Glossary

Above the Fold: The area on a Web page that is immediately viewable without the user having to use the scroll bar. In terms of media buying, this area is prime and the most expensive because it is more likely to be viewed by the user.
Ad Space: The space on a Web page that is reserved for displaying advertisements. Typically, it is positioned above the fold or in the right or left column.
AM (Account Manager): A media or advertising agency employee who is the contact for the client. AMs coordinate all aspects of client requests and projects and work with other agency team members to serve clients’ needs.
Analytics: Web analytics is the study of the behavior of Web site visitors. The term especially refers to the use of data collected from a Web site to determine which aspects of the site effectively support business objectives; for example, which landing pages encourage people to make a purchase. Data collected usually includes Web traffic reports and may include email response rates, direct mail campaign data, sales and lead information, user performance data such as click heat mapping, or other custom metrics as needed. This data is typically compared against key performance indicators and used to improve a Web site or marketing campaign’s audience response.
API (Application Programming Interface): The set of functions, procedures, and protocols that enables software to interface with other software.
ASP (Active Server Page): Server-side program scripting used to create dynamic Web pages.
Bandwidth: The allocated amount of data that can be transferred over a network during a fixed amount of time; expressed in bits per second (bps).
Banner Advertising: A Web banner or banner ad is a form of Web advertising. This type of ad is embedded in a Web page and is designed to attract traffic to an advertiser’s Web site through a link to the site. The advertisement is constructed from an image (GIF, JPEG, PNG, SWF), JavaScript program, or multimedia object employing technologies such as Java, Shockwave, or Flash, often employing animation or sound to maximize presence. Images are usually in a high-aspect ratio shape, either wide and short or tall and narrow, which is why they are referred to as banners. Banner ads are usually placed on online content pages, such as newspaper articles or opinion pieces.
Black Hat SEO: Black Hat search engine optimization (SEO) is an unethical technique that is used to get higher search rankings. Black Hat SEO techniques usually break search engine rules and regulations and generally create poor user experience.
Blog (short for weblog), Blogging: A blog is similar to an online diary, which can be edited using a simple content management system (CMS). Blogging means the act of creating/writing, posting, and updating a blog.
Browser: Software that is used to interpret HTML commands and display Web page content. The two most widely used browsers are Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE).
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Cache: A Web browser feature that stores copies of regularly accessed files on a computer’s hard disk to speed access.
Churn Rate: A measure of the number of customers lost to competitors over a specific period of time.
Click-through Rate (CTR): The number of times visitors click on a link or ad on a page; expressed as a percentage of the number of times the page has been displayed.
Content: The text, graphics, photos, audio, video, and downloadable documents that make up a Web site.
Content Management System (CMS): A program that automates the management of the content added to a Web site.
Cookie: Parcels of text sent by a server to a Web browser and then sent back unchanged by the browser each time it accesses that server. Cookies are used for authenticating, tracking, and maintaining specific information about users, such as site preferences and the contents of their electronic shopping carts. Cookies are not computer programs; they are simple pieces of data unable to perform any operation by themselves. In particular, they are neither spyware nor viruses, despite the detection of cookies on certain sites by many anti-spyware products. Most browsers allow users to decide whether to accept cookies, but rejection makes some Web sites unusable. For example, shopping baskets implemented using cookies do not work if cookies are rejected.
Copy Writing: Creating effective, engaging, and punchy Web site content that includes keywords or phrases related to a business to improve keyword density.
Crawler: A program or automated script that browses the Web in a methodical, automated manner to gather entries for a search engine. Also known as a Web crawler, ant, automatic indexer, bot, Web spider, or Web robot.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): A feature of HTML that enables designers to specify style information, such as fonts, size, color, and background, and to define the placement of elements on a Web page.
DHTML (Dynamic Hypertext Markup language): An extension of HTML that enables Web pages to react to users’ input, such as displaying a Web page based on the type of browser or computer that is being used to view a page.
DNS (Domain Name System) Records: The "phone book" for the Internet; it translates human-readable computer hostnames into the IP (Internet provider) addresses that networking equipment needs for delivering information. In providing a worldwide keyword-based redirection service, DNS is an essential component of current Internet use.
Domain Name (Web address or URL): The main part of a Web address that is its unique identification.
E-Commerce: Electronic commerce. The buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet.
Error 404: An HTTP status code. Error 404 indicates a client error, such as a misspelled URL or a request for a Web page that is no longer available.
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Flash: Vector graphic software from Adobe that allows a single animation or video file to play on all browsers that have a Flash plug-in installed.
Flickr: An image and video hosting Web site where users can manage and share their photographs and videos.
Form Design: HTML tags that define and label text-entry boxes, check boxes, radio buttons, and dropdown menus that are used to create onscreen forms.
FrontPage Server Extensions: Software technology that allows Microsoft FrontPage clients to communicate with Web servers and provides additional functionality for Web sites. It relies on HTTP protocol for communication and CGI/POST for server-side processing.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol): Enables a user to copy or send files from one computer to another via the Internet. Anonymous FTP is a method for downloading files from an FTP server without using a login account functional specification.
Functional Specification (functional spec): A formal document used by Web developers to describe in detail a site's intended capabilities, appearance, and interactions with users. A functional specification is a blueprint and continuing reference point that developers use while writing programming code.
Geomapping: The Google Maps API was created by Google to help developers integrate Google Maps into their Web sites, but with their own data points. It’s a free service that does not currently contain ads. However, Google states in their terms of use that they reserve the right to display ads in the future. Also known as Googlemapping.
Google: Google enables users to search the Web, Usenet, and images. Features include PageRank, caching and translation of results, and an option to find similar pages.
Guerrilla Marketing: Guerrilla marketing strategies are relatively low-cost campaigns used to drive users/return users to a Web site and encourage them to spend more time there. See Push Marketing.
Helpdesk: Customer Helpdesk is a 100% browser-based application. Customers can create support tickets that will then be responded to in time.
Hits: The number of times a Web object, e.g., a page or a picture within a page, has been viewed or downloaded.
Homepage: The main or first page of a Web site.
Hosting: The act of storing and providing information through the Internet. Hosting companies offer hosting space for lease, enabling companies or individuals to set up their own Web sites or other Internet content.
Hotlinks: A segment of text or a graphical item that serves as a cross-reference between parts of a hypertext document or between files or hypertext documents. Also called hyperlinks.
HTML (Hypertext Markup language): HTML is the predominant formatting language for the Web. It describes the text-based information in a document, denoting certain text as headings, paragraphs, lists, and so on, and supplements that text with interactive forms, embedded images, and other objects. HTML is written in the form of labels, known as tags, surrounded by less-than (<) and greater-than signs (>). HTML can also describe, to some degree, the appearance and semantics of a document, and can include embedded scripting language code that can affect the behavior of Web browsers and other HTML processors.
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol): The original communications protocol for the Web. Browsers use HTTP to connect to Web servers; servers use it to talk to each other.
Hyperlink: A pointer to another document, most often another Web page.
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Image Slicing: Breaking an image into smaller pieces to enable it load into a Web browser faster.
Information Architecture: Information architecture as utilized in Web development refers to user interactions, database development, programming, and technical writing that require expressions of complex systems.
JavaScript: JavaScript is a scripting language most often used for client-side Web development, but it is also used to enable scripting access to objects embedded in other applications.
Keyword Density: A ratio of keyword phrase use in text. Expressed as a percentage of the text within the body tags on a Web page. A density of around 4% to 7% is considered desirable, but there are no absolute rules about keyword density.
Keyword Phrase: The words and symbols used as input for a database search.
Keyword Saturation: See Copy Writing.
Keyword Stuffing: The practice of stuffing Web pages with many repetitions of keyword phrases to try to manipulate search engine relevancy (SER). If "organic" listings are desired, it is best to avoid keyword stuffing. Also, search engines like Google are switched on to recognize keyword stuffing, so a site using it will eventually be penalized or even banned.
Landing Page: A landing page is a specific page on a Web site. Landing pages are useful as hotlinks to specific product pages, featured articles, or services.
Link: A pointer to another document, most often to another Web page.
Link Building: An essential part of Internet marketing. The Internet and some sites need links to other sites in order to receive traffic and to give resources to visitors. Strategic link building is about establishing a competitive position in an already existing online marketplace.
Log File: A file that lists every request made to a Web server. With log file analysis tools, it's possible to get a good idea of where visitors have originated, how often they return, and how they navigate through a site. See Analytics.
Mailing List: An electronic mailing list similar to a traditional mailing list: a list of names and addresses that’s compiled and used by an organization when sending publications to its members or customers. Mailing lists typically include four things: a list of email addresses, the people ("subscribers") receiving mail at those addresses, the publications (email messages) sent to those addresses, and a reflector, which is a single email address that, when designated as the recipient of a message, will send a copy of that message to all of the subscribers.
Masthead: A graphic image positioned at the top of a Web page that identifies the page for visitors.
MB (abbreviation for megabyte): Equals a million bytes (actually 1,024 kilobytes). Most often used by hosting companies to define allocated Web space.
Merchant Account: A merchant account allows a business to accept credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, and other forms of payment cards. It is also widely known as payment processing or credit card processing.
Meta Tag: A specific HTML tag that contains information about a Web page. Typical use of meta tags is to include information for search engines to help them index sites more efficiently.
MX Record: An MX record is a type of resource record in the Domain Name System (DNS) that specifies how Internet email should be routed. MX records point to the servers that should receive an email and also their priority relative to each other.
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Name Server: A computer server that implements a name service protocol. It will normally map a computer-usable identifier of a host to a human-usable identifier for that host. For example, a Domain Name System (DNS) server might translate the domain name wikipedia.org to the Internet Protocol (IP) address 145.97.39.155. See DNS.
Navigation Structure: The hierarchical relationship between pages in a Web site, mapped out in a site diagram, which is then used to determine the links that will appear in each page's navigation bar.
Optimization: Web page analysis to test page size, composition, accessibility, keyword density, and download speed. Recommendations and improvements are based on best practices.
PayPal: PayPal is an e-commerce business that allows payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. It serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders. PayPal performs payment processing for online vendors, auction sites, and other corporate users, for which it charges a fee.
Pay per Click (PPC) Advertising: Pay per click (PPC) is an advertising technique used on Web sites, advertising networks, and search engines. Advertisers bid on "keywords" that they believe their target market would type in the search bar when they are looking for their type of product or service, see the ad, click on it, and then make a purchase. These ads are called "sponsored links" or "sponsored ads" and appear next to and sometimes above the natural or organic results on the page. The advertiser pays only when the user clicks on the ad.
PDF (Portable Document Format): A file format created by Adobe Systems in 1993 for document exchange. PDFs are used for representing two-dimensional documents in a device-independent and display resolution-independent fixed-layout document format. Each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a 2-D document that includes the text, fonts, images, and 2-D vector graphics that compose the document. PDF files can be viewed using Adobe's free Acrobat cross-browser, cross-platform compatible software.
Photo Sharing: See Flickr.
PHP (PHP Hypertext Preprocessor): A scripting language often used to create dynamic Web pages. A database holds the necessary information until PHP is used to take the information and set it out as a Web page on demand.
Podcasting: A new type of online media delivery. Selected audio files are published via the Internet. Users may subscribe to podcasts via an RSS feed and automatically receive new files as they become available. Podcasting lets a user create their own syndicated online talk show or radio program, with content of their choosing.
Push/Pull Marketing: Push/pull marketing refers to the customer’s purchasing experience (customer relationship marketing [CRM]) at a Web site. A customer/browser "pulls" things toward themselves, while a site owner "pushes" things toward customers. See Guerrilla Marketing.
Reciprocal Link: Swapping links between two Web sites.
Referrers: Referrers are tracked in Web site log files and show where a site's visitors came from and the keyword search terms they used to find it.
Rich Media: Media with more than text and images, using sound, video, and special effects via programs such as Flash and Shockwave. Often include some interactive advertising capacity.
RSS (Real Simple Syndication): RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed," "web feed," or "channel," contains either a summary of content from an associated Web site or the full text. RSS allows people to keep up with their favorite Web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually.
Screen Grab: A screen grab (or screen shot) saves a “snapshot” of a Web page as an image.
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Shopping Cart: See E-Commerce.
Skype: A peer-to-peer Internet telephony network. See VOIP.
Social Networking: A map of all the relevant social ties between persons or organizations that are in some way connected by one or more specific types of categories, such as ideas, financial exchange, friends, trade, or Web links.
Spam: Email that is both unsolicited by the recipient and sent in substantively identical form to many recipients. A common synonym for spam is unsolicited bulk email (UBE).
Sticky Marketing: Marketing stickiness is the amount of time spent at a Web site over a given time period. Stickiness is often measured in terms of page views. When defined as minutes per month, site stickiness is a function of the number of visits (repeat usage) and time spent per visit (session stickiness).
Traffic: The number of visitors to a Web site. It’s measured using stats such as number of page views, hits, and pages accessed.
Upload: The transfer of data from a computer to an online file or similar archive.
Vector Graphic: A scalable graphic image drawn in shapes and lines called paths.
Viral Marketing: Viral marketing is based on natural human behaviors and refers to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness. It can be word of mouth. Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, images, or even text messages.
VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol): Refers to the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or through any other IP-based network.
Vote Caster/Opinion Poll: A 100% browser-based interface that enables the creation and display of simple polls for visitors to a Web site.
WC3 (World Wide Web Consortium): The group responsible for defining major standards used in Web design, such as HTML and CSS.
Wiki: A Web site that allows visitors to add, remove, and edit content.
Web Design: The designing and graphical presentation of content shown on the Internet in the form of Web sites and other Web applications using many different forms of media. The basic design of most pages on the Web use HTML, CSS, and the newest form of language, XHTML. Many sites also integrate various forms of dynamic, interactive content and server-side languages such as PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) and ASP (Active Server Page). Web design contrasts with Web development, which includes Web server configuration, writing Web applications, and server security.
XML (Extensible Markup language): A format for defining pieces of information and how they relate to each other within a set of documents.
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