deathbydesign have been working with websites for over 10 years, the internet is like our second home.  To some however, it is a strange and scary place full of weird things and words they don’t understand.

We have compiled the following Jargon Buster to help you understand what the hell we are talking about!

If you think we have left something out, add a comment to this post and we will get straight back to you.

Banner Ad – is (usually) a rectangular advertisement on a website above or to the side of a website’s main content.  It will usually have a link through to the advertiser’s own site.

Blog – Short for Web Log is a web page in the style of a personal diary/commentary by the author that is usually updated on a very regular basis.  It can be accessed by anyone and often allows visitors to the site to post comments.

CMS – Short for Content Management System is the software that enables the user to manage their website content, such as adding news items or uploading images etc.

Data Capture - Collecting data (name, email address etc) from your customers / clients. Useful for e-marketing purposes.

Domains – A domain name is used in a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) to identify specific websites.

E-Commerce – Short for Electronic Commerce it is business that is carried out over the internet, but more specifically relates to buying/selling – shopping carts/online purchasing.

Flash – (Adobe Flash) is the description of the technology that allows web developers to incorporate animation and interactive content into their websites.

Hosting – A web hosting is a service that enables individuals/companies to have their websites online and accessible to all via the world wide web.  You can lease space on a web host company’s server but still have your own domain name, this is a less expensive way of doing things.

HTML – Short for Hyper Text Mark-up Language is the name of the language used to create Web documents.  It defines the page layout, fonts and graphics etc.

HTML Emails – is the use of HTML (see above) in emails to provide more possibilities for use than just text ie diagrams, tables, graphs etc.  They are used in email marketing campaigns and email newsletters etc.

Javascript – Is the name of the programming language that enables web designers to design interactive features into their websites.

Keywords – These are words used by the search engines to find the most relevant websites.

Online Advertising – uses the internet to deliver marketing messages to attract potential customers, including the use of Banner Ads (see above), social network and email marketing etc.

PHP – Short for PHP: Hypertext Pre-processor is also a language that enables web designers to create dynamic content that interacts with databases.

PPC – Short for Pay Per Click is an online marketing strategy in which the advertiser pays the search engines a certain amount for every click received on their site.

Rich Media – This is a description of media that allows for active participation by the recipient or interactivity usually incorporating audio, video and high resolution graphics.

RSS – Short for Really Simple Syndication is a web-feed format specifically used to publish frequently updated websites, such as news, blogs, audio etc.

SEO – Short for Search Engine Optimisation it is the process of increasing the number of visitors to a website by ensuring it appears high in the search results of Google (and other search engines).  It gives a website a “web presence”.  Websites can be built to be “search engine friendly”.  These search results are known as organic results.

SSL – Short for Secure Sockets Layer is the procedure that enables you to send secure/private documents/data via the internet – sites have it when privacy/security is essential for example when credit card information is involved.