Web Design Glossary Terms

Accessibility

Refers to a web page or web site that people interacting with different kinds of disabilities, the difficulty they can experience due to physical and or technological barriers. A web page or site that address these users limitations is said to be Accessibly friendly.

Applet

An applet is a small program designed to run within another application. Java is one of the major languages used for creating Web-based applets.

ASP (Active Server Pages)

Microsoft technology similar to CGI that is used to create dynamic content for a web page. Pages using ASP are created with programming scripts (eg; JavaScript) and integrated with the HTML of a page. It is a server?side scripting language and is mostly used on Windows platforms.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred over the network in a fixed amount of time. On the Internet, it is usually expressed in bits per second (bps). A hosting server will allocate your site a fixed amount of bandwidth usage within a regular period of time.

Browser

Often called a Web browser, it is simply a software application used to interpret HTML commands and display page content. The two most popular browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) and Netscape Navigator.

Content

A word you'll likely see around a lot is "web content" and by definition, content is the 'stuff' that makes up a web site. This could be words, pictures, images or sounds. In essence however, when we talk about web content, we are essentially referring to content in a textual nature. Content therefore is the 'information' in text form a web site provides.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)

A simple mechanism for adding style (e.g. fonts, colours, spacing) to Web documents. Not all browsers (of specific versions) implement the full specification of CSS.

Directory

A database edited manually by Humans. Sites are indexed by category making this feature the main difference to a Search Engine. Users can navigate through the categories to locate documents or information. Most directories offer searching options (which is similar to searching from a Search Engine) within its database.

DNS (Domain Name System (Service))

An Internet system/service that translates domain names into IP addresses. Domain names are alphabetic so they're easier to remember. The Internet however, is really based on IP addresses. Every time you use a domain name, therefore, a DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP address. For example, our domain name http://www.paperhat.net is really http://87.106.38.76

Domain Name

An unique name that identifies one or more IP addresses. Domain names are used in URLs' to identify particular Web sites. Every web site is located by its unique IP address.

Frames

An HTML technique for combining two or more separate HTML documents within a single web browser screen. A web site using frames often causes great problems for search engines, and may not be spidered and indexed correctly.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

One of the common methods of transferring files over the Internet. A typical method used for uploading files (pages) to a hosting server for viewing on the Internet.

Hits

Are the individual requests a server answers in order to render a single Web page completely. The page document itself and the various images on the page represent a separate hit.

Home Page

It is a first page (also referred as an opening page, start page or main page) of a Web site. This would technically be your index page or default page of your directory.

Hosting

Usually refers to a computer (or a network of servers) that stores the files of a web site which has web server software running on it, connected to the Internet. Your site is then said to be Hosted.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)

HTML is a basic markup language derived from the Standardised General Markup Language (SGML), providing the means for creating simple hypertext documents, intended for publishing on the World Wide Web.

Image Map

An image that has several links geographically mapped onto it.

Interactive

A Web page is interactive when it prompts a response from the user or in some way can interact with the user dynamically (eg; filling out a form or a poll etc).

Internet

A global network connecting millions of computers. Each Internet computer, called a host, is independent. The Internet is not synonymous with World Wide Web. The Internet and the Web are two related but separate things.

IP (Internet Protocol)

The method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) on the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the Internet.

JavaScript

JavaScript is an object-based, client?side scripting language developed by Netscape. Embedded in the head section of a web document, It can produce interactivity to a web page dynamically.

Link (Hyperlink)

An element in an electronic document that links to another place in the same document or to an entirely different document. Typically, you click on the hyperlink to follow the link. Hyperlinks are the most essential ingredient of all hypertext systems, including the World Wide Web.

Meta Tag

A special HTML tag that provides information about a Web page. Unlike normal HTML tags, meta tags do not affect how the page is displayed.

Mouseover

A JavaScript element that triggers a change on an item (typically a graphic change, such as making an image or hyperlink appear) in a Web page when the mouse pointer passes over it.

Perl (Practical Extraction and Report Language)

Perl is a server?side, interpreted language that provides much of the web's interactivity.

Pixel

Refers to how monitors divide the display screen into thousands or millions of individual dots to display an image. A pixel is one dot.

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor)

A server?side, HTML embedded scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages. Designed for Windows and Unix type platforms.

Ranking

The number (order of ranking; ie 1 being the highest) that a web site is listed for a specific search term in a specific search engine. Search Engines utilise a ranking algorithm (mathematical formulas, variables, and set of weights) to determine a site's ranking for a particular keyword or keyword phrase.

Resolution

The resolution of an image describes how fine the dots are that make up that image. The more dots, the higher the resolution. When displayed on a monitor, the dots are called pixels. A 640 x 480 screen (resolution) is capable of displaying 640 distinct dots on each of its 480 lines, or about 300,000 pixels.

Script

A script is an executable list of commands created by a scripting language. Scripts that are executed on a web server (eg; Perl, PHP) are said to be server?side scripts. Scripts that execute on your own home PC (eg; JavaScript) are said to be client?side scripts. Scripts can be embed within HTML to produce a web page with dynamic actions.

Scripting Language

A scripting language is a simple programming language used to write an executable list of commands, called a script. JavaScript, Perl, VBscript are scripting languages rather than general-purpose programming languages.

Search Engine

A server (computer) or commonly a collection of servers dedicated to indexing internet web pages, storing the results in a giant database and returning lists of pages which match particular searched queries from within its database. The indexes are normally and automatically generated using spiders.

Server

A computer, program or process which responds to requests for information from an user. On the internet, all web pages reside on servers (computers).

Spider

An automated software robot that continuously crawls hyperlinks and pages on the Internet and collects data that is returned to its database for indexing. This is how Search Engines function. The process of crawling the web, storing URLs' and indexing keywords, links and text, is the act of Spidering.

SSI (Server?Side Includes)

Tells a server to include information (source from a separate file) in a document before sending it to the browser. A very effective method of producing the same information over many pages as one file can be altered to produce the changes over the many the pages that includes the SSI file.

Sub?Domain (Name)

A sub?domain is a domain that is part of a larger domain name. DNS hierarchy consists of the root-level domain at the top, underneath which are the top?level domains, followed by second?level domains and finally sub?domains.

Tag

An HTML tag is a formatting command written into a document that specifies how it should be formatted. A web browser interprets these tags and outputs the intended command (action).

Template

HTML templates are skeletal HTML pages with the main content left out. Templates provide an effective solution in creating many pages with an identical look or navigational structure but different content.

Traffic

Similar to a real?world sense of traffic on a road or freeway, traffic in a web?sense is a measurement of the amount of users that visit a Web site.

URI (Uniform Resource Identifier)

The generic term for all types of names and addresses that refer to objects on the World Wide Web. A URL is one kind of URI.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

Each separate page accessible on the Web has a unique address which can by identified by it's URL. The first part of the address (eg; http or ftp etc) indicates what protocol to use, and the second part specifies the IP address or the domain name where the resource is located.

Usability

Refers to the level or degree of a page's operating friendliness for the user.

Validation

Validation is a way to make sure that your (HTML) code is compliant with current HTML specifications.

W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)

Established in October 1994 to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability.

WWW (World Wide Web)

Is a way of accessing information over the medium of the Internet. Browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape are utilised to access the vast collection of interconnected (hyperlinked) documents on the web.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Glossary Terms

Algorithm

Derived from the Greek arithmós (arithmetic), an Algorithm is a set of rules for solving mathematical problems. In the context of SEO, search engines use algorithms to work out how relevant a website is in order to index and rank it appropriately. The finer details of these algorithms are highly guarded by search engine programmers in order to prevent exploitation and are frequently changed to improve the relevancy of search engines.

Analytics

In terms of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), analytics refers to the techniques, approaches, tools, programmes and data SEO specialists use in order to measure and make changes to website performance and ranking success.

Anchor Text

Anchor text works as a hyperlink to another website or another internal webpage. Ensuring anchor text is rich in relevant keywords is crucial as search engine algorithms value hyperlink keywords with great relevance.

Backlinks

Known also as inbound links, back link or backward link, backlinks are all of the links on other websites that take users who click on them to your website. Backlinks can dramatically improve your site's search engine rankings, especially if they contain keyword-optimised anchor text relevant to your site and are located on websites with a high page rank.

Black Hat SEO

A blanket term used to describe non-legitimate and outlawed techniques for optimising a website, such as spamming and cloaking tactics designed to crudely trick search engines into ranking a website high in organic search results. Search engines are able to ban or blacklist sites that utilise black hat SEO techniques.

Conversion

The term used for any significant action a user takes when using a website, such as making a purchase, requesting more information, or registering their details.

Crawler

Also known as a Spider, Robot, or bot. A crawler is a search engine program that ‘crawls' through websites, retrieving data, following links, logging page versions and updates and storing URLs in the search engine's Index. This allows search engines to provide fast, accurate and up-to-date listings.

Description Tag

Also referred to as a meta description tag, a description tag is a short HTML paragraph that provides search engine crawlers with a synopsis of a webpage's content. The description tag is not actually displayed on the website. It's apparent that search engines are now placing less emphasis on description tags and more on website content. However, it's still regarded as good SEO practice to optimise description tags.

Directory

An index of websites compiled manually rather than by a crawler. Online directories work like paper directories and can be general or divided into categories. Directory site servers present relevant lists of registered sites in response to user searches, making directory registration a key method for building inbound link networks for SEO. Ranking on directory sites is often manual rather than relevance based and some directories accept free submissions, while others apply fees for listing. The biggest directories presently are Yahoo!, Project, The Open Directory and LookSmart.

Flash (Macromedia Flash)

is a type of vector graphic-based animation technology. Until very recently, search engines have been unable to 'crawl' Flash websites, but that's starting to change and Flash is now coming into the realm of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

Flash Optimisation

The relatively new process of refining Flash movie and surrounding HTML code to be more ‘crawlable' for search engines. Until recently, search engine crawlers were unable to ‘read' flash code at all, and so the practice of optimising Flash is a potential growth area for SEO.

Google AdWords

The keyword submission program that specifies advertising rates and keyword value in the Google AdSense program. Advertisers bid on the keywords and phrases relevant to their online objectives or core business area. Ranked adverts then appear in the sponsored links sections of Google search engine results pages (SERPS) and Google AdSense host sites.

Grey Hat SEO

Grey hat SEO is a term given to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) methods that fall in between white hat SEO and black hat SEO. Grey hat SEO techniques can be legitimate in some cases and illegitimate in others, depending largely on the context in which they are used and to what extent. Doorway pages, cloaking and duplicate content are all examples of grey hat SEO techniques.

HTML

HyperText Markup Language - the language used to create webpages. HTML is a series of codes or HTML tags that provide web browsers with information on how to structure a web page.

Inbound Links

Known also as backlinks, backward link or back link, inbound links are all of the links on other websites that take users who click on them to your website. Inbound links can dramatically improve your site's search engine rankings, especially if they contain keyword-optimised anchor text relevant to your site and are located on websites with a high page rank.

Index

An index is a search engine's memory bank. It contains all of the data and information that search engine crawlers retrieve from websites. When a user performs a search, the search engine draws on its index and algorithms to return a ranked list of the webpages most relevant to the search terms.

Keyword / Keyword Phrases

Sometimes referred to as search terms and search phrases, keywords are the words and phrases users enter into search engine query boxes. Search engines list results pages in accordance with how relevant the pages are to the search terms. One of the key SEO methods used for optimising websites is writing content that contains search terms identified as being most relevant to the core purpose of the website.

Link

Also referred to as a hyperlink, HTML link or a backlink, a link is either an image or piece of enhanced text that when clicked on by a user opens a different webpage or takes the browser to a different portion of the page being viewed. High quality and relevant inbound links featuring keyword-relevant link text are probably the most important component of ‘white hat' Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

Link Baiting

Link baiting refers to the creation of website content that encourages users to link to your page from their own websites. Link baiting techniques vary enormously, but can include informed articles and news stories, practical resources and occasionally controversial or sensationalistic content. Some websites use link baiting as the core component of their internet marketing strategy. Link baiting is a ‘white hat' SEO technique.

Link Farm

A link farm is a web site that only includes a list of links to other websites. Link farms contain no useful content except for links to other sites and can be easily confused with web directories. The concept of link farms was created as a method for boosting page rank in search engine listings, but modern search engines regard link farms as a form of spam and so blacklist them. Link farms fall under the ‘black hat' classification of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques and should be avoided.

Link Text / Anchor Text

Also known as anchor text, link text is the visible, clickable text between the HTML anchor andtags. Clicking on link text activates a Hyperlink to another web site. Link text is very important in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) because search engine algorithms consider the hyperlink keywords as relevant to the Landing Page.

Long tail keywords

Phrases which contain a series of keywords. Long tail keyword phrases are useful for attracting quality traffic to a website, because they tend to draw in users looking for something specific, and thus often boast a higher conversion rate.

Meta Data / Metadata

HTML data on a webpage that describes the content on the page. This information is used by search engines to understand what the webpage is about and so index it accurately. See the individual meta data terms for explanations of different types of metadata.

Meta Description Tag

Also referred to as a description tag, a meta description tag is a short HTML paragraph that provides search engine crawlers with a synopsis of a webpage's content. The meta description tag is not actually displayed on the website. It's apparent that search engines are now placing less emphasis on meta description tags and more on website content. However, it's still regarded as good SEO practice to optimise meta description tags.

MetaKeywords Tag

A tag that provides search engines with a snapshot of keywords relevant to a specific webpage. This used to improve a page's search engine ranking, but search engines are now giving less importance to meta keywords, instead preferring actual website content. However, it's still regarded as good SEO practice to optimise meta keyword tags.

Meta Robots Tag

A meta robots tag enables the prevention of webpages from being added to a search engine's index. Robots.txt files and password protection offer alternatives to meta robots tags.

Meta Tags

Meta tags are HTML tags placed in a webpage that contain information for crawlers and internet browsers. Main types of meta tag information include page-relevant keywords (meta keywords tag), page descriptions (description tag) and whether a page can be indexed (meta robots tag). Search engines are increasingly favouring actual website content over metadata when indexing websites, but it's still practical to optimise metadata for effective SEO.

Multivariate Testing

A testing method whereby multiple variables are examined simultaneously to determine which combinations of functions and features on a website are most effective at generating a positive reaction by users. Multivariate testing is invaluable for online marketing, as it can accurately ascertain a website's optimum configuration for revenue generation (i.e. conversion potential).

Natural Listings / Organic Listings

Natural listings are listings that appear on search engine results pages purely based on their relevance to the search terms, as deemed by the search engine's algorithm. Paid listings can also appear in natural listings if they're relevant. The best and most cost effective way of improving a website's natural listing ranking is through the use of organic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques.

Organic Listings / Natural Listings

Organic listings are listings that appear on search engine results pages purely based on their relevance to the search terms, as deemed by the search engine's algorithm. Paid listings can also appear in organic listings if they're relevant. The best and most cost effective way of improving a website's organic listing ranking is through the use of natural Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques.

Page Rank (or PR)

not to be confused with rank - is a link analysis algorithm developed by Google which measures the importance of a website and determines the likelihood that a user will arrive at that page by randomly clicking Links. A score from one to ten is given to a website to represent its PageRank rating. One is low, ten is high.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

Pay per click is a paid for advertising method offered by search engines and advertising networks where advertisers pay fixed fees each time someone clicks on their adverts. Pay per click adverts are featured separately from organic search listings on search engine results pages in a defined ‘sponsored links' section. Ranking in sponsored links sections depends on both the relevance of keywords to the website and the amount paid for the words or phrases by the advertiser.

Rank

Rank is the position a website listing occupies relative to the top on a search engine's natural search results page. Search engines generally display ten listings per page, and getting near the top of the listings is regarded as essential due to overwhelming evidence showing that search engine users rarely look beyond the first page or two of listings when deciding on which websites to click through to.

ROI (Return On Investment)

A method used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment. Calculating basic ROI is simple - the benefit of the investment is divided by the cost of creating, implementing and sustaining it. The result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio.

Search Engine

A search engine is a website that enables users to search the internet for other websites. The search is dictated by the keywords and phrases the user enters into the search engine's query box, and listings are returned and displayed in two ways. Natural (or organic) results are displayed solely in terms of how relevant to the search terms they're deemed to be by the search engine. Sponsored (or ‘paid for') results are listed in accordance with both relevance to the search terms and how much the website owners paid to come up in searches where those keyword were used. To determine the relevance of websites to the search terms, search engines use complex processes often referred to as algorithms. Search engines pro-actively gather information on websites through the use of spiders and store the details in their index libraries.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) (SEO)

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the practice of refining a website for the purpose of improving its ranking in natural search engine listings. This is done through a combination of methods, such as inserting keywords and phrases into the text content and metadata of individual webpages, establishing high quality external links to the site and also through directory and search engine submissions.

Search Engine Ranking Report

A search engine ranking report is a periodical report on the position of a company's website listing in relation to their identified keywords. This type of reporting enables companies to monitor the success of SEO strategies or pay per click advertising campaigns.

Search Terms

Sometimes referred to as keywords and keyphrases, search terms are the words and phrases users enter into search engine query boxes. Search engines list results pages in accordance with how relevant the pages are to the search terms. One of the key SEO methods used for optimising websites is writing content that contains search terms identified as being most relevant to the core purpose of the website.

Spider

Also known as a Crawler, Robot, or bot. A spider is a search engine program that ‘crawls' through websites, retrieving data, following links, , logging page versions and updates and storing URLs in the search engine's Index. This allows search engines to provide fast, accurate and up-to-date listings.

Title Tags

An HTML tag containing text describing the contents of a webpage. Title tags are a significant part of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) because they are often used as the text links that lead to sites from search engine result pages. The best title tags contain relevant keywords that both encourage accurate indexing and appeal to search engine users.

Unique Visitor

Unique visitor is a term which refers to the registering of a hit on one page of a web site from a unique IP address in a specified period. Subsequent hits by the same IP address are not counted as unique during that same period. Unique visitor counts are one useful way of measuring the success of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

Web Analytics

Web analytics is a discipline of analytics that monitors study the behaviour of website visitors. Hits, page views, and the data behind conversion rates are used to refine a website or wider internet marketing strategy.

White Hat SEO

White hat SEO is the acceptable use of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques, including relevant link building, content and metadata optimisation and other legitimate methods that don't fall under black hat or grey hat.