Glossary

Making Sense of Internet Jargon and Terminology

We hope our glossary will help you become more familiar with the many terms, phrases, and jargon commonly used by the Internet community.

| 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: A marketing testing method where one tests two different versions of a keyword, advertisement, website, color, graphic, or design to see which version improves results. (Also known as multi-variant testing and split testing)

Above the Fold: The location on a website that is viewable without scrolling down, initially used in reference to the upper half of a newspaper.

Ad Clicks: The number of times users click on an online ad.

Ad Views: The number of times online users have presumably seen an online ad. (Also known as impressions)

AdWords: Google’s main source of advertising which includes text, banner, and rich-media Pay Per Click ads.

Alt Tag: A specified alternative text that is to shown when an image is unable to be viewed that used within HTML and XHTML elements.

Analytics: The measurement, collection, and reporting of online data for both your online marketing and websites activities that allows you to see and analyze your visitors detailed traffic information.

Anchor: An image, text or other form of web page content that is highlighted, underlined, or “clickable” and when clicked on links to another site or place on a web page.

Anchor Text: The visible and clickable text associated with a Hyperlink that provides both visitors and search engines useful information about what the web page that is being linked to is in reference to.

| 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
B

B2B: Business to Business

B2C: Business to Consumer

Backlinks: Incoming links to a web page. Search engines view backlinks in a similar fashion to a vote in a political election. The more quality incoming backlinks a site has usually helps a site to rank better in search engine results.

Black Hat SEO: An unethical approach to improve search engine results. This practice is known to quickly improve ranking, but eventually leads to being banned from search engine results entirely or severely penalized.

Blog: An online journal or “web-log” of any given subject that is usually updated on a regular basis.

Bounce Rate: The percentage of online visitors that enter a web page then exit from the page without visiting any other page on the website.

Browser: A software application developed to view information and web pages on the Internet.

| 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
C

Click Through Rate: The percentage of times an online advertisement was clicked on by an online user who viewed the ad. This is a good measurement to use when calculating the success of an online ad.

Cloaking: A technique used in black hat SEO to display different content than a human website visitor actually sees than the content that is presented to search engines bots in an effort to “trick” the search engines that a website should rank higher.

Conversion Rate: The percentage of clicks in which a visitor completes a business goal for a website.

Content: The text, images, sounds, videos, animations and other documents that make up a web page.

Conversion: When a prospective customer meets the business goals of website.

Cookies: Text stored on a specific computer by a web browser about a website visitors past browsing preference history.

CPC (Cost Per Click:) A form of online advertising where each click of an online ad cost the advertiser a set fee.

Crawl: An automated, computerized algorithm where search engines bots browse the Internet to collection information from web pages that is used by search engines for future indexing.

| 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
D

De-listing: When a website is temporarily or permanently removed from search engine results because of the use of Black Hat SEO techniques.

Deep linking: Linking directly to a sub-page or interior page of a website, instead of to the home or index page of the website.

Description META tag: A piece of content that is added to a website that describes what the web page is in reference to. Usually 1-3 sentences in length that is both useful to the search engines for indexing of web pages and humans to provide details of the web page is about when browsing search results.

DMOZ: An online website directory that has been created and maintained primarily by volunteer editors.

Domain Name: The unique name that is used to identify a particular website. For the creation of a website you will need to purchase a domain name from a registrar. The domain name for our website is www.sidekickmark.com (Also known as a URL)

Duplicate Content: More than one web page that has the same or very similar content. When content a replication or very similar on multiple pages of a website or across multiple websites. Duplicated content on a website can cause search engines to penalize your website.

| 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
E

E-mail Marketing: A marketing method that utilizes email for the promotion of products, brands, and services.

E-mail Spam: Usually unwanted or unsolicited bulk email messages that are nearly identical sent to numerous recipients by email.

Entry Page: The web page that a visitors enters when arriving at a website.

Ethical SEO: Search engine optimization that is performed in an ethical manner and follows the guidelines set out by the search engines. (Also known as white hat SEO)

External Link: A link on a web page that points visitors to another website.

| 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
F

FTP (File Transfer Protocol): A standard protocol to move computer files from one host to another over the Internet.

Flash: An animated technology that brings visual movement to deliver content in a re-sizable file format. Completely flash based websites are hard for search engine robots to crawl and index.

| 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
G

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format): A popular image format used on the web that supports image transparency and display in 256 colors.

Google Bot: The name of the robots/spiders used by Google to sort through the Internetís web pages and websites for indexing and updating the content in their database.

Google Keyword Tool: A free tool offered by Google to provide useful information based on actual Google search queries to inform about estimated traffic volume, competitive value, search trends and additional data for keywords, terms and phrases.

Google Traffic Estimator: A free tool that provides an estimation by Google for how many potential clicks an ad may receive in AdWords.

Google Trends: A free tool offered by Google based on actual Google search queries that allow users to view historical data trends for search keywords, terms, and phrases across various regions of the world.

Google.com: A search engine that has the most dominant share of online search engines and comprising over 60% of the overall online global search market.

| 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
H

Hidden Text / Hidden Link: Text that is intentionally made the same color as its background so that it isn’t visible by human, but can still be found by search engine robots. A deceptive marketing tactic that is used by spammers.

Home Page: Usually refers to the main or front page of a website. (Also referred to as the index page)

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language): A programming language that is used in the development of web pages and websites.

Hyperlink: An element that is located on a website that when clicked upon directs you to another website, web page or place on the page. (Also referred to as a link.)

| 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
I

Impressions: The number of times online users have presumably seen an online ad. (Also known as ad views)

Indexing: The retrieval of data by search engines from web pages, websites, and other sources on the Internet. In order for a website to appear with search engine results it first must be indexed within the search engine.

Index Page: Usually refers to the main or front page of a website. (Also referred to as a the home page)

Internet: A global interconnected network of computers used for a vast range of purposes and sharing of information.

Internet Marketing: A marketing method that utilizes only the Internet for the marketing of products and services.

IP Address: A unique identifying label that is assigned to devices such as a computer or domain name which is represented in a numeral format.

| 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
J

JavaScript: A type of programming language this is used to enhance interactive features of a website and other computer applications.

| 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
K

Keyword: A single word, term, or phrase used to perform an online search. Much of the success of an online campaign is in the selection of the appropriate keyword or keywords focus.

Keyword Density: The percentage of times a specific keyword, term, or phrase is used within a web page’s content compared to the total number of words within the page.

Keyword Phrases: Usually refers to the main or front page of a website. (Also referred to as search terms)

Keyword Relevancy: A term used to describe how relevant a specific keyword, term, or phrase is to the content within a web page or website.

Keyword Research: Research that is done to analyze specific keywords, terms, and phrases to learn about their global/local search volumes, competitive value, and other important statistical data to help determine the best suited keywords to target for search engine marketing purposes.

Keyword Stuffing: Writing content that uses a disproportionate number of keywords. and may be interpreted as Spam by Search Engines. A deceptive technique used by spammers to use a disproportionate number of keywords within a single web page in an attempt to trick search engines in order to achieve higher placements within search engine results.

Keyword Tag: A meta tag that specifies keywords and phrases used within a web page to describe the contents of the particular page. The keyword tag now plays much less of an important role in search engine marketing after being used for many years by spammers for irrelevant keyword stuffing.

| 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
L

Landing Page: The page that a visitor is directed to when a link or ad is clicked upon. (Also referred to as a splash page)

Link: An element that is located on a website that when clicked upon directs you to another website, web page or place on the page. (Also referred to as a hyperlink)

Link Building: The process of obtaining links for a website in order to improve search engine rankings.

Link Farm: A group of websites that link to the all the other websites within the group. A tactic that is not recommended for ethical Internet marketing practices and could result in imposed penalties by search engines.

Link Popularity: A measure of both quantity and quality of inbound links for a website used by search engines within their ranking algorithms.

Long Tail Keyword: A type of keyword phrase that is made up of at least three and sometimes as many as five words in length. Targeting long-tail keywords in search engine marketing is usually an effective way to target specific niches and achieve quicker ranking increases.

| 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
M

Manual Submission: To manually submit a website to a search engine or directory one at a time without the use of any software.

Meta Description: A short description used to describe the content within a web page that is usually one to two sentences in length. A highly compelling and descriptive description is important because this is often one part of what users can see and read within search engine results.

Meta Keywords: Keywords used within a web page to describe the contents of the particular page. The meta keywords now play a much less of an important role in search engine marketing after being used for many years by spammers for irrelevant keyword stuffing.

Meta Tag: A HTML element that contains specific information about the web page. There are usually multiple meta tags per each web page each describing a different attribute of the page such as title and description.

Multi-Variant Testing: A marketing testing method where one tests two different versions of a keyword, advertisement, website, color, graphic, or design to see which version improves results. (Also known as A/B testing and split testing)

| 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
N

Natural Search Results: The listings or results that appear within a search engine because of their relevance to a users query and are not paid inclusion advertisements. (Also referred to as organic search results or unpaid search results)

Navigation: The process in which a visitor or robot is able to navigate within a website from one page to another. Ease of navigation plays an important role in the success of a website.

Niche: A specific targeted area of focus or demographic within a market.

Nofollow: An HTML element that informs some search engines that a hyperlink or web page should not be followed. Initially created to help prevent spam comments on blogs.

| 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
O

One Way Link: A link that only points in a single direction without a return link from the receiving domain.

Online Marketing: A marketing method that utilizes only the Internet for the marketing of products and services.

Organic Search Results: The listings or results that appear within a search engine because of their relevance to a users query and are not paid inclusion advertisements. (Also referred to as natural search results or unpaid search results)

Outbound Link: A link that points out from one domain to another.

| 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
P

Page Rank: A numerical score that is given to a website based on algorithmic formula used by Google based on many components including domain age, number of indexed pages on the site, number and quality of inbound links as well as many other factors.

Paid Inclusion: When a fee must be paid to submit and place a website on an online directory.

Paid Link: A type of link where a fee must be paid in order to have a linked placed on a website.

Pay Per Click (PPC): A type of online advertising where the advertiser only pays a fee each time their ad is clicked on.

PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor): A programming language that is widely used for the development of dynamic web pages.

| 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
Q

Quality Content: Original content that is user friendly. Quality content on a website encourages sharing and links to further increase rankings within search engines.

Quality Link: A link that holds high value because it is from a highly trusted website or one with high Page Rank. The quality of incoming links to a website usually holds more importance than a large number of low quality links to assist in achieving increased rankings within search engines.

Query: The request of specific information in the form of a keyword, term, or phrase usually to a search engine in order to find related information about the request.

| 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
R

Rank: This refers to a website or web pages standing position in comparison to other websites or web pages in search engine results.

Reciprocal Link: A process of exchanging links that places a link on one website in return for a incoming link from the other site as well. This type of link is usually not as beneficial for increased SEO ranking as a single one-way link.

Redirect: When a user is sent to a different page other than the intended page that they selected.

Registrar: A company such as GoDaddy that is authorized to sell Internet domain names.

Relevancy: A term used to describe how closely the content of a website matches a users query on search engine results or other forms of online advertising.

Robots: A term used to describe software programs that are utilized by search engines such as Google and Yahoo to sort through the Internet and locate new sites, changes to existing sites, and gather important information that search engines use for ranking and indexing purposes. (Also referred to as spiders)

Robots.txt File: A text based file that is placed within a website to inform search engine robots or web crawlers specific pages or areas of a website that should not be indexed to appear in search results.

| 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
S

Search Engine: A program that users search via the Internet that providers users with results to best match the users request in form of web pages, images, information, and other types of data. The most popular search engines include Google, Yahoo, & Bing.

Search Engine Marketing: A form of Internet marketing to promote websites online visibility within search engines through the use of organic optimization, pay per click, and other techniques.

Search Engine Optimization: A form of Internet marketing to promote a websites online visibility within the “natural”, “organic”, or un-paid location within search engines.

Search Engine Spam: A form of Internet marketing that goes against search engine guidelines to manipulate the search engine results through keyword stuffing, content duplication, and other frowned upon techniques.

Search Engine Submission: The process of submitting a website to search engines to inform them of it’s existence. This process isn’t always necessary because most of the major search engines would eventually find the site themselves, but this process can help speed up the results of having the site crawled and indexed.

Search Terms: Usually refers to the main or front page of a website. (Also referred to as keyword phrases)

SERP (Search Engine Results Page): The page returned by a search engine after a user submits a search query that usually consists of web pages with titles, a link to the web page, and short description. The results can also consist of images, local map results, videos, and other additional content.

Site Map: A page or list of pages within the website that provides a detailed outline to both visitors and search engine robots. It is important for a site map to be in a proper format that will be able to be crawled by all the major search engines to ensure all of the pages within a website which you wish to appear within search engine results can be indexed.

Social Media: The use of web and mobile based technologies for social interaction and communication within a group of users/members for interactive creation and exchange of user-generated content.

Social Network: A web base or mobile community that allows users/members to connect, share, and interact with one another.

Spam / Spamming: Unwanted or unsolicited email that is sent in bulk. Also techniques that are used in attempt to trick search engines into achieving higher rankings through the use of keyword stuffing, content duplication, and other manipulating methods.

Spiders: A term used to describe software programs that are utilized by search engines such as Google and Yahoo to sort through the Internet and locate new sites, changes to existing sites, and gather important information that search engines use for ranking and indexing purposes. (Also referred to as a robots)

Splash Page: The page that a visitor is directed to when a link or ad is clicked upon. (Also referred to as a landing page)

Split Testing: A marketing testing method where one tests two different versions of a keyword, advertisement, website, color, graphic, or design to see which version improves results. (Also known as multi-variant testing and A/B testing)

Squeeze Page: Squeeze pages are landing pages created to solicit opt-in email addresses from prospective subscribers.

| 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
T

Tag: A keyword or phrase element that is assigned to a specific piece of information for organization and display purposes.

Targeted Marketing: Marketing that is specifically aimed at a niche area or demographic through the use of banners, pay per click campaigns, and other online marketing techniques.

Text Ad: An ad using only text based elements and hyperlinks.

Title Tag: A text element that is part of a web page that usually appears in the upper left portion of most web browsers and plays an important role in the process of search engine optimization. The title also appears as the main headline within search results, which plays an important role to inform human web surfers about the content on the page when looking through search results.

| 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
U

Unique Visitors: A statistic describing the number of unique or individual visitors who have visited a website or web page within a certain time frame.

Unpaid Search Results: The listings or results that appear within a search engine because of their relevance to a users query and are not paid inclusion advertisments. (Also referred to as natural search results or organic search results)

URL (Uniform Resource Locator): This is the specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as our website’s URL www.sidekickmark.com (Also known as a domain name)

| 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
V

Viral Marketing: A form of marketing that leverages online social networking and mobile marketing to spread a message in a viral fashion to increase brand awareness or achieve a marketing goal through the use of video clips, imagery, games, or even text messages.

| 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
W

Web Browser: A software application developed to view information and web pages on the Internet.

Web Design: A term used to describe the layout of a website and how it is displayed to the visitor.

Web Directory: A website containing an organized listings of other websites usually by subject matter and containing an interconnected list of categories.

Website Traffic: The number of visitors a website receives over a specific time period.

Website Usability: The ease of use in which a user can use the functions of a website and its interface, such as navigation. If a user struggles to find the information they are looking for easily it is likely that they will leave the website.

White Hat SEO: Search engine optimization that is performed in an ethical manner and follows the guidelines set out by the search engines. (Also known as ethical SEO)

 

  • Request Free Consultation