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A Simple Glossary of Internet Terms
Courtesy Rachel McAlpine
- Body
- In HTML: a tag marking the start and end of a web page's content.
- Content
- The information on a Website- its quality, quantity and flow.
- Domain Name
- Part of the web address of a web site. Domain names should be a combination of keywords describing the business of the web site.
- Dynamic Pages
- Pages that are composed as a result of input from a visitor i.e. Google search result pages.
- Flash
- An animation programme much loved by various designers although making pages very slow.
- Hit
- An incremental count on a Websitefor each HTML page, image, script, audio file etc. that is served by the server. It is not a measurement of the traffic to a web site.
- Host
- The server (computer) on which a Websiteis stored.
- HTML
- Hypertext Markup Language - a language that tells the browser how a web page should appear.
- HTML Tag
- Individual pieces of HTML, always enclosed in brackets i.e. <table>, <font> etc.
- Hypertext
- Text that when clicked on by a mouse, loads another page.
- IP
- Internet Protocol: the rules by which computers find each other on the Internet.
- Internet Service Provider (ISP)
- A company that enable you to be connected to the Internet through them. They may also provide email services and host web sites.
- Java/Javascript
- Programming languages that provide a range of services on web pages. Examples are popup windows, form verification, security, image manipulation, page display etc. etc. As languages, they are entirely dissimilar.
- Keywords
- Exceedingly important words and phrases that instruct a search engine to search for a certain topic.
- META Tag
- A series of HTML tags found in the HEAD section of web pages. Several are very important in aiding search engines find your site.
- Microcontent
- Small pieces of HTML code unseen on the web page but important in directing search engines to your site.
- Query Phrase
- The word or phrase that you type in the 'Search' text box.
- Robot/Spider/Crawler/Bot
- A search engine programme that visits all the web pages on the Internet, reads their pages and compiles an index for search engines to provide a list of search results.
- Search Engine
- A Website Designed to help you find web sites on particular topics. Google, AltaVista and Lycos are examples. Directories are not search engines but act as huge Yellow Pages - Yahoo is an example. MetaSearch programmes put your query phrase to several search engines at once.
- Search Engine Optimization
- A method by which both the HTML code and the textual content on a web page are manipulated to increase the probability of a high search engine ranking.
- Server
- A computer attached to the Internet at all times that stores web sites on its hard drive. When you look at a web page, you are looking at one of the files on the server's hard drive.
- Spam
- From the Monty Python sketch of the 1960s - 1) to seend millions of identical emails 2) to load web pages with code in an effort to increase search engine rankings. Search engines recognize spam and penalize such pages.
- Splash Page
- Usually a pretty graphic (that takes forever to download) and a few links. Enables the graphic artist to strut his stuff at the expense of good search engine rankings.
- Title
- In HTML, no the page title but an HTML tag that displays its contents in the title bar of the browser - also in search results and browser bookmarks.
- Traffic
- The number of people visiting your web site. You want more traffic.
- URL - Uniform Resource Locator
- A path leading to a particular file in a particular Websiteon a particular server. Its normally displayed in the window at the top of the browser.
- Web Designer/ Web Developer
- Either a big corporation in an office park, the kid down the road or somewhere in between but the person who designs the look and navigation of a web site. He/She may also be responsible for the graphics, the content, linking to a database, search engine optimization and optimizing the content for web readability.
- Web Content Optimization
- The rearranging of the body text on a web page to enhance readability, remove ambiguities, increase search engine ranking and facilitate reading by non English speakers.
- Web Writer
- Someone who writes content specifically for web sites.
- Search Engine Optimization
- To alter the design of a web page with the express purpose of improving its performance in search results.
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© Warthog Web Design 1997-2003
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