You Want To FTP My What?: A User’s Guide to Web Lingo

When I first walked through Alter Imaging’s fabulous doors as an official employee, I was about as excited as a girl could get (without something chocolate or sparkly dangling in front of her face). That being said, I was also a tad shaky/nervous/terrified/nauseated due to my, shall we say, “green-ness.”

I had just recently graduated from Appalachian State (Go Mountaineers!!) with a degree in Advertising, a minor in Business Marketing, and a vague understanding of the general working world. But I scored big with landing a dream-job at AI and I was confident that I was prepared for whatever tasks were thrown my way.

Little did I know, I knew very little.

I was first clued-in that I still had a lot to learn when someone said, “Emily, please FTP the XML sitemap for the SEO so we can boost our pagerank ASAP.” Umm, what?! Okay, ASAP means “as soon as possible.” And that was the extent of my comprehension of that sentence. I had to do something with a something for the something to boost our something, as soon as possible.

So I did what any resourceful, 20-something would do: I threatened befriended the web developer and forced asked him to teach me important web lingo. If I heard a term I was unfamiliar with, I would write it down and later go get the definition from my new victim teacher. It was a beautiful system.

Often when I speak with clients, a term or web process comes up that they’re not familiar with, so I (with my newfound knowledge) would explain it to them so we’re all on the same page.

And then I had an epiphany.

I went through my old notes with terms and questions and created a nifty little glossary filled with the unfamiliar web lingo that once stumped me to the point of head-on-desk slamming. Ah, the student has become the teacher. And this teacher teaches in layman’s terms for your lingo-learning pleasure.

A

A/B Testing - also called “split testing”- this is a method used in advertising and interactive marketing that gauges the effectiveness of a change in text, layout, color, etc of the item being tested. For a very simple example, you want to determine if using the color green will increase the effectiveness of an email campaign, so you send out 50 emails to a group of people using the color blue, and then send an additional 50 emails to a separate group of like-minded people, using the color green. Based on the responses of these groups, you will be able to determine which color was most successful in producing the best results.

Adwords - AdWords is a product offered by a really small company that you’ve probably never heard of called Google. AdWords offers pay-per-click services and website-targeted advertising for text and banner advertisements for local, national and international distribution. See also Pay Per Click, or Cost Per Click

Algorithm - in regards to search engines and search engine optimization, these are sets of rules that search engines follow that ranks and lists websites, according to the keyword query (if you’re not sure what the word ‘query’ is, take a scroll down to the “Q” section and feed your mind)

Alternet CMS - CMS stands for Content Management System, and manage it does. This nifty application allows users to update/add/remove articles, events, forms, pages, rich media, and the kitchen sink, all in one user-friendly program. Just kidding about the ‘kitchen sink’ thing, but who knows what the future may bring?!

B

Banners - also referred to as “CTAs”, banners are quick and simple statements that compel users to click them, thus linking users to a predetermine page. Banners are generally located on the side of a webpage, and are typically used for pages companies want to be high-traffic pages.

Banner Advertisement - Think ‘billboard-on-a-computer-screen.’ Banner ads can be a static image or rich media (see the ‘R’ section if you aren’t sure what this is) and come in a variety of sizes on websites. When banner ads are clicked, the user will be taken to a predetermined web page. Banner ads are typically used for 1. company branding (“Hey, we’re ABC Company, and we’ll rock your face-off with our coolness—click here!”) 2. Product or service advertising (“Hey, ABC product will rock your face off with its coolness—click here!”) or 3. Call-to-action (“Hey, contact us today to have your face rocked off—click here!”)

Blog - A Blog is an online journal in which users frequently update the contents with their opinions, stories, helpful information, you name it. Blogs are used for everything from breaking news stories to political information to Lindsay Lohan’s current relationship status. Companies are now utilizing blogs more and more to showcase their personalities

Beta - when referring to the Internet, beta is simply a version of an item (website, project, etc.) that has been released to the public, but is still undergoing some minor tweaks and changes through testing.

Bandwidth - a rate of transferring bits between the server and its visitors, measured in bits per second. The more images and downloadable content you have on your site requires more bandwidth, thus increasing the site time for your visitors. If you take up too much bandwidth, chances are they will get fed up with your site and leave.

Breadcrumbs - position indicators that display a direct route to the content page you are currently in. This feature is used to let users know where they are in a site, and how they got there. For example, if you start getting click-happy in a site and end up on a page deep within the site, if breadcrumbs are utilized on that site, you would see something that may look like: About Us > Our Company > Company Standards > Company Employees > Employee of the Year >  Employee of the Year Archive.

C

Cache - is a collection of frequently used information that is temporarily stored in the CPU or hard drive so that it may be accessed again. Data is retrieved from the cache much quicker and requires much less bandwidth than if it were retrieved from its original source on a server, thus making everyone’s life a little happier.

Call To Action (CTA) - an instrument, usually in the form of a message or graphic, used in web development and design that urges users to move to a predetermined web page, or compels the user to take some form of action. Common CTAs are used for “contact us,” “request a quote,” “order this item,” or “learn more.”

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) - a language for stylesheets used to format HTML, SGML and XML-based documents, most commonly, in web sites. Think of CSS like hair-gel for websites: it’s used to style pages so that they have a certain look.

Click Through Rate (CTR) - a method of measuring the effectiveness of an online advertisement by dividing the number of actual clicks on the ad by the number of overall impressions (see Impressions) that were available. So let’s say a banner ad (see Banner Ad) was delivered 100 times to a website, and only 1 person actually clicked on the ad, the CTR would be 1%.

Client - an application or a system that has the ability to retrieve information from a server via a network. See also “Client-side” and “Client-Server Relationship”

Client Brief - When working with Alter Imaging, the Client Brief is the first deliverable that will be sent to you after the project Kick-off meeting. This document will contain information about your company, your audience, your intended tone, perceptions, guidelines, etc. all put nicely into a document for everyone’s enjoyment. This document will be utilized by Alter Imaging’s team so that everyone is on the same page regarding what your company does, and what we are expected to do for your company.

Client-Server Relationship - a software model that allows client systems and server systems to exchange and/or distribute information over a computer network. The client will initiate the exchange with the server, and the server waits for a request from the client. For example, if you use iTunes and you download a song from the Apple Store online, iTunes (the client) will initiate communication with Apple’s server (the server) so that you may download the song to your computer. See also “Client” and “Client-Side”

Client-Side - any type of operation that is performed by the client in the client-server relationship. See also, “Client” and “Client-Server Relationship”

CSS - see Cascading Style Sheets

CMS - see Content Management System

CMYK - acronym used for the colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, which are the process colors used in process printing.

Content Management System (CMS) - is an application that allows a user to update their website, without needing to have a specialized technical knowledge. All CMSs allow users to in the very least, change text on a page and then see it immediately reflected on the site. But a choice few companies (I can really only think of one off the top of my head… ALTER IMAGING (704)770-9900 www.alterimaging.com) have super-amazingly-crazy-easy CMSs that allow you to basically do whatever you want to your website. And it’s easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. See Alternet CMS

Cookies - are small bundles of text that are sent and stored on a person’s computer via a web browser that allow a server to “remember” certain settings, preferences or authenticating info for users when they revisit a site.

Cost Per Click (CPC) - a form of Internet Marketing where the advertiser only pays when the advertisement is clicked by a user. These ads are comprised of keywords that are purchased by advertisers (see AdWords) and then are distributed by search engines across the web.

Cost per Thousand (CPM) - a media-measuring term referring to the amount of impressions that are measured by an accumulation of people who may potentially see an advertisement. These people do not have to actually see the advertisement; they just have to have an opportunity to see it. So if you were watching a show on TV and went to the kitchen during the commercial break, you would still be considered in the CPM calculation because you had the opportunity to see the ad, you just opted to grab another ice cream sandwich during that time.

Content Required - a document that is given to each of our clients once the Information Architecture of their project has been approved. This is a list of content (text, images, etc) that will be inserted into the website. The content is the most important part of any website because without it, you’ve just got an awkward webpage with lorem ipsum text (see lorem ipsum). It’s like an Oreo that has the crème center removed. It’s just not good.

Conversion Rate - the percentage of people who comply with the marketer’s intended action when they visit a website. If a company has a high conversion rate, rest assured there will be a lot of high-fiving and chest-bumping taking place in that office.

CPC - see Cost Per Click

CPM - see Cost per Thousand

Current Inventory - all of the stuff that makes up your current website. This includes images, videos, links, etc. We make a list of your current inventory prior to the kickoff meeting, so we have an idea of what pages we are working with, what info we should keep and what info we should scrap.

D

Deliverables - These are items that will be given to you throughout the course of the project, listed and categorized in a nice deliverables schedule for your convenience. In most projects, deliverables include (but are not limited to) project briefs, wireframes, designs, flowers and Chinese food.

Directory - when referring to the Internet, a web directory contains links that are listed, categorized and linked to other websites.

Domain Name System (DNS) - is a name-translating system for anything that is connected to the Internet or private network. It turns web addresses us Humans can remember into a series a numbers that is associated with that site so the computer can send you there. Since you’re more likely to remember www.cuddlykittens.com than 208.77.188.166, you should appreciate that the DNS has your back.

E

E-commerce - buying and selling of stuff over the Internet. Think E-Bay and Amazon.com.

Easter Egg - neat, hidden functions on a website that are not obvious at first to a user. For example, have you ever been to a website and dragged your curser over a picture, and out of the blue, the picture moved or changed? Some companies hide Easter eggs throughout their site to encourage site visitors to stick around their website. Inventive, huh?

Extranet - it’s a private network that uses Internet protocols and is connected to a network, but it’s usually only used amongst businesses and organizations and the people/businesses they work with.

F

Flexcart - Alter Imaging’s hugely successful and ridiculously helpful proprietary e-commerce application that helps you maintain, update and reap the benefits of online buying and selling. If you’re in the e-commerce business and frequently need to update your products or information, Flexcart lets you login, change what you need, save it, and it’s immediately updated and displayed online. Instant gratification.

Flash - moving or animated parts of a website that are created with flash animation software. When you go to a website and there is some moving action going on, it’s most likely flash.

Font - Font is the style, outline and size of a complete set of characters of a particular typeface. Font refers to all parts of the typeface, so 9-point Ariel font is a different font than 11-point Ariel font, even though are both the Ariel typeface.

Footer - the bottom section of a web page that is displayed on every page of the website and doesn’t change. The footer usually consists of a re-cap of the navigation, and may include secondary pages that aren’t in the main navigation, such as a “Site Map” or “Privacy Policy.”

FTP - stands for File Transfer Protocol and it’s the standard network protocol that is used to exchange information (like files, images, etc) over the Internet.

G

Global Navigation - a site's top-level categories that occur on every page of the site.

H

Happy Client Extranet - The helpful tool Alter Imaging uses to communicate and share info with each client. Once the AI team or the client is logged in, files can be uploaded and downloaded, messages sent, to-do lists created, etc. Because the Happy Client can be accessed from anywhere that has an Internet connection, it’s a really efficient way to keep track of deliverables and have all info available, regardless of your location.

Hits (Page Hits) - a hit is a request for a file made to a server. When you go to a web page, that page is uploaded from a server and all the files associated with that page are requested. If that page includes 24 files (images, text, etc.) then that page will have 24 hits. It’s important to keep in mind that it’s not accurate to measure a site’s popularity by the number of hits, because it could just mean that the page has a lot of files associated with it.

Hosting - a service that lets people or businesses make their websites available on the web.

Host - In hosting, a web host gives a clients a certain amount of space on the host’s server so the client’s website is viewable online and files can be uploaded via FTP.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) - the most popular language used for web pages to create things such as headings, paragraphs, lists, interactive forms and embedding images in the page.

I

ISP (Internet Services Provider) - the company that gives you access to the Internet, ie: the company that sends you a monthly bill so that you can get on Facebook every night in the comfort of your own home.

Information Architecture (IA) - the information that is gathered in the Discover and Define phases, that really lays-out and shapes-up the project-in-progress. The IA involves research, briefs, plans, wireframes and the kitchen-sink.

Impressions - each time a page on a site is displayed for a user, it is counted as an impression. So if you are clicking through a site and you go to 4 pages, that’s counted as 4 impressions.

Inbound Links - links from pages on external sites linking back to your site. Inbound links can bring new users to your site, and when the links are merit-based and freely-volunteered as an editorial choice, they're also one of the positive signals to Google about your site's importance.

Internet Marketing - the marketing or advertising of any type of product or service via the Internet

Interactive Agency - Alter Imaging! But more specifically, an agency that offers any combination of web design and development, search engine optimization, Internet marketing, e-commerce solutions, etc.

J

JavaScript - a scripting language usually used to manipulate the DOM on web pages that have already been loaded. When a web page loads, you can no longer edit it. But with JavaScript you can code it so that you can go back and edit the html source and make changes to how things on the page look

K

Keywords - when referring to search engines, keywords are words that are most often used by people who are performing a search online. For Search Engine Optimization, you want to have as many relevant keywords visible on your site as possible so that search engines will find and display your site on their results page.

L

LAMP - an acronym for free, open-source software: Linux, Apache HTTP Server, MySQL and PHP.

Link Building - a strategy of optimizing your website through in and out-bound links

Lorem Ipsum - standard filler text that is used in place of the actual content when the actual content is not available.

Link Baiting - publishing a link that will entice people to come to your website. Think of it as the world’s shortest advertisement. It’s a great tool, but a tricky one because you have grab user’s attention with very little time and very little space on a site.

Landing Page - on a website, this is where a user is taken when the main navigation, a CTA, banner, link, etc. is clicked

Leading - the amount of vertical spacing that is between two lines of text. The higher percentage of leading, the more space there is between each line of text.

M

Metasearch - a search engine that searches multiple search engines and then displays them in a list for review

Merchant Account - type of bank account that businesses use to process credit/debit card charges. A merchant account is required for an e-commerce site’s function.

Mood Board - during the early stages of design, a mood board is used to present design elements (color palettes, textures, fonts, images, etc) to a client before completing the design.

N

Needs Analysis - (see S.W.O.T. Analysis)

O

Organic Search Results - see Search Engine Optimization

P

Page Specifications - a deliverable that is created by AI during the Define phase of the project. The page specifications list and display every page on the website, along with exactly what will be displayed on the page, and the page’s functionality. This is the most important document because it outlines and plans every single page on your site.

PageRank - rank given to your site by Google

Pantone Matching System (PMS) - the primary color system used in the printing industry that allows you to reproduce colors by comparing them to the standardized Pantone colors.

PHP - a scripting language that is used to build web applications and communicate with databases on the server.

Page Views - see Hits

Payment Gateway - a service provider that authorizes payments for e-commerce sites

Pixels - the smallest item that is displayed in an image. It’s the tiny, colored dots that make-up an image.

PPC - see Cost Per Click

Q

Query - a string of text that is used to retrieve information that is stored in a database.

R

Return on Investment (ROI) - the percentage lost/gained on any type of investment, based on the amount of money you invested.

RGB - the color model that is used to interpret what colors should be displayed on the monitor, using the primary colors Red, Green and Blue

Robots - see Spiders

S

Search Engine - a program used on the Internet that allows users to find information based off of keyword search criteria.  Think Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - see Internet Marketing

Secure Login - A feature used to restrict access to specific areas of a Website.  A username and password is typically required for access.

SEM -  acronym for Search Engine Marketing – see Internet Marketing

Server-side Scripting - a web server technology in which a script is processed on the server and its output is then delivered to the browser. This is used to deliver custom or dynamic content.

Site Search - a function of a website that allows users to search for keywords within your site.

Software as a Service (SaaS) - a provider licenses an application to a customer for use.  The application is typically hosted on the software vendor’s server and can be accessed by an unlimited number of customers – all with a unique account.  A good example of SaaS is G-mail and Yahoo! Mail.

Spam - Unsolicited email that more often than not really ticks you off

Supplemental Navigation - give users additional, non-hierarchical ways to navigate a site. A few common supplemental navigation systems are breadcrumbs, tables of contents, search, and site maps

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - a service provided by Alter Imaging that optimizes your site so that it can achieve a higher rank on search engines

Site map - an XML file that search engines read to easily find all pages that are in your website.

Search Engine Spiders - A spider, also known as a robot or a crawler, is actually just a program that follows, or "crawls", links throughout the Internet, grabbing content from sites and adding it to search engine indexes.

S.W.O.T. Analysis - a SWOT analysis can help you find out where your company’s strengths and weaknesses lie, and where opportunities for growth can be generated, and what threats could harm the growth of your company.

T

Typeface - a set of fonts, available in more than one size, that have similar design qualities. This usually includes letters, numbers and punctuation marks.

Typography - the art of arranging, designing, and creating typefaces by using illustration techniques.

U

Unique Visitor - used in reporting website statistics, a unit of measuring traffic that comes to your site during a certain time frame.

Unique Impressions - similar to Impressions, but instead of counting up all the times a user looks at a page, the same user is only counted once, regardless of how many page impressions he/she makes. So if Sam looks at 3 pages and Pat looks at 4, together they account for 7 impressions, but only 2 unique impressions.

URL - an acronym for Uniform Resource Locator which is a short string that identifies resources in the web: documents, images, downloadable files, services, electronic mailboxes, and other resources.

User - any person who looks through or navigates your website

Utility Navigation - a navigation that holds links to site pages that help the user, like site map, search, directory, etc.

V

Validation - the process of authenticating information before a user or a program is allowed to do something.

W

Web Analytics - a report about your website that can be analyzed and measured so that you can optimize your website accordingly.

Web Directory - see Directory

Webinars - a workshop or conference that is held over the Internet as opposed to meeting in person. Webinars allow many more people to participate since no traveling costs are an issue.

Webcast - the broadcasting of an event, live or recorded, over the Internet

Wireframe - a non-graphical representation of a web page with placeholders for text and other content that will be on a particular page.

WYSIWYG - (pronounced wiz-zee-wig) – an acronym for “What You See Is What You Get”. It creates HTML in a manner similar to the final output without having to actually know HTML.