Glossary of Web Design Terms

Applet

A small Java® program which allows a Web page to display animation, calculators, sound effects or other interactive functions.

Bandwidth

The rate at which information travels through a network connection, usually measured in bits per second, kilobits (thousand bits) per second, or megabits (million bits) per second.

Bookmark (add to favorites)

A file within a browser in which an Internet user can save the addresses of interesting or frequently used Web sites, so that they are readily available for re-use.

Browser

A program that allows a user to find, view, hear, and interact with material on the World Wide Web. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator are examples of popular browsers.

Canonicalization

Canonicalization is the process of converting data that has more than one possible representation into a “standard” canonical representation. This can be done to compare different representations for equivalence, to count the number of distinct data structures (e.g., in combinatorics), to improve the efficiency of various algorithms by eliminating repeated calculations, or to make it possible to impose a meaningful sorting order.

Content

All of the viewable information on a given web page. Includes all text, files and graphics in a given page.

Copy

The actual text of a specific web page and all written information.

Digital Imaging Services

A term to describe the process of creating, photographing, restoring and manipulating digital images.

Domain Name

Domain names are the alphabetic names used to refer to computers on the Internet. A Web site address, including a suffix such as .com, .biz, .org, .gov, or .edu. The suffix indicates what type of organization is hosting the site.

• .com – Originally stood for “commercial,” to indicate a site that could be used for private, commercial purposes, but now the best well known top level domain, and used for a wide variety of sites
• .biz – Alternative commercial domain when the com suffix is unavailable
• .net – Originally intended for site related to the Internet itself, but now used for a wide variety of sites
• .edu – Use for educational institutions like universities
• .org – Originally intended for non-commercial “organizations,” but organizations now used for a wide variety of sites
• .gov – Used for US Government sites
• .mil – Used for US Military sites
• .us – used to indicate a business or organization within the United States

Download

To transfer (copy) files from one computer to another. “Download” can also mean viewing a Web site, or material on a Web server, with a Web browser.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)

A means of accessing the Internet at very high speed using standard phone lines.

E-mail (Electronic Mail)

Messages sent through an electronic (computer) network to specific groups or individuals. Though e-mail is generally text, users can attach files that include graphics, sound, and video. E-mailing requires a modem to connect the telephone line to the computer, and an e-mail address.

Hosting Service Provider

A company that sells space for files and web pages on their servers for direct access to the Internet.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

The coded format language used for creating hypertext documents on the World Wide Web and controlling how Web pages appear.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

The standard language that computers connected to the World Wide Web use to communicate with each other.

Hyperlink

An image or portion of text on a Web page that is linked to another Web page, either on the same site or in another Web site. Clicking on the link will take the user to another Web page, or to another place on the same page. Words or phrases which serve as links are underlined, or appear in a different color, or both. Images that serve as links have a border around them, or they change the cursor to a little hand as it passes over them.

Information Architecture

A solid Information Architecture is the key to an effective website. We will work with you to ensure that your content is organized in an effective manner. This will provide visitors to the site with ease of navigation and increased usability.

Internet

A global connection of computer networks, also referred to as the “Net,” which share a common addressing scheme.

Intranet

A private network inside a company or organization, which uses software like that used on the Internet, but is for internal use only, and is not accessible to the public. Companies use Intranets to manage projects, provide employee information, distribute data and information, etc.

ISP (Internet Service Provider)

A company that sells direct access to the Internet, most often through dialing a local phone number. Unlike some online services, ISPs provide little or no proprietary content or online services.

Java®

A computer programming language invented by Sun Microsystems. Using Java, Web developers create small programs called “applets” and “scripts” that allow Web pages to include animations, calculators, scrolling text, sound effects and games.

Keyword

A word that is entered into the search form or search “window” of an Internet search engine to search the Web for pages or sites about or including the keyword and information related to it.

KPI – Key Performance Indicators

Counting what counts, Key Performance Indicators as related to web analytics (web metrics) are the predefined measurable qualitative and quantitative data sets that help website owners measure the success of their internet marketing actions such as; page views, page views per visit, unique visitors, returning visitors, popular pages, keyword analysis, referring sites, abandonment, visitor paths through the site and entry and exit pages.

Metatags

Words and code embedded in the HTML code of a webpage, provide useful information that are not defined by other HTML elements. Their function is to provide information about a document and about a document’s content. Search engines use this information to categorize, prioritize and rank websites.

PageRank by Google

Google defines PageRank as follows…
PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at considerably more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; for example, it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important.” Using these and other factors, Google provides its views on pages’ relative importance.

Publishing (web pages)

Once all the web pages for a web site are completed they need to be published (uploaded and/or delivered) to a server to be viewed at your domain name.

ROI (Return On Investment)

ROI is calculated by considering the financial benefit for the desired period divided by the initial financial investment amount.

Search Engines

Search Engines are basically huge databases containing website info. If you want someone to find your website by searching, then you need to market/promote your website to them. They are a tool that enables users to locate information on the World Wide Web. Search engines use keywords and metatags configured and entered by web developers to find Web sites which contain relevance to the information sought.

SEO – Search Engine Optimization

A form of online marketing, search engine optimization (search engine marketing or organic SEO) is the process of making a site and its content highly relevant for both search engines and searchers. Successful search engine optimization (marketing) helps a site gain top positioning for relevant words and phrases. Not to be confused with PPC or pay per click wherein site owners bid to out-position other site owners by paying a fee for the keywords they desire. While PPC can be fruitful – independent studies show there is a greater Return On Investment (especially long term) via search engine optimization.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing / Promotion)

Once all the web pages of a web site are published they should be promoted (marketed). Submitting the website to search engines is one example of promoting (or marketing) your web site.

SERP (Search Engine Results Page)

The SERP is otherwise known as the Search Engine Results Page. This is the page that users see after typing their search query into a search engine. Since conversion starts at the SERP, it is important to have relevant metadata leading to well designed pages with relevant and customer focused copy.

Server

A special computer connected to a network that provides (serves up) data. A Web server transmits Web pages over the Internet when it receives a Web browser’s request for a page. A server can also be called a host or node.

Spam

Unsolicited “junk” e-mail sent to large numbers of people to promote products or services. Also refers to inappropriate promotions to search engines.

Splash Page

Splash pages consist of a large graphics or a Flash animations for your home page—after that, you get to enter the site. Personally, I feel splash pages are a waste of your visitor’s time. When someone finds your site, they’re looking for information – not full feature films that slow them down.

Spider

A software program that “crawls” the Web, searching and indexing Web pages to create a database that can be easily searched by a search engine.

TrustRank

TrustRank requires human investigation and link analysis to discern reputable web pages deploying ethical linking techniques from ’spammy’ web pages seeking to earn higher rankings in the SERP’s by manipulating linking practices in an effort to deceive search engines. TrustRank was first established as a term in a paper by Yahoo!

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

The World Wide Web address of a site on the Internet. The URL for this web designer is http://www.contrivemedia.com/

Usability Testing or Website Usability

“Website Usability” is the term used to refer to how effective your website is for your visitors. This is an additional service offered by David Williams – testing the ease with which users can use and navigate a web site.

Web Designer

Not to be confused with a web developer* – One who designs web sites. Web designers like graphic designers are primarily concerned with the layout, schemes and aesthetic values of a web site. *Note – Patrick Gallivan is both a web designer and a web developer.

Web Developer

Not to be confused with a web designer* – One who specializes in the development of Web sites. Web developers handle all programming aspects of creating a Web site including HTML programming, creating and/or manipulating graphics, MetaTag development, copy writing, creating the navigational structure and related links, and everything else that goes into building a Web site. *Note – Patrick Gallivan is both a web designer and a web developer.

Web Site

A collection of “pages” or files linked together and available on the World Wide Web. Web sites are provided by companies, organizations and individuals.

White Paper

On the internet, a white paper is often a paper (article) written by a lead designer to explain the philosophy and operation of a product or service in a marketplace or technology context. Many Web Site designers and developers include a white paper or a frequently-asked questions (frequently-asked questions) page for more detailed explanations of products, services and/or articles written to disseminate information in their area of expertise.

WWW

The World Wide Web.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search engine marketing, or SEM, is a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs) through the use of paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion.. The Pay Per Click (PPC) lead Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), also includes search engine optimization (SEO) within its reporting, but SEO is a separate discipline with most sources, including the New York Times defining SEM as ‘the practice of buying paid search listings’.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Typically, the earlier a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for. Optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines.

The acronym “SEO” can also refer to “search engine optimizers,” a term adopted by an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who perform SEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as a stand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. The term “search engine friendly” may be used to describe web site designs, menus, content management systems and shopping carts that are easy to optimize.

Another class of techniques, known as black hat SEO or Spamdexing, use methods such as link farms and keyword stuffing that degrade both the relevance of search results and the user-experience of search engines. Search engines look for sites that employ these techniques in order to remove them from their indices.