Glossary of Terms – Thanks
in part to Quirk.biz.
A
Above the Fold That portion of a webpage that is
displayed on the user’s screen without scrolling. All of your
most important messages should appear above the fold.
ASPActive Server Pages- It’s the same abbreviation
as that for Application Service Provider but definitely not the
same thing. Active Server Pages are Microsoft's server-side
technology for dynamically-generated webpages. ASP of this variety
is marketed as an add-on to IIS.
ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. A lot
faster than ISDN, ADSL is a high speed method of accessing the Internet.
Adsense/Adwords Text and image advertisements
by Google that appear on websites.
Affiliate Marketing
An agreement between two sites in which one site - the affiliate,
agrees to feature content or an advertisement designed to drive
traffic to another site.
In return the affiliate site receives a percentage of sales generated
by traffic it sends towards this site.
AJAXAbbreviation of Asynchronous JavaScript and
XML, AJAX is a web development technique for creating interactive
web applications. AJAX increases usability and speed by ensuring
the webpage doesn’t have to reload each time a change is made
by the user.
Alexa Rank A number indicating how popular your
site is compared to other sites, based on information returned by
the Alexa Toolbar and SearchStatus. The number is the index of a
given site in long ordered list of popularity, the most popular
site at index 1, the second most at index 2 etc.
Alt Text This refers
to the "alt" attribute for the IMG HTML tag. It is used
in HTML to attribute a text field to an image on a webpage, normally
with a descriptive function, telling a user what an image is about
and displaying the text in instance where the image is unable to
load.
Apache An open source web server, Apache HTTP Server
is the most popular web server in use today.
Ask.com This search engine formally known as Ask
Jeeves was founded by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen. Ask Jeeves
allowed users to ask questions in everyday language and became an
extremely popular engine. As the bigwigs (Google, MSN and Yahoo!)
began indexing pages faster, Ask Jeeves suffered. Though its user
base is still significantly smaller than those of the big wigs,
Ask.com is still a popular engine.
ASP Abbreviation of Application Service Provider,
essentially a business that provides computer-based services to
customers over a network.
B
B2B Stands for Business to Business. When businesses
sell products/services to other businesses and not to consumers.
B2C Stands for Business
to Consumers. When businesses sell products/services to consumers.
Backlink All the
links on other pages that will take the user to a specific webpage.
Each link to that specific page is known as an inbound/backlink.
The number of backlinks influences PageRank so the more backlinks
the better.
Black Hat A term coined by the SEO industry to
define the unethical techniques some search engine optimisers use
to get their sites ranking at number 1. These practises include
keyword stuffing, hidden text and duplication of content. The immediate
results may be astounding but the long term results are detrimental
as black hat SEO techniques are a no go with the search engines:
employ these tactics at your own peril.
Blacklists Blacklists are lists of IP addresses
belonging to organizations that have been identified as SPAMMERS!
The ISP’s then use the IP addresses to add to the filter thereby
blocking these messages from reaching their final destination.
Blog Also known
as a web log, a blog is just that - almost like an online diary.
A blog allows users to post entries on different topics and allows
readers to comment on these posts. Blog types range from being personal
diaries to
news commentaries. Blogs are easy to update, encourage repeat visits,
create fresh content and natural links.
Bounces The number
of emails that were unable to reach their final destination due
to a hard or soft bounce.
C
Cache A cache is a temporary copy of a collection
of data. If accessing the original data is proving to be resource
heavy (read time-consuming), then users can access the cache thereby
not having to reload the original data.
Call To Action A
CTA is a phrase written to motivate the reader to take action. (sign
up for our newsletter, etc.).
Click Paths The
pattern of clicks, entry and exit points of a user’s interaction
with a website.
Click-through Rate
The number and percentage of recipients who clicked on a particular
URL included in an email, a webpage etc.
CMS Content Management
System - A script or program for maintaining websites. If you have
a CMS program you no longer have to depend on anyone else when it
comes to maintaining your site - but be sure that you get a good
one!
Contextual Advertising Advertising
within content rather than on search sites.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of visitors to a website that perform a desired action,
such as making a purchase or filling out a form. For example, if
30 visitors out of 100 subscribe to a newsletter the conversion
rate is 30%.
Cookies Small text
files that are stored on an end-user’s computer that allow
websites to identify the user, and allow the website owner to construct
a profile of that user.
CPA Cost Per Action.
Refers to the cost of acquiring a new customer. The advertiser only
pays when a desired action is achieved (sometimes called cost per
acquisition).
CPC Cost Per Click.
Refers to when an advertiser only pays when their ad is clicked
upon, giving them a visitor to their site - typically from a search
engine in Pay Per Click search marketing.
CPM Cost Per Thousand
(Mille). Refers to Cost per 1000 ad impressions. An advertiser pays
each time 1000 impressions of their ad are shown.
CSS Cascading Style
Sheets. This is a language used to describe how an HTML document
should be formatted -- look. Cascading Style Sheets provide the
ability to separate the layout and styles of a webpage from the
data or
information.
D
Data Mining The process of analyzing large amounts
of data for patterns. This process can be used to predict buying
habits, credit card purchases and cross sale capabilities.
Database Essentially
an electronic filing system. Information is organized and stored
in a manner that allows you to select the exact data you require.
Directory Directory websites provide an ordered
listing of registered websites in different categories. They are
similar to an e-version of Yellow Pages. Yahoo! and Excite are the
best known examples of directories.
DJ’s Three Rules of Marketing Also known
as the Holy Grail. They are 1. Who is Your Customer? 2. What Do
They Want? 3. Give it To Them!
Domain Name The name of a server that distinguishes
it from other systems on the World Wide Web: our domain name is
digstrat.com
Double Opt-in Opt-in is the process by which an
individual requests to receive email correspondence from a company.
Double Opt-in is the act of getting subscribers to confirm their
initial subscription via a follow up email asking them to validate
their address and hence opt-in again.
E
eCataloging Process and/or technology for cataloging
product information to present to customers and trading partners
via the internet and other forms of electronic communication.
eCommerce The conducting
of business communication and transactions over networks and through
computers. Specifically, the buying and selling of goods and services,
and the transfer of funds, through digital communications.
eMail marketing
Email marketing is the most effective of all online marketing tactics.
It is extremely cost effective, can be highly targeted and customized,
is measurable and best of all takes advantage of the consumer's
most prolific touch point with the Internet, their inbox.
eMarketing The process
of marketing a brand using the Internet. In a world where online
is everything you must include online as part of your advertising
channels and have a strategy.
eNewsletter Like
a traditional print newsletter but delivered to your inbox rather
than to
your post box.
Encryption Mathematical
algorithms are used to encrypt data in order to protect it from
unauthorized use.
eZine An electronic
magazine.
F
Feed See RSS and RSS Reader.
Firewall A combination
of hardware and security software that can protect your business
computer network from outside attacks like viruses.
Flash Developed
by Macromedia, Flash is essentially a multi-media technology that
incorporates interactivity into a site. It brings the wow factor
to a site, but be warned… the search engines are far from
fond of this technology. A
little Flash maybe, all Flash – most definitely not.
Fold Everything
you see on your computer screen for that page. All your critical
or most important information should lie above the fold in order
to reduce scrolling.
Forums/Newsgroup
An online discussion group.
Frames An HTML technique
used to combine two or more HTML documents within a single web browser
screen. Frames can often cause accessibility and usability issues
and their use is largely discouraged by good designers.
Frequency This is
the interval, at which email efforts such as newsletters are repeated,
(weekly/monthly etc.).
FTP File Transfer
Protocol is a standardized method of moving files across the Internet.
G
Geographical Targeting Like real estate online
is all location, location, location these days. Geographical Targeting or
Geotargeting is specifically useful to location specific businesses.
It allows you to see where your visitors come from and to give them
specific information that is relevant to them.
H
Header Tags Header tags (H1, H2, H3 etc) are standard
elements used to define headings and subheadings on a webpage. The
number indicates the importance, so H1 tags are viewed by the spiders
as being more important that the H3 tags. Using targeted key phrases
in your H tags is essential for effective SEO.
Hidden Text A technique
where the keywords are invisible to the naked eye as they are the
same color as the page's background. Search engines are not fooled
by this unethical technique and sites will be penalized for employing
it.
Hit A hit, though
often mistaken for a measure of popularity, is a request from a
user’s browser to view a particular page or image.
Home Page The first
page of any website. The home page gives users a glimpse into what
your site is about.
HTML The abbreviation
for HyperText Markup Language, read by web browsers. Certain HTML
"tags" are used to structure the information and features
within a webpage.
Hyperlink A link
in a webpage that allows you, once you click on it, to follow the
link to the relevant webpage.
I
IM Instant Messaging is a technology that allows
its users to communicate in real-time. Essentially your IM system
alerts you when a contact on your list is online; you can then initiate
a chat session. Also known as IMing.
Impressions The
number of times a webpage or ad is viewed.
Index The searchable
catalog of documents and pages created by a search engine. Web spiders
index websites with the search engines by scanning or“crawling”
them.
IP Address The Internet
Protocol (IP) address is an exclusive number, which is used to represent
every single computer in a network.
ISP Internet Service
Provider – this is the company that is providing you access
to the Internet e.g., AOL, Yahoo! etc).
J
Java A programming language which allows multifaceted
and graphical customer applications to be written and then accessed
from a web browser.
JavaScript A highly
popular scripting language that is used in web pages to improve
the design, validate forms, create cookies and control the popping
up of new windows among other functions.
K
Keywords, practically synonymous with Key Phrases
or search terms, keywords are entered as search queries into a search
engine. SEO's try to optimise their sites for these search terms.
Keyword Density This relates to the number of times
a keyword/key phrases appear on a webpage. This divided by the total
number of words that appear on a page gives you a percentage. The
higher the better - but not too high - you don't want to be penalised
for keyword stuffing.
L
Landing Page The page a user reaches when clicking
on a paid or organic search engine listing. The pages that have
the most success are those that match up as closely as possible
with the users search query.
Link Same as Hyperlink.
Load Time The length
of time it takes for a page to open completely in the browser window.
Log File A file
that is automatically created by a web server listing actions that
have occurred. Log file analysis tools show where visitors are coming
from, how often they visit, and track their path through the site.
When used in conjunction with cookies they provide a much greater
depth of information.
M
Marketing, DJ’s Three Rules of Also known
as the Holy Grail. They are 1. Who is Your Customer? 2. What Do
They Want? 3. Give it To Them!
Marketing Mix The
four elements businesses need to consider for the success of their
marketing efforts: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. The focus
that is placed on each one is entirely dependant on the goals of
the marketing
strategy.
Meta Tags There
to tell the spiders what exactly the webpages are about. It's important
that your Meta tags are optimized for the targeted key phrases.
Meta tags are made up of meta titles, meta descriptions and meta
keywords.
Meta-Search Engines A search tool that will allow
a user to conduct a search across two or more search engines and
directories. Examples of meta-search engines include Clusty and
Dogpile.
N
Natural Search These are the listings generally
found on the left hand side in search engines, and are not influenced
by direct financial payments. Listings are results based on factors
such as keyword relevancy within a webpage: SEO
is used to boost success. Also known as Organic Search.
Navigation Allows
users to move from page to page in your site. It is essential your
navigation is user friendly. If the users can’t easily find
their way, they won’t travel deeper into your site.
O
Open Rate This is also referred to as the read
rate. This is the number of emails that are opened in an email marketing
campaign as a proportion of the total emails sent.
Open Source Free
for everyone to use.
Opt-In Also known
as subscribe - Requesting to receive information from a company
via email. All responsible email marketers ensure that only users
who have opted in receive their communication. If you haven't opted
in - it's SPAM!
Opt-Out Also known
as unsubscribe - The act of removing oneself from a list or lists
so that specified information is no longer received via e-mail.
Organic Search These are the listings generally
found on the left hand side in search engines, and are not influenced
by direct financial payments. Listings are results based on factors
such as keyword relevancy within a webpage: SEO is used to boost
success. Also see Natural Search.
Outbound links These links will, once clicked on,
take users to another website.
P
PageRank A ranking or score to every webpage on
the Internet based on the number and quality of the page's backlinks,
this score is a number out of 10 with 1 being the lowest and 10
being the highest.
Pay Per Click Buying
sponsored ads on search engine results pages and content pages,
while only paying for those ads on a performance basis.
Pay Per Lead Similar
to Pay Per Click, PPL is an advertising payment model in which payment
is made on leads not just clicks.
Phishing A criminal
activity where “Phishers” attempt to fraudulently acquire
sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details.
Often this is done by masquerading as a party the victim is likely
to trust (another person or
reputable business) via some form of electronic communication like
email, IM or even telephone.
Plug-in A nifty
little extension that adds on to the capabilities of a major software
package.
Podcasting Publishing
audio programs via the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to
a feed of new files. Podcasting enables independent producers to
create selfpublished,
syndicated "radio shows". Listeners may subscribe to feeds
using"podcatching" software (a type of aggregator), which
periodically checks for and downloads new content automatically.
R
Reach The number of unique users who’ve viewed
an online advertisement.
Reciprocal Link This is when a site agrees to link
to another site providing that the other site links back to it in
return.
Referrer When a user clicks on a link from one
website to another website the user left is the referrer. Most browsers
log the referrer’s URL in “referrer strings,”
this information is vital to determining which queries are being
used to find
specific sites.
RSS Really Simple
Syndication provides you with specific content you want. RSS allows
you to receive/syndicate this information without requiring you
to constantly open new pages in your browser. Also see RSS Reader.
RSS Reader This
is how you read RSS Feeds. Also known as RSS Aggregator.
S
Scripting Language A high level language used to
control what the user sees on a site or to manipulate the data stored
on a server.
Search Searching
is the process of finding information on the net. Go to your preferred
search engine type in your search query and natural (and maybe paid)
listings will be displayed.
Search Engine Algorithm Search engines rank webpages
based on different sets of criteria: while they may attribute different
values of importance to the criteria they tend to consider the same
factors in general. The program which search engines use to judge
these factors and rank webpages in their SERPs is called their ranking
algorithm. Algorithms are regularly updated to combat spam and black
hat tactics. As the algorithms change and put more or less importance
on certain factors SEO’s do the same. Google’s change
in algorithm is termed the Google Dance.
Search Engines Search engines are programs that
allow users to search for information stored on the Internet. When
you enter a search term you will find both organic and paid for
listings.
Search Engine Copywriting The practice of writing
content specifically designed for chosen key phrases. This enhances
spiderability and results in higher rankings on search engines.
Search Engine Submission Supplying a URL to the
search engines to make them aware that the site/webpage actually
exists, in hopes of the site/page being indexed faster.
SEM Search Engine
Marketing - This is the process of getting a website to achieve
top rankings for its chosen key phrases on the search engines. See
SEO, Organic Search, Natural Search.
SEO Search Engine
Optimisation (SEO) is the creation or tweaking of a website to increase
the amount of traffic to the website by ranking high in the search
results of a search engine.
Shopping Cart Online
shopping software that allows you to add the product offerings on
a website to your cart. You can add, delete and purchase the merchandise
in your cart. Also known as shopping basket.
Site Analytics Site
analytics are essential to the success of any website – they
provide you with information detailing how visitors are interacting
with your site as well as how successful your supporting eMarketing
techniques are affecting your site’s performance. Data for
the analysis is mined using specialized software. Site analytics
provide you with a comprehensive and insightful analysis of your
website as well as an insight into what needs to be done to ensure
even greater success.
Site Architecture
The design and planning of websites involving the technical, aesthetic
and functional elements that combines to create a website.
Social Network In
the online sense, this refers to a type of website model where individual
members become part of a broader virtual community. You'll find
that users provide personal information about them in a profile
and reveal themselves through participation in the online community.
Soft Bounce The
failed delivery of an email due to a deviating reason like an overloaded
mail box or a server failure.
Spam Email sent
to someone who has not requested to receive it.
Spiders A program
that browses the net in order to create a copy of all visited pages
for processing by a search engine. This data is what the search
engines turn to when you enter a search term. The more often your
site is crawled and
the happier the spiders are the happier you will be. Also knows
as bots, crawlers and ants.
Splash Page This
is a page, usually animated and containing some kind of variation
of the phrase “click here to enter this site”. These
types are an absolute no-no
in terms of search engine optimization. Search engine spiders hate
them.
Subject Line The
title of the email communication. As it is the first element of
the communication that will be seen, it needs to be attention grabbing
and must not sound Spam-like. The subject line dramatically affects
the open rate.
T
Title Tags The (preferably optimized) title text
you select will appear in the reverse bar of a user’s browser
when they view the webpage. Title tags should be a brief and accurate
description of the page’s content.
Touch Point Every
instance the consumer comes into contact with a brand.
Tracking Measuring
the effectiveness of a campaign by collecting and evaluating statistics.
Traffic Essential
statistic traffic indicates the amount of visits a site receives
in a given amount of time. Remember that traffic alone isn’t
a measure of success – getting those visitors to convert is
the ultimate goal. Also known
as website traffic.
U
URL This is a website’s address e.g. http://www.digstrat.com.
Usability Usability
is a measure of how easy it is for a user to complete a desired
task. Sites with excellent usability fare far better than those
that are difficult to use.
V
Vertical Search Also known as specialized or niche
search. A search within a particular area of interest: where the
search database is highly refined for relevance to a particular
subject.
Viral Marketing
Takes your message and powerfully and quickly spreads it across
the Internet, just like the age-old concept of "word-of-mouth",
but in an electronic context – very powerful.
Virus A virus is
a destructive program that is loaded onto your PC (hopefully without
your knowledge). These little programs can delete or corrupt your
files so get yourself a good anti-virus software package.
W
Web Analytics A software tool that collects data
on web site users based on metrics to measure its performance.
Web Design The layout
and structure of a webpage. Web design is not solely about making
the page look pretty, it’s about functionality and usability.
Web Presence Your
web presence is determined on whether you have a webpage or website
on the net. If you don’t you are unknown and are losing out!
Web2.0 The network
as a platform for content and functionality. This includes delivering
and allowing multiple users access to dynamic web applications and
content; online collaboration, generation and distribution of data
and a
richer interactive user experience through website pplications that
enhance value and ease-of-use. Web2.0 is often considered to include
RIAs (Rich Internet Applications) built in AJAX, Flash, Java applets
or ActiveX.
WebPR Public relations
on the web. Online press releases and article syndication promote
brands as well as drive traffic to sites.
WordTracker WordTracker helps website owners and
search engine marketers identify keywords and phrases that are relevant
to their or their client's business and most likely to be used as
queries by search engine visitors.
X
XML An abbreviation of Extensible Markup Language,
XML is the programming language used to create custom tags.
