Web Terminology

Above The Fold: This term is carried over from the newspaper publishing days. In newspaper terms, above the fold means content that was on the top half of the page (below the physical fold in the paper). In web design terms, this refers to the content that is above the point first viewable to the visitor.
ASP: Short for Active Server Pages. ASP is a server-side scripting language created by Microsoft. ASP scripts work in conjunction with HTML and are processed by a web server prior to being served to a viewer.

Back End

The part hidden from view of regular website visitors. The back end generally includes the information structure, applications and the CMS controlling content on the site.

Backlink

Links from other sites back to your own. Sometimes referred to as “trackbacks”. Backlinks have a huge impact on your site’s search rankings. Lots of backlinks from high-ranking sites can greatly improve your search engine results, especially if those links use keywords in their anchor text.

Bandwidth

The amount of data transferred when people visit and interact with your site. The more visitors you anticipate, the higher amount of bandwidth you will require.

Below the Fold

This term is carried over from the newspaper publishing days. In newspaper terms, below the fold means content that was on the bottom half of the page (below the physical fold in the paper). In web design terms, this refers to the content that is below the point first viewable to the visitor.

Bounce Rate

Refers to the percentage of people who leave the website from the same page they entered without clicking through to any other pages. This can be a good indicator of how a website’s navigation is as well as the quality of the site’s content.

CSS

Short for Cascading Style Sheets. These are used to define the look and feel of a website. The benefits of using CSS are many, but some of the most important are the simplification of the site’s HTML files which can actually increase search engine rankings.

CGI

Short for Common Gateway Interface. CGI is a scripting language that processes data submitted by a user. It’s most common usage is processing information from web forms.

CGI-Bin

A special repository on a server that stores CGI scripts.

CMS

Short for Content Management System. This is the backend tool for managing a site’s content. Using a CMS generally makes it easier for content to be added to the site for people who aren’t designers.

Dedicated Server

A type of web hosting that allows you to lease your own web server. A dedicated server provides the utmost in flexibility and control and tends to be more secure than other forms of hosting.

Domain Name

The identifying name of your website. Domain names are a part of the DNS (Domain Name System) and used to translate a numeric or IP address into words.

Disk Space/Storage

The amount of space you have on a web server to store files for your website.

E-Commerce

Short for electronic commerce. It’s the buying and selling of goods online through websites.

FTP

Short for File Transfer Protocol. FTP is a technology that allows files to uploaded/downloaded to and from a web server.

HTML

Short for HyperText Markup Language, HTML is a client-side programming language that enables a browser to communicate with a web server. All server-side scripts and functions rely on HMTL to display content to the viewer.

Hyperlink

A link from one web page to another, either on the same site or another one. Generally these are text or images, and are highlighted in some way (underlined, different color or font weight).

Landing Page

The page where a visitor first enters a website. Often, a special landing page is created to track the success of a specific marketing or advertising campaign. Also referred to as a jump page.

Managed Hosting

Refers to a turn-key managed service for a dedicated server. Service usually includes maintenance, monitoring and technical support. This type of hosting is ideal for someone who lacks server administration skills.

MySQL

A popular database that allows you to run software applications such as blogs, message boards and content management systems.

PHP

One of the most popular server-side scripting languages used to create dynamic web pages.

RSS

Short for Really Simple Syndication. It is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format and delivered directly to recipients most commonly via email.

Server

a computer that has software installed and networking capabilities that allow it to host web sites and pages and make them available to internet users located elsewhere.

Shared Hosting

The most basic type of web hosting. Hence the name, shared hosting is where you share space and resources on a server with other customers.

URL

Short for Uniform Resource Locator. A site’s URL is its address, the item that specifies where on the Internet the site can be found.