resources
Explanations of terms frequently used for websites and website design.
Alt Tags
Text that is displayed instead of an image if the image is unavailable, or if the image is hovered over with the mouse.
Autoresponder
An email message which is automatically sent as a response to an email enquiry by a user.
Bandwidth
The amount of information that can be transferred across an internet connection
Blog
Short for weBLOG, this is a regularly updated diary.
Browser
The program that displays web sites on your computer. Examples are Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Firefox.
CGI
A protocol enabling web pages to transfer instructions to a server, via a script placed in an HTML page that completes a series of tasks.
Cookies
A text message sent from a web server to a browser and then returned by the browser to the server when the user re-visits that site. They are used to identify users and store information between visits, or generate statistics.
Domain Name
The unique web address belonging to your website.
Download
Transfer of a document or file from a website to a local computer.
Dynamic
Interactive elements of a site.
Ezine
Electronic newsletter, usually sent by email.
Frame
A section of a web page inside a frame, which stays the same, while other parts may change as a visitor navigates through the site.
FTP
Program used to upload your website from the program where it was created to a hosting server.
GIF
An image format used on the web, best for line drawings, logos, icons or banners with a small number of colours.
Graphic
An image or picture used on a web page.
Hits
The number of times a web page is visited.
Host
Stores web pages on its server to make them available to internet users.
HTML
Language that browsers use to display your website. It uses a set of tags that specify how a page will look.
HTTP
Text based set of rules by which files on the web are transferred from web servers to browsers. The vast majority of web addresses (URLs) are prefixed by http://
Image
A picture, photograph or graphic used on a web page.
Index
When a search engine searches and catalogues a website for later retrieval for keyword searches.
Java Script
A scripting language that provides a simplified method of applying dynamic effects to a web pages.
JPEG
An image format used on the web - best for photographs or graphics with lots of colours.
Keywords
Search terms people type into a search engine to find what they are looking for. Essential for search engine optimization.
Keyword Density
The number of times a keyword or keyword phrase appears on a web page.
Layout
A drawing that shows the general appearance of a web page design.
Link
A piece of text or an image (with an embedded URL) which takes the user to another location of the same or different website by clicking on it.
Link Exchange
A system whereby websites swap links with each other, usually displayed on a dedicated Links Page. Also known as Reciprocal Links.
Menu
See Navigation bar.
Metatags
HTML codes that reside within the Head section of each web page’s HTML. Metatags are used by search engines to locate information about the website. They generally include the site title, description, keywords, etc.
Monitoring
Checking a website for broken links, uptime, display elements.
Navigation Bar
A set of links that displays the names of different pages on a website eg Home, Contact, Products etc. It can be displayed across the top, down one side, or across the bottom of a web page.
Page Rank
Page Rank is the importance that Google places on each each web page, based on its own secret algorithm. It can be displayed on the Google tool bar, and ranks sites from 0 – 10.
Pixels
Picture Element, is a single dot of light on a computer screen, and can be displayed in different colours.
Reciprocal Link
See Link Exchange
RSS feeds
Are headlines and news stories that can be fed onto any website on any chosen topic.
Scripts
Sets of instructions to carry out actions or tasks on a web page.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
A set of strategies used to increase a site's positioning or ranking in a search engine.
Server
The computer storage provided by a web host or web hosting company.
Shopping cart
An order form where shoppers can fill out their details, choose their purchases, pay for them, then check out.
Site Map
A set of ordered text links on a website, that shows all of its publicly available pages, in one location.
SSL
Secure Sockets Layer is an encryption technology used for privacy and security of information.
Stickiness
The length of time a user stays on the same website, whether on the one page, or on different pages.
Submission
Registering a website's title and description for inclusion in a search engine or directory.
Text Links
A word or set of words that has a URL embedded behind it. When clicked, it should take the user to a different part of the same page, a different page of the same web site, or a different website.
Traffic
The number of hits a web site receives.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator is the unique address of every page on the web.
Web Page
A published HTML document that forms part of a website.
Web Site
Or website, is the address, location (on a server) and collection of documents and resources for any set of webpages linked by its main domain name.