A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

A/B Testing

AB testing is an online marketing tactic where different versions of a product are used to see which one users or consumers prefer. With online products, such as a webpage, email campaign or advertisement, A/B testing can be carried out with relative ease and yield quick results due to the instant and detailed analytics that testers receive.

Abstract Design / Abstract Art

A visual language of shape, form, color, and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world.

Ad Blocker

An ad blocker is a program that will remove different kinds of advertising from a Web user’s experience online. These programs target certain kinds of ads, such as pop-ups, banner ads and other common forms of online advertisement, allowing a user to surf the Web without annoying distractions or interruptions.

Address Bar

The address bar is a text box, usually at the top of your browser window, which displays the address of the web page you’re looking at, or which a web address can be typed into. With many browsers, the address bar can also be used as a search box.

Address Record

An address record (A record) is a DNS record which is used to point a domain name or subdomains to a static IP address. An A record specifies which IP is designated to a certain domain. This entry does not always have to be made; for example, a domain can be used exclusively for mail services, so an address record for this domain is not required.

Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash is a proprietary application development platfor developed by Adobe Systems. The primary focus of the Flash platform is the creation of Rich Internet applications (RIA), which combine graphics, animation, video, and sound for an enhanced Web user experience.

Ad Targeting

Ad targeting is an advertisement technique where advertisements are placed in specific areas of the screen to increase visibility and “clickability” or to give tailor-made ads based on the user’s past behaviors and preferences. Targeted ads are meant to reach certain customers based on demographics, psychographics, behavior and other second-order activities that are learned usually through data exhaust produced by users themselves.

Agile Software Development

Agile Software Development is a lightweight software engineeringframework that promotes iterative development throughout the life-cycle of the project, close collaboration between the development team and business side, constant communication, and tightly-knit teams.

Algorithm

An algorithm is a step by step method of solving a problem. It is commonly used for data processing, calculation, and other related computer and mathematical operations.

Alphanumeric

A character set with alphabetic characters (A-Z) and numerals (0-9). Other characters also may be included in an alphanumeric character set. Alphanumeric data is useful for storing text and website addresses.

Alpha Test / Alpha Testing

An alpha test is a preliminary software field test carried out by a team of users in order to find bugs that were not found previously through other tests. The main purpose of alpha testing is to refine the software product by finding (and fixing) the bugs that were not discovered through previous tests.

Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a bundled remote computing service that provides cloud computing infrastructure over the Internet with storage, bandwidth and customized support for application programming interfaces (API).

Launched in 2006, AWS is provided by cloud solution concept pioneer Amazon Inc. Amazon’s internal IT resource management built AWS, which expanded and grew into an innovative and cost-effective cloud solution provider.

Amazon EC2

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) is a cloud infrastructure offered under Amazon Web Services (AWS) that provides raw computing resources on demand.

Amazon Cloud Front

Amazon CloudFront is a cloud-based content delivery network (CDN) provided and incorporated with the Amazon Web Services suite.

The Amazon CloudFront content delivery network allows for the global distribution of digital content through regional centers that operate in major business hubs. It reduces latency in accessing static and streaming data through its distributed content delivery channels, which ensure that the data is delivered to the recipient from the nearest CDN server. Amazon CloudFront is a pay-as-you-go model that can easily be integrated with all Amazon Web Services.

Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3)

Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is a global Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solution provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon S3 facilitates highly-scalable, secured and low-latency data storage from the cloud.

The Amazon S3 interface may be used for data storage or retrieval from any location and at any time. Amazon S3’s flexible back-end infrastructure eliminates in-house storage requirements and provides unlimited or add-as-you-grow storage that is billed per usage.

Analytics

Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of your website’s data in order to understand and optimize usage.

Anchor Text

Anchor text refers to the string of text that is clickable in a hyperlink. Anchor text can be as little as one character, or as much as an entire paragraph. In the early days of the internet, the most common anchor text was “Click Here”, but users are now much more familiar with links, and anchor text varies greatly across the web.

Android

Android is a mobile operating system (OS) first developed by a Silicon Valley company by the name of Android Inc. A collaboration spearheaded by Google in 2007 through the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) gave Android an edge in delivering a complete software set, which includes the main OS, middleware and specific mobile application, or app.

Apache Web Server

Apache Web Server is an open-source web server creation, deployment, and management software. Initially developed by a group of software programmers, it is now maintained by the Apache Software Foundation.

Apple Pay

Apple Pay is a mobile payments service and digital wallet app that utilizes Near Field Communication (NFC) to initiate secure payment transactions between contactless payment terminals and AppleiOS devices like the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and AppleWatch.

Apple TV

An Apple TV is a digital media adapter (DMA) developed and marketed by Apple. It is a network device that connects to high-definition televisions (HDTVs) or enhanced-definition television (EDTV) that is capable of 720 pixels 60/50 Hz. The Apple TV supports the streaming of various media derived from Netflix, YouTube, iTunes Store, Flickr, MobileMe, NBA League Pass and MLB.tv.

Apple Watch

An Apple Watch is a smartwatch manufactured by Apple Inc. It is designed to integrate various fitness tracking and health-related apps with the Apple operating system, iOS. Apple Watch is dependent on iPhone 5 and later models (iOS 8.2 and above) for many of its default functions as well as to access Apple products and services through Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi.

Artificial Intelligence

The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.

Autocorrect

Autocorrect is a particular piece of language programming technology built into many modern interfaces in order to assist with proper spelling. It is a part of word processors, text messaging platforms, chat technologies and other systems that facilitate text communications.

Automagically

Automagically is a slang term used to describe processes that are too complex to be explained easily. Automagically is frequently used to describe computers and other technology that function in a way that is difficult for non-experts to grasp.

Automated Testing

Automated testing or test automation is a method in software testing that makes use of special software tools to control the execution of tests and then compares actual test results with predicted or expected results. All of this is done automatically with little or no intervention from the test engineer. Automation is used to add additional testing that may be too difficult to perform manually.

ASP.net

ASP.NET is a unified web development model integrated with the .NET framework, designed to provide services to create dynamic web applications and web services. It is built on the Common Language Runtime (CLR) of the .NET framework and includes those benefits like multi-language interoperability, type safety, garbage collection, and inheritance.

Aspect Ratio

An aspect ratio is an attribute that describes the relationship between the width and height of an image. Aspect ratio is expressed by the symbolic notation: X: Y. The values of X and Y are not the actual width and height of the image, but describe the relationship between them.

B

Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites ‘back’ to your own. That could be a link on a Partners page, a Better Business Bureau listing, a reference to your product in a blog post, or much more. Backlinks are considered by Google’s ranking algorithm and can affect your search rankings, but there are many specifics, like quantity, quality, and anchor text.

Balance

In design, balance involves the placement of elements on the page so that the text and graphic elements are evenly distributed. There are three ways to achieve balance: symmetrically, asymmetrically and radially.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the amount of information your connection to the Internet can carry, usually measured in bits per second.

Banner

Typically located at the top of a page or in a sidebar, banners are advertisements that link to other websites.

Baseline

All font characters sit on the baseline, the lowest point of all uppercase letters and most lowercase letters.

Beta Test

A trial of machinery, software, or other products, in the final stages of its development, carried out by a party unconnected with its development.

Blog

An information-based website or set of web pages that revolves around a specific topic. Blogs typically consist of several entries, known as “posts”, that discuss an array of subtopics. These posts are often text-based and displayed in reverse chronological order so that the most recent posts appear at the top of the blog’s home page. Modern websites use blogs for several reasons, including educating customers and driving organic visitors to the site from search engines like Google.

Body Text

Body text is the main written content of a page.

Bounce Rate

A common metric in analytics programs such as Google Analytics, bounce rate is defined as “the percentage of single-page sessions in which there was no interaction with the page.” A bounce rate of 50% means that half of the traffic that arrived on a page of your website left (by hitting the back button or closing their tab/window) without clicking to another page first. This can be a misleadingly high number for bloggers: oftentimes, people will click a link, read an entire article, then leave. Even though they may have spent 5 minutes reading, this would still qualify as a bounce.

Browser

A browser, or web browser, is the software you use to view web pages. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer are some of the most popular web browsers. Others include Safari and Opera, and newest Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer, once the leading Internet Browser of the 1990’s and early 2000’s, has since been deprecated by Microsoft. Since each one is different, pages can vary in appearance depending on what browser is used.

Breadcrumb

Breadcrumbs are navigation elements that generally appear near the top of a page to show users the section hierarchy of the current page.

Bug Testing

The process of identifying defects, where a defect is any variance between actual and expected results. “A mistake in coding is called an error. An error found by a tester is called a defect. A defect accepted by the development team is the called a “Bug”. If the build does not meet requirements then it is called a “Failure”.

Brutalism

a style of architecture or art characterized by a deliberate plainness, crudity, or violence of imagery. The term was first applied to functionalist buildings of the 1950s and 1960s that made much use of steel and concrete in starkly massive blocks.

C

Call-To-Action / CTA / C2A

A piece of content intended to induce your site visitors, viewers, readers, or listeners to perform a specific action, which typically takes the form of an instruction or directive. Examples include: Buy Now and Learn More.

Clickable Prototypes

A clickable HTML or design prototype shows what your website will look like when it goes live and includes some form of actionable features such as clickable buttons or linked text.

Cloud Hosting / Cloud Network / “The Cloud”

A cluster, or “cloud” of servers that are used to store software including websites and mobile applications. Cloud servers are favored over single or virtual servers because they disperse data across multiple servers, which optimizes performance from any serviceable location. Additionally, if one server performs poorly, the others can pick up the slack.

Content Management System (CMS)

content management system (CMS) is software, or a group or suite of applications and tools, that enable an organization to seamlessly create, edit, review and publish web content (headings, paragraphs, images, etc.). The most popular CMS is WordPress, which enjoys over 60% of the current market share.

Conversion

A marketing tactic that encourages your customers to take a specific action. In electronic commerce, conversion marketing is the phrase that’s often used to describe the act of converting a customer who browses your site into a paying customer.

Cookie

A website cookie is a small text file created by a website or application that is stored within a visitor’s computer. A cookie can be session-based or persistent, where it is saved onto the visitor’s hard drive. Cookies provide a way for websites or applications to recognize visitors and keep track of their preferences (e.g. saving items within a shopping cart and returning later to make a purchase).

Copy Writing

The act of writing a text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy, is a written text that aims to increase your brand’s awareness and persuade a person or group to take a particular action.

CSS

Short for Cascading Style Sheets, a new feature being added to HTML that gives both Web site developers and users more control over how pages are displayed. With CSS, designers and users can create style sheets that define how different elements, such as headers and links, appear.

Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) System

Customer relationship management (CRM) describes all aspects of sales, marketing and service-related interactions that a company has with its customers or potential customers. CRM systems track, centralize, and manage communications and statuses of a business’s client base through the Web, email, telephone, mobile apps, chat, social media, and marketing channels. Examples of popular CRMs include Salesforce and Hubspot.

D

Database

A structured set of data held in a computer, especially one that is accessible in various ways. Excel Spreadsheets are an example of a database table. Databases are used to store data from your website or web application and make it accessible from anywhere.

Data Center

a large group of networked computer servers typically used by organizations for the remote storage, processing, or distribution of large amounts of data.

Data Mining

The practice of analyzing large databases in order to generate new information.

Dedicated Server

A single computer in a network reserved for serving the needs of the network. For example, some networks require that one computer is set aside to manage communications between all the other computers. In the web hosting, a dedicated server is typically a rented service.

Deep Learning

Deep Learning is a type of machine learning based on artificial neural networks in which multiple layers of processing are used to extract progressively higher level features from data.

Deprecated

In the world of software development, “deprecated” refers to functions or elements that are in the process of being replaced by newer ones. The term comes from the word “deprecate,” which means to disapprove of something.

Design Mockups

Mockups depict the design choices and overall aesthetics of your website or application.

Digital Marketing

The marketing of products or services using digital technologies, mainly on the Internet. Examples may include your website, marketing funnels, email autoresponders, and other forms of digital mediums you may utilize.

Domain / Domain Name

A domain or domain name is a unique name used to identify the location of a website on a web server. When you access a website (e.g. google.com) through a web browser like Google Chrome, the domain name is translated to an Internet Protocol (IP) address (e.g. 172.217.12.206) which represents the server on which the website is hosted. This translation is dynamically performed by a domain name server (DNS).

Domain Name Servers (DNS)

Domain Name Servers are the Internet’s equivalent of a phone book or directory. They keep an updated list of domain names and translate them back into IP addresses. This is necessary because, although domain names are easy for humans to remember, computers (which include all devices that can connect to the internet) use IP addresses to access websites.

Drag-and-Drop

Drag and drop is the action of moving computer files from one application or location to another using a click and drag motion. Drag and drop is typically used in the website builder space to highlight the ability to position elements on a page using your mouse.

E

E-Commerce

E-commerce is the activity of buying or selling products or services online. E-commerce websites, also known as online stores, can vary quite a bit in terms of functionality and cost. Simple E-commerce websites can be created for almost nothing, while large E-commerce sites like Walmart can cost millions of dollars to build and maintain.

E-Commerce Optimization

Everything an e-commerce website can do to improve its rank in search results without relying on off-page factors. On-page optimizations are the ranking factors directly controlled by a website, making them a necessary first step to successful e-commerce SEO.

Element

An element, which is also referred to as a page element or an HTML element, is an individual component of an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) document or web page. For example, the <title> node represents the title of the document.

Email Marketing

The act of sending a commercial message, typically to a group of people, using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing.

F

Facebook Commerce / F-Commerce

E-commerce that is facilitated by the Facebook social media platform. Facebook is a major enterprise, with hundreds of millions of users and near-constant media exposure. Facebook commerce seeks to use elements of Facebook to drive sales.

Facebook Shop

A Facebook store allows you to sell products through your Facebook Page. You can set up a Facebook Page for your business that is separate to your personal Facebook account.

Facebook Page

A Facebook page is a public profile created by businesses, organizations, celebrities and anyone seeking to promote themselves publicly through social media. Facebook pages work much like personal profile pages, except that they have “fans” instead of “friends.” These pages are publicly visible online and often post status updates, links, events, photos and videos to their fans’ news feeds and walls.

Facebook Pixel

Code that you place on your website to track conversions from Facebook ads, optimize ads based on collected data, build targeted audiences for future ads, and remarket to qualified leads.

Facial Recognition

A biometric software application capable of uniquely identifying or verifying a person by comparing and analyzing patterns based on the person’s facial contours. Facial recognition is mostly used for security purposes, though there is increasing interest in other areas of use. In fact, facial recognition technology has received significant attention as it has potential for a wide range of application related to law enforcement as well as other enterprises.

Fatal Error

An error that causes a program to terminate without any warning or saving its state. A fatal error, upon occurring, aborts the application currently running, and may cause the user to lose any unsaved changes made in the program. Exact reasons for fatal errors are very difficult to determine.

Flat Design

Flat design is a style of interface design emphasizing minimum use of stylistic elements that give the illusion of three dimensions (such as the use of drop shadows, gradients or textures) and is focused on a minimalist use of simple elements, typography and flat colors.

Footer

Design elements repeated at the bottom of every page is called a footer.

Font Case

Typically, characters are available in two forms.

Font Spacing

The vertical and horizontal spacing of a font is often altered to change its appearance.

Font Style

Beyond spacing and case, fonts can also be altered by scale, weight and style.

G

Generative AI

Generative artificial intelligence (Generative AI) is a type of artificial intelligence capable of generating text, images, videos, or other data using generative models, often in response to user prompts.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud consists of a set of physical assets, such as computers and hard disk drives, and virtual resources, such as virtual machines (VMs), that are contained in data centers around the globe. Each data center location is in a region. Regions are available in Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North America, and South America. Each region is a collection of zones, which are isolated from each other within the region. Each zone is identified by a name that combines a letter identifier with the name of the region.

Grid Design

A grid is a structure made up of a series of intersecting, straight (usually vertical and horizontal) or curved guidelines used to define the structure of your web page.

Gutenberg

Gutenberg is a take on a new editor for WordPress. It is named after Johannes Gutenberg, who invented a printing press with movable type more than 500 years ago. Their goal is to make this easier, especially for those just starting with WordPress.

H

Header

Design elements repeated at the top of every page is called a header.

Hierarchy

The organization of page elements by level of importance. In web design, navigation menus and headers typically appear at the top, followed by the body. The footer typically appears last.

High-Performance Hosting / Performance-Based Hosting

Servers that are configured in a way that optimizes page load times and website security for individual websites.

HTML

Short for HyperText Markup Language, the authoring language used to create documents on the World Wide Web. HTML defines the structure and layout of a Web document (a.k.a. web page) by using a variety of tags and attributes.

HTML5

HTML5 is a W3C specification that defines the fifth major revision of the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). One of the major changes in HTML5 is in respect to how HTML addresses Web applications.

HTTP / HTTPS

HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is the secure version of HTTP, the protocol over which data is sent between your browser and the website you’re connected to. To ensure a safe connection for your website, you will need to get an HTTPS certificate.

HTTP 404

The HTTP 404, 404 Not Found, and 404 error message is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol standard response code, in computer network communications, to indicate that the client was able to communicate with a given server, but the server could not find what was requested.

I

Image File Format

A standardized way to encode art, graphics, and photos digitally.

Image Compression

Image compression is minimizing the size in bytes of a graphics file without degrading the quality of the image to an unacceptable level. The reduction in file size allows more images to be stored in a given amount of disk or memory space.

J

JavaScript

scripting language developed by Netscape to enable Web authors to design interactive sites. Although it shares many of the features and structures of the full Java language, it was developed independently. Javascript can interact with HTML source code, enabling Web authors to spice up their sites with dynamic content.

K

Kernel

A kernel is the core component of an operating system. Using interprocess communication and system calls, it acts as a bridge between applications and the data processing performed at the hardware level.

When an operating system is loaded into memory, the kernel loads first and remains in memory until the operating system is shut down again. The kernel is responsible for low-level tasks such as disk management, task management, and memory management.

Keyword

A keyword, in the context of search engine optimization, is a particular word or phrase that describes the contents of a Web page. Keywords are intended to act as shortcuts that sum up an entire page. Keywords form part of a Web page’s metadata and help search engines match a page to with an appropriate search query.

Keyword-Driven Testing

A comprehensive approach to testing that allows for certain kinds of streamlining of test cases or, in some cases, the automation of testing processes. Keyword-driven testing is also known as action word-based testing and table-based testing because the keywords can be laid out visually in a table that shows what is being tested.

Kilobit (KB)

A data measurement unit for digital information or computer storage. One kilobit equals one thousand (103 or 1,000) bits.

A kilobit is used to measure data rates in digital communication circuits (for example, 56 kilobits per second (kbps) in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) circuit or 512 kbps in a broadband Internet connection) and between devices, such as universal serial bus ports, FireWire or modems.

Kindly (Amazon)

Kindle is a portable, wireless e-reader that allows users to browse, download and read e-books, magazines, blogs, newspapers and other digital media. Kindle mimics reading on paper, by using electronic paper and E Ink to display up to 16-level grayscale. Kindle was developed in November 2007 by Lab126, Inc., a small subsidiary of Amazon.com.

L

Landing Page

A landing page is a single page that appears in response to search engine result. Landing pages are used for lead generation.

Laptop

A laptop, which can also be referred to as a notebook, is a computer designed for portability. Laptops are usually less than 3 inches thick, weigh less than 5 pounds and can be powered by a battery. As such laptops are designed for low power consumption and are most often used when space is limited, such as on an airplane.

Large Language Model (LLM)

A large language model (LLM) is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) program (algorithm) that utilizes deep learning techniques and massively large data sets to understand, summarize, and generate new content. Images, text copy, and even videos can be generated using LLM technology.

Latency

A networking term to describe the total time it takes a data packet to travel from one node to another. In other contexts, when a data packet is transmitted and returned back to its source, the total time for the round trip is known as latency. Latency refers to a time interval or a delay when a system component is waiting for another system component to do something. This duration of time is called latency.

Lazy Loading

The ability to specify the default routines that are compiled and loaded into memory during program launch. Because many applications contain unused features, lazy loading is meant to speed up a program’s initial opening time.

Lead Generation

The process of using online marketing tools and techniques to build a prospective client’s interest in a product or service. The lead generation process is achieved when the visitor either signs up for the service or requests more information, usually by entering their contact details on the website.

License Key

A data string that verifies authorized software product access. This type of software security helps prevent software piracy and gives organizations the ability to protect their software from unauthorized copying or sharing by unlicensed users.

Link Analysis

A data analysis technique used in network theory that is used to evaluate the relationships or connections between network nodes. These relationships can be between various types of objects (nodes), including people, organizations and even transactions.

LinkedIn

Founded in 2002, LinkedIn (LI) is a professional networking website. While other social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace focus more on personal and social networking. LinkedIn allows professionals to create and maintain career-oriented business connections and promote their services or professional skills.

Linux

Linux is a free open source operating system (OS) based on UNIX that was created in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Users can modify and create variations of the source code, known as distributions, for computers and other devices. The most common use is as a server, but Linux is also used in desktop computers, smartphones, e-book readers and gaming consoles, etc.

Local Area Network (LAN)

A computer network within a small geographical area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, office building or group of buildings.

Local Host

The standard hostname provided to the address of the local computer in computer networking. The localhost denotes the hostname used in communicating with the loopback network interface; that is, with software on the computer that originated the transmission. It’s also a reserved top-level domain name set.

Log File

A file that keeps a registry of events, processes, messages, and communication between various communicating software applications and the operating system. Log files are present in executable software, operating systems and programs whereby all the messages and process details are recorded. Every executable file produces a log file where all activities are noted.

Lorem Ipsum

In a graphical and textual context, Lorem ipsum refers to a filler text that is placed in a document or visual presentation. Lorem ipsum is derived from the Latin “dolorem Ipsum” roughly translated as “pain itself.” Lorem ipsum presents the sample font and orientation of writing on Web pages and other software applications where content is not the main concern of the developer.

Lossless Compression

Lossless compression involves compressing data in such a way that the original data set is fully reconstructed upon reversal of compression. This is in contrast to “lossy” compression, where some data may be lost in the reversal process.

Lossy

Derived from the word loss, Lossy is a data encoding and compression technique that deliberately discards some data in the compression process. The lossy compression method filters and discards needless and redundant data to reduce the amount of data being compressed and later being executed on a computer.

M

Machine Learning

Machine Learning refers to the use and development of computer systems that are able to learn and adapt without following explicit instructions, by using algorithms and statistical models to analyze and draw inferences from patterns in data.

Malware

Malware is any software intentionally designed to cause damage to a computer, server, client, or computer network. Malware does the damage after it is implanted or introduced in some way into a target’s computer and can take the form of executable code, scripts, active content, and other software

Managed Hosting / Managed Web Hosting

Managed Hosting services minimize the amount of hands-on IT work that needs to be performed to keep a server running at peak performance. This allows business owners to save on in-house resources.

Metadata

Metadata is defined as data providing information about one or more aspects of the data, such as a means of creation of the data or the purpose of the data. Other examples of metadata include time and date of creation, creator or author of data, location on a computer network where the data was created, and standards used.” In basic terms, it’s behind the scenes information on your site that describes the site itself and content housed within.

Mouseover

Any kind of action that occurs when a users places their curser (the arrow you move around your screen) over a button, but before anything is clicked. The actions can be anything from a simple change in color to an intricate animation.

N

Navigation / Navigation Menu / Nav Bar

Navigation is a roadmap to the most important parts of a website and should be visually consistent across all pages. A navigation bar is a set of links repeated on each page that often includes links to pages like “About us”, “Products,” “Contact us” and “Testimonials.”

O

Open Source

Freely distributable and modifiable software to which the source code is available to the public. Open Source Software often comes with the benefit of a widely supported network of web developers and web designers that contribute to the application, make updates, and troubleshoot application glitches that would otherwise take much longer in a proprietary situation. Mozilla Firefox and WordPress are two examples of open source software, which is why you see so many different themes and extensions for each, most created by the public.

Opt-In

In email marketing, you need to make sure your recipients want to get your messages, or you could get marked as spam. Opting-in means that someone has specifically requested to receive emails about a particular topic or from a particular entity.

Outbound Link

Outbound links refer to links from your site to an external (somebody else’s) site.

P

Page Editor

Also referred to as a Web Page Editor, this is software that’s used to create and change Web pages (HTML-based documents). Low-level Web page editors are used to write HTML code directly.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

Pay-per-click, also known as cost per click, is an internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, in which an advertiser pays a publisher when the ad is clicked. Pay-per-click is commonly associated with first-tier search engines.

PayPal

PayPal is an electronic-commerce (e-commerce) company that facilitates payments between parties through online funds transfers. PayPal allows customers to establish an account on its website, which is connected to a user’s credit card or checking account.

PDF

Short for “Portable Document Format,” this file format was first developed by Adobe. The idea behind the PDF was to create a file format that did not depend on applications, software, hardware or software for proper viewing. Every PDF file has a complete description of a document, including the text, fonts, graphics, and other information needed to display it.

Performance Optimization

The process of maximizing the functionality and design of your website in order to optimize its performance.

PHP / Hypertext Preprocessor

An open sourceserver-sideHTML embedded scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages. WordPress is built with PHP.

Pixel

A tracking pixel, or pixel tag, is a graphic with dimensions of 1×1 (a single pixel) that is loaded when a user visits a website or opens an email. Pixels are typically used by marketing teams to track certain user-based activities. Popular tools like Facebook, Google Analytics, and MailChimp all use pixel tracking to provide campaign analytics.

PNG

Short for “Portable Network Graphics,” this is an image format used for lossless compression and displaying images on the web. PNGs allow for millions of colors, as well as transparent backgrounds, though that can sometimes result in larger file sizes.

Post

A piece of writing or another item of content posted on a blog.

Predictive Modeling

Predictive modeling refers to a statistical technique using machine learning and data mining to predict and forecast likely future outcomes.

Private Servers

A Private server is a machine or virtual machine that is privately administrated. As servers need an adequate internet connection, power and can be noisy, they are often located in a server farm.

Programming / Web Development

Web programming refers to the writing, markup, and coding involved in Web development, which includes Web content, Web client and server scripting and network security. The most common languages used for Web programming are XML, HTML, JavaScript, Perl 5 and PHP.

Q

QR Code

A machine-readable code consisting of an array of black and white squares, typically used for storing URLs or other information for reading by the camera on a smartphone.

R

Radio Button

Also called an option button, radio buttons allow users to choose one of a number of predetermined options. Common radio buttons could be yes/no questions, or age ranges (18-24, 25-30, etc.) A radio button is different from a checkbox, which can accept multiple checked items at a time.

Raster Graphics

Graphics which are composed of pixels on a grid, where each pixel is assigned a color value. They are good for assigning special effects, color correction and manipulating photos. They are resolution-dependent, which means that images cannot be enlarged without degrading their quality. GIF, JPG, PNG, and PSD files are examples of raster graphics.

Regression Test

Regression testing is re-running functional and non-functional tests to ensure that previously developed and tested software still performs after a change. If not, that would be called a regression.

Resolution

The number of pixels in an image, given in a WxH format. Usually, the more pixels in an image, the longer it will take to load times.

Responsive Design / Mobile-Friendly Website

An approach to web design that makes use of flexible layouts, flexible images, and cascading style sheet media queries in order to render web pages according to the visitor’s screen size and orientation.

RSS Feed

Really Simple Syndication is a type of web feed which gives users the ability to get immediate updates from websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Similar to signing up for a website newsletter, users can subscribe to a website’s RSS feed and use a News Aggregator to manage the incoming information.

S

Sales Funnel / Marketing Funnel

The definition of the sales funnel (also known as a revenue funnel or sales process) refers to the buying process that companies lead customers through when purchasing products. A sales funnel is divided into several steps, which differ depending on the particular sales model.

Search Engine

A search engine is a program that searches documents (i.e. web pages, which are HTML documents) for specified keywords and returns the list of documents. A search engine has two parts, a spider and an indexer. The spider is the program that fetches the documents, and the indexer reads the documents and creates an index based on the words or ideas contained in each document. The most popular search engine is Google.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The process of maximizing the number of visitors to your website by ensuring that your site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

A protocol designed by Netscape to enable encrypted communications across the Internet. It provides privacy, authentication, and message integrity. SSL is often used in communications between browsers and servers. A URL that begins with “https” is a clue that an SSL connection will be used on the website. During an SSL connection, each side sends a Security Certificate to the other. Both sides then encrypt what they send, ensuring that only the intended recipient can decode it.

Shipping Method

The various ways that your store will ship products to customers are defined and managed on the Shipping methods page.

Sidebar

A website sidebar is the left-, or right-hand column of a page, typically used for either vertical navigation links or advertising. It may also contain site search, subscription links (RSS, newsletters, etc.) or social network buttons.

Sitemap

A sitemap is a representation of the complete architecture of a website, usually in a hierarchical fashion and based on the site’s navigation.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing (SMM) is a form of Internet marketing that utilizes social networking websites to market your business. The goal of SMM is to produce content that your users share with their social network to increase your brand exposure and broaden customer reach.

Source Code

Programmers write software using a programming language to create websites and web applications. This is called the source program, more commonly knowns as source code.

STAGING Website

A staging site is a clone of your live website which enables you to test changes or new features in a secure and stable environment. Developers typically use staging sites to test changes and fix bugs before moving to production.

Subdomain

A subdomain is a domain that is part of a larger domain. Makes a lot of sense, right? Sometimes when Site Assembly is updating an old site, we need to put the new one live on the same domain, without disturbing the old site. In those cases, we create the new site on a subdomain like beta.bkmediagroup.com. The “beta” in place of “www” is a different subdomain, just like could make a blog.siteassembly.com, or any number of other subdomains.

T

Thumbnail

A small version of a graphic image. Usually thumbnails serve as a ‘preview image’ in an image gallery on the web.

Transport Layer Security (TLS)

Transport Layer Security, and its now-deprecated predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer, are cryptographic protocols designed to provide communications security over a computer network. Several versions of the protocols find widespread use in applications such as web browsing, email, instant messaging, and voice over IP.

Typography

The style and appearance of printed matter or web page text.

U

Upload

Uploading is the action of sending data from a local computer (yours) to a server or website. When you have an image on your computer that you want to use on your website, you upload it. When you transfer something from the web to your computer, it’s downloading.

URL

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is the file address of a resource on the Internet. A URL can represent a web page, an image, a video, a style sheet, and much more.

Usability Testing

Usability testing is a technique used in user-centered interaction design to evaluate a product by testing it on users. This can be seen as an irreplaceable usability practice since it gives direct input on how real users use the system.

User Experience Design / UX Design

The process of creating products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences for your users. This involves designing the entire process of acquiring and integrating your products, including aspects of branding, design, usability, and function.

User Interface

The means by which your website users interact with your website. In web design, User Interface (UI) refers specifically to the buttons, links, text, content, and visual structure of a web page.

V

Vector Graphics

Vector graphics are small graphics that use math to display images. They can be enlarged without losing quality and are essential for cross-platform designs (i.e. billboards, business cards, etc.).

Virtual Machine

A Virtual Machine is a computer system created using software on one physical computer in order to emulate the functionality of another separate physical computer.

Virtual Server

A server (computer and various server programs) at someone else’s location that is shared by multiple websites so you can use and administer it as though you had complete control of the server.

W

Website

A location connected to the Internet that maintains one or more pages on the World Wide Web.

Web Browser

A web browser, often referred to as a “browser”, is a software application used for accessing information on the Web. Some of the most popular web browsers include Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Edge, and Opera. As with all software applications, web browsers have different features and functionality, appealing to different user types.

An Internet Protocol address is a unique numerical label assigned to each device connected to the Internet, including computers, phones, tablets, servers, cars, and more. A quick Google search for “what is my IP address” will bring up the IP address associated with your internet connection.

Website Content

Photographs, graphics, and text are the main content needed to develop and design an effective website. The first page of a website is known as the home page, and is often an overview of the website content. Each new web page within a website has its own URL and after each web page is created, the content is typically linked together using a navigation menu and hyperlinks.

Web Page

A hypertext document connected to the World Wide Web.

Web Server

Web Servers are used to store, process and deliver web pages to clients (e.g. web browsers like Google Chrome). Although you could purchase a server to run your website, most businesses use cloud storage services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host websites due to the cost savings and added security.

Widget

Widgets are various components that can be added to a site without having to write the code. Weather and stock tickers are two common examples of widgets.

Wireframes

A website wireframe, also known as a page schematic or screen blueprint, is a visual guide that represents the skeletal framework of a website. Wireframes are created for the purpose of arranging elements to best accomplish a particular purpose.

WordPress

Launched in May 2003 by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little, WordPress is the most popular content management system in the world. Used by more than 20% of all sites on the web, WordPress powers websites by offering lightning-fast installations and beautiful templates that are completely customizable.

WooCommerce

An open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress. It is designed for small to large-sized online merchants using WordPress. Launched on September 27, 2011, the plugin quickly became popular for its simplicity to install and customize and free base product.

WYSIWYG (Page) Editor

WYSIWYG is an acronym for “what you see is what you get”. A WYSIWYG website builder is a program that allows you to visually edit your site in an environment that is almost identical to your live website. Some WordPress plugins provide a WYSIWYG editor in replacement of their default Page Editor.

X

XHTML

Extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML) is a hybrid language between XML and HTML and is also an accepted standard in the coding world.

It is similar to HTML 4.01 and is considered as HTML defined as an application of XML. Unlike HTML, XHTML pages have a strict syntax and needs to be well formed in order to be parsed using XML parsers, unlike the more lenient HTML specific parsers.

XML

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a universal format maintained by the W3C used for representation and transfer of structured data on the web or between different applications.

The language uses a structured representation by allowing the user to create custom defined tags according to XML Document Type Definition (DTD) standards. The structure of the XML document can be represented in the form of a tree known as the Document Object Model (DOM).

Y

YouTube

YouTube is a popular video sharing website where registered users can upload and share videos with anyone able to access the site. These videos can also be embedded and shared on other sites. YouTube was developed by former PayPal employees in 2005 and was acquired by Google in 2006. It has had a profound impact on media and advertising.

Z

Zip File

A ZIP file is a file in the ZIP format which implements lossless compression in order to reduce the volume of saved files. The ZIP file system was created by Phil Katz in 1989 and included in the PKWARE company’s PKZIP utility.

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