web page authors tend to opt for using GIF's instead to get that "melting" onto the screen effect that happens with interlaced images.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
hit :
The access of a file by a user on a server. Every element of a requested page (graphics, multimedia, etc.) including the HTML file itself is counted as a hit. For example, if a Web page contains five graphics, then accessing the page generates six hits. Hits used to be a method of determining the amount of traffic a Web site received, however, due to the fact that businesses needed to isolate the exact number of times a page was requested (in order to charge for advertising), this method was tossed aside in lieu counting the actual HTML page requests.
hit -- a definition circa 1994 A term used to describe the accessing of a World Wide Web page. When a user "points" a browser to a Web site URL, the moment that user requests the HTML document is called a "hit". Hits are used to determine how popular a Web site is and plays an important role in assessing how much it costs to advertise on a particular Web page. Some Web site authors and developers use counters on their page to let people know how many other users (hits) have accessed that particular page that they are on. There has been great debate as to the validity of the "number of hits" pages or sites are said to receive due in part to Web servers that record hits not only on accesses to HTML pages but also the graphics which are embedded in them.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
homepage: (also written as Home page):
The first or "front" page on a Web site that serves as the starting point for navigation. Where the site's information actually begins. Also known as the Welcome page. This should not be confused with a buffer page or splash page. One Word or Two When used to refer to something belonging to an individual, person or group of people (a company for instance), or when used to refer to a place you want someone to visit or does not yet exist, the one word version is used - for example: - "Have you seen our/my homepage?" or "I gotta get a homepage up!". When talking about a Home Page as a piece of a larger Web site with many pages, in navigational directions on the actual Web site or once you have actually arrived at this place as in: "From the Help Page go back to the Home Page" or "This is our Home Page", the two word version seems to be more applicable. You may also see it written instructionally as just simply "Home" instead of Home Page. Sometimes an Internet service provider will offer a certain amount of disk space on their server for an account to put up their own homepage.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
host:
On the World Wide Web, it is a computer that houses the files that creates your web site. The host computer is connected to the Internet full-time over high speed wires.
HTML:
HyperText Markup Language. The standard language for describing the contents and appearance of pages on the World Wide Web.
HTTP:
HyperText Transport Protocol. The Internet protocol that is used by the server and your computer to transfer the data between them.
hyperlink: (also known as just "link"):
The text you find on a Web site which can be "clicked on" with a mouse which in turn will take you to another Web page or a different area of the same Web page. Hyperlinks are created or "coded" in HTML. They are also used to load multimedia files such as AVI movies and AU sound files.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
hypertext:
A system of writing and displaying text that enables the text to be linked in multiple ways, to be available at several levels of detail, and to contain links to related documents. The term was coined by Ted Nelson to refer to a nonlinear system of information browsing and retrieval that contains associative links to other related documents. See Also: hypermedia and hyperlink. The World Wide Web uses hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) to provide links to pages and multimedia files.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
impressions :
With regard to online advertising, it is the number of times an ad banner is downloaded and presumably seen by users. Guaranteed impressions refers to the minimum number of times an ad banner will be seen by users.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
index:
Can refer to a file or directory found on a server. The file usually contains information about the directory or Web site as well as access privileges required, dates, and even a list of other indexes (indices). This is usually the first place you check when you're looking for a file. A file called index.html is usually the starting point or home page for a Web site. A server is usually configured to display automatically the index.html or .htm file when a request for a certain directory comes to the server, therefore, the "default" page that comes up when you type in a URL like http://www.netlingo.com would be http://www.netlingo.com/index.html.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
Internet:
The global computer network, composed of thousands of wide area networks (WANs) and Large Area Networks (LANs) that uses TCP/IP to provide world-wide communications to homes, schools, businesses and governments.
InterNIC:
Internet Network Information Center
A repository of information about the Internet. It is divided into two parts: 1) directory services, run by AT&T in New Jersey, and 2) registration services, run by Network Solutions in Virginia. It is funded partially by the National Science Foundation and partially by fees that are charged to register Internet domains.
This is the place where you register URLs or Domain Names like www.netlingo.com and it basically involves a fee and several forms (some very technical), to set the whole thing up.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
interstitial:
This term means something in between and is a page that is inserted in the normal flow of content between a user and a site. An Interstitial Ad is an intrusive ad unit that is delivered without specifically being requested by a user.
Source: IAB Canada
ISP:
Internet Service Provider. Originally this was the company that provided your dial-up service. Now it may also refer to the company that hosts your web site.
JPEG :
Joint Photographic Expert Group. A graphical file format used to display high-resolution colour images on the World Wide Web.
keyword :
The word (or words) a user types in when presented with a search box (for example the box in front of where it says "Look It Up" near the upper right-hand corner on the homepage of NetLingo). On a search engine, for example, a keyword is the term or phrase that you type in to begin an online search.
The term keyword also appears in a meta tag as part of the HTML code on a Web site. Keywords are the series of words which follow this tag, and often comprise a long list of terms in order to help the search engines readily identify and better index the Web site.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
link :
Text and/or an image area on a Web page that a user can click on to "connect to" or reference another document. There are many possibilities of what that document can be. Most commonly links are thought of as what connects two Web pages or Web sites. They can also however be referencing a different part of the same document, linking to a file which will download to your computer or triggering the launching of an external or helper application which will then process the clicked on file. What actually occurs when you click on a link is determined by the file's MIME type which is configured (setup) on your computer system to make certain things happen when a MIME type is clicked on. For example it is configured in your browser preferences to display Web page files whenever a file whose MIME extension is HTML.
Links are also called hyperlinks, hypertext and hot links and they are coded in HTML by Web page authors.
The basic HTML code for using text to "link" to another page looks something like this:
<a href="http://www.netlingo.com">NetLingo</a> and looks something like: NetLingo
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
listserv:
List server software that enables you to have a moderated discussion group via e-mail. Made by L-Soft Corporation.
mailing list :
A collection of like-minded people connected via e-mail, usually to discuss or exchange information on one or more topics.
meta tag:
An optional HTML tag that is used to specify information about a Web document. Some search engines such as AltaVista use "spiders" to index Web pages. These spiders read the information contained within a page's META tag. So in theory, an HTML or Web page author has the ability to control how there site is indexed by search engines and how and when it will "come up" on a user's search.
The META tag can also be used to specify an HTTP or URL address for the page to "jump" to after a certain amount of time. This is known as Client-Pull. What this means, is a Web page author can control the amount of time a Web page is up on the screen as well as where the browser will go next. Here's a look at the syntax for search engine indexing: <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE> </TITLE> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="web stuff"> </HEAD> </HTML>
Here's a look at the syntax for Client Pull: <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE> </TITLE> <META HTTP-EQUIV="REFRESH" CONTENT="30; URL=meta2.html"> </HEAD> </HTML> This will "refresh" or change to the URL specified in 30 seconds.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
navigation:
To move around a website by following hypertext paths (or links) from page to page (or document to document).
navigational flow
The ease (or difficulty) that visitors experience navigating a website. It is the flow or intuitiveness of the website navigation. Good navigational flow is when a visitor easily finds the links to what they are looking for.
newsgroups:
A part of the Internet that allows users to "post" and "reply to" messages from other users. A discussion forum similar to that found on local BBSs. Broken into many different subjects (approx. 25,000) newsgroup titles usually begin with a three or four letter prefix followed by a ".", alt., soc., comp., misc., rec., and sci. just to name a few.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
online :
Being connected to the Internet via an ISP. Used as an adjective, it describes a variety of activities that users do on the Internet, for example: online chat, online shopping, online games, online searching, online communities, and on and on.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
page requests or page views:
The number of times a Web page is requested from a server. This is the preferred counting term for traffic estimates and measurement instead of hits.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
portal:
Web sites that serve as starting points to other destinations or activities on the Web. Initially thought of as a "home base" type of Web page. Most major search engines and directories have positioned themselves as "portals". Often portals offer free services like e-mail or search functions with the objective of building traffic so they can generate advertising revenue and sell products.
referral link :
The referring page, or referral link, is a place from which the visitor clicked to get to the current page. In other words, since a hyperlink connects one URL to another, in clicking on a link the browser moves from the referring URL to the destination URL.
Source: IAB Canada
rich media:
Web pages or ads that contain multi-media components such as audio, video or special effects using Shockwave, Flash or Javascript.
Source: IAB Canada
search directory:
Unlike a search engine, which relies solely on some form of Internet technology to operate, a search directory includes a human touch at some point; meaning someone actually edits links and classifies them into a directory. A search engine, on the other hand, uses a bot to sort it out.
The most famous search directory is Yahoo! and it's such a success because those two guys (Jerry Yang and David Filo) started to physically keep track of interesting sites, resulting in an organized way to view things on the Web. (Rumor has it that the way Yahoo! got it's name is because during that time, acronyms were becoming so popular and they jokingly referred to their project as "Yet Another Hilarious Acronym.")
A search directory can be classified as a search engine because the way in which the information in the directory is presented is obviously dependent on Internet technology. A search engine can never be referred to as a search directory because a directory makes use of human judgement at some point. The distinction and result of this difference is easily apparent when doing an online search. Instead of a "spit-out" of a robot's results (showing you 150,000 links of which the majority seem unrelated) a directory comes back with more accurate links that are better sorted.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
search engine:
A program which acts as a card catalog for the Internet. Search engines attempt to index and locate desired information by searching for keywords in which a user specifies. The method for finding this information is usually done by maintaining indices of Web resources that can be queried for the keywords entered by the user. These lists are either built from specific resource lists (as is the case with a search directory) or created by Web programs, with insect names like bots, spiders, crawlers, and worms.
From a Net surfer point-of-view search engines can be quite tiresome and not very efficient if you don't know how to use them correctly. On top of that, different engines are good for different kinds of searches so it's a good idea before using a search engine to READ THE ADVANCED SEARCH SECTION of the engine's Web site.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
server:
A host computer on a network that holds information (e.g., Web sites) and reponds to requests for information from it (e.g., links to another Web page). The term server is also used to refer to the software that makes the act of serving information possible. Commerce servers, for example, use software to run the main functions of an e-commerce Web site, such as product display, online ordering, and inventory management. You'll also hear this described as "shopping cart technology."
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
spiders/robots/bots:
Automated programs or scripts which travel on the Web and copy pages, ads and anything else they are programmed for. In most cases such activity is used for archive or storage. Search engines conduct this type of activity to provide useful links when users conduct specific queries.
Source: IAB Canada
splash page:
A "first" or "front" page that you often see on some Web sites, usually containing a "click-through" logo or message, or a fancy Flash presentation, announcing that you have arrived. The main content and navigation on the site lie "behind" this page (a.k.a. the homepage or "welcome page").
Previously thought of as superfluous, the use of splash pages may see a big return for the following reason: it used to be that search engines would classify and retrieve Web sites based primarily on meta-tags, but now each search engine has it's own set of criteria if you want to try and get your site listed near the top. Simply inserting "help, Internet terms, online jargon" in the header doesn't cut it anymore.
What WILL work is the use of a splash page or "doorway page" that complies with EACH search engine's criteria, therefore, if you want to target top listings in 10 search engines for 10 keywords, you'll need to create a few splash pages. The only time the user will see these pages is when they click on your link from the particular search engine. It has to do with writing a paragraph of text about 100-120 words with the keyword 8-10 times in the paragraph and a headline with the keyword. This way the pages are optimized for each keyword for each search engine. We recommend paying a search engine consultant to do it for you.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
URL :
Uniform Resource Locator. A string that supplies the Internet address of a web site or resource on the World Wide Web, along with the protocol that the site or resource is accessed.
user:
People using or accessing the WWW. Could also refer to people accessing a specific web site or web page, in this case the user is the same as a visitor or customer.
username:
The name that gets you access to things. A username is like a handle for a user on the Internet and is commonly left up to the user to decide what it is, although most Web sites or systems will NOT allow the same username to be assigned to two different people. Usually it's the first part of your e-mail address before the @ sign or the nickname you use in a chat room.
The name by which you or someone else is known by on the Internet. Used when logging into an access provider or when entering a member's only area on the Web.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
Visitor :
There are four methods used to estimate the number of visitors (unique users) based on server-centric log files (IAB Media Measurement Task Force). Each of the various methods has not yet been perfected.
Source: IAB Canada
Visitor sessions:
A meeting or period devoted to a particular activity. In this case, a visitor session is the period that a visitor or user devotes to a website. If website visitor sessions were being measured, the number of unique visitors and the average time spent at a website would be calculated.
Web audit:
A tracking and measurement report of website statistics:
- Number of visitors, page views and hits
- Number of error messages
- Time spent by visitors
- Referring links and banners
- Referring search engines and directories
- Browser versions used by visitors
- Navigational flow
- Entry and exit pages
- Conversion rates of those that visit to those that register or buy
For NetSetGo Marketing purposes, this term also means measuring the effectiveness of a company's website as a marketing tool.
Web browser: (also known as "browser"):
A program used to view, download, upload, surf or otherwise access documents (pages) on the World Wide Web. Browsers can be text-based meaning they do not show graphics or images but most however are text and graphical based.
Browsers read "marked up" or coded pages (usually HTML but not always) that reside on servers and interpret the coding into what we see "rendered" as a Web page. Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are examples of Web browsers. The program you are using right now to view this information is called a browser.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
WebRing:
A WebRing is an Internet service and concept which links together a group of sites that have the same theme. In each WebRing, member Web sites have banded together to form their sites into linked circles. Their purpose: to allow more visitors to reach them quickly and easily.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
Website:
A home and/or location on the World Wide Web. A place made up of Web pages. These pages can contain graphics, text, audio, video and other dynamic and/or static materials. As with many Internet terms "Website" is constantly used interchangeably with other terms, like home page and "web page". So you may hear someone refer to their "home page" when in fact they are talking about an entire "Website". Some even refer to a Website simply as a "Web page". When really a Web page is just a single piece of potentially hundreds of other pages making up the entire "site" and the home page is more correctly the "front door" or entrance to the "web" of other pages it is linked to on the site. The process of moving through a Website is called navigation.
A Website is also considered to be simply any computer hooked up to the Internet and available via a hostname, domain name or URL. Like "home page" you will often see Website used in the two word form like "web site". Largely, both are considered correct, but companies, individuals and organizations publishing Web pages usually setup for consistency sake, a style guide which among many other things might state that the term Website should be used in either the single or two word form.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
WWW: World Wide Web:
You're in it -- the system by which you are viewing this document right now! Technically it is a global (Worldwide) hypertext system that uses the Internet as its transport mechanism. In a hypertext system, you navigate by clicking hyperlinks, which display another document, which also contains hyperlinks. What makes the Web such an exciting and useful medium is that the next document you see could be housed on a computer next door or halfway around the world. The Web makes the Internet easy to use.
Created in 1989 at a research institute in Switzerland, the Web relies upon the hypertext transport protocol (http), an Internet standard that specifies how an application can locate and acquire resources stored on another computer on the Internet. Most Web documents are created using hypertext markup language (html), an easy to learn coding system for WWW documents. Incorporating hypermedia (graphics, sounds, animations, and video), the Web has become the ideal medium for publishing information on the Internet. With the development of secured server protocol (https), the Web is quickly becoming an important commercial medium whereby consumers can browse online catalogs and purchase merchandise without worrying that their credit card information will be intercepted.
Definition courtesy of www.netlingo.com.
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