Tech TalkTranslate the computer speak and talk tech like a pro with this glossary of commonly used words and acronyms. Review it here or
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AALT Tag: Tag added in the HTML code behind an image on a web page. This tag is essentially used to hold text that fulfills the same function as the image. NOTE: ALT Tags are used for many reasons, including: (1. Some web browsers cannot display images at all or only a restricted set of type of images. Most of these browsers will display this alternate text instead; (2. Accessibility: Some site visitors cannot see images due to blindness (or color blindness) and the accessibility software will read text on site pages, but cannot read and convey meaning behind images; and most importantly, (3. Search engine bots use ALT Tags to read your web page so using text that is relevant to the image content can improve the page ranking.
APl: Acronym for Average Page Load Time. See Load Time.
App: Shorthand for "Application." Generally refers to software for mobile devices.
Automated Clearing house, or ACH: Secure payment transfer system that connects all U.S. financial institutions. The ACH network acts as the central clearing facility for all Electronic Fund Transfer transactions that occur nationwide, representing a crucial link in the national banking system.
BBanner ad: Message people can interact with by clicking on the image and following the link.
Blog: Personal online journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer. Businesses can use blogs to complement a website, increase brand advertising, display expertise, and for social marketing.
Boolean search: Search that uses the operators AND, OR, NOT, or NEAR to limit or widen a search.
Bounce rates: Percentage of visits where a visitor enters and exits your website on the same page without visiting any other pages on the site in between.
Breadcrumbs: Navigation aids used in websites and other user interfaces. It allows users to keep track of their locations within programs or documents. For example: Target> home >home improvement >flashlights and worklights.
CCascading Style Sheets, or CSS: Used to format the layout of Web pages. Cascading Style Sheets can be used to define text styles, table sizes, and other aspects of web pages that previously could only be defined in a web page's HTML code.
Click-through rate, or CTR: Percentage of people exposed to an online advertisement who actually click on the banner ad.
Contextual link: Link in which the clickable text is made up of a keyword phrase to link to another page within a website or even an external link. NOTE: Search engines rank web pages higher for contextual links compared to "click here" style links.
Custom content: Personalization of content and marketing messages based on a user's preferences or prior behavior.
Cyber-security: Protection of digital business information against theft and misuse.
DDomain name: The portion of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that fully identifies the server an Internet request is addressed to.
Dynamic menuing: Menus built as a user interacts with them.
EE-commerce: Business transacted over the Internet.
Electronic Funds Transfer, or EFT: Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is a system of transferring money from one bank account directly to another without any paper money changing hands.
Electronic Shopping Cart: User-interface for customers to shop at online stores. It allows users to place items in a 'shopping cart' and the cart remembers the items for a predetermined length of time. NOTE: An electronic shopping cart can also provide important information to the seller which is often not obvious to the shopper including a cart number to track the order, a cookie to provide you with some limited tracking details about the customer, etc.
Electronic signature capture: Method to record a signature as a digital image, thereby reducing paperwork and filing.
Extensible markup language, or XML: Markup language designed to transport and store data that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable.
FFind as you type: Search capability that refines your search as you type in more characters.
Flash: Flash, an Adobe product, is used to add animated ads, gaming, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash Lite is a version used on some mobile devices.
GGeographical metadata: Usually latitude and longitude coordinates, however, could also include other data associated with the location of objects on the surface of the Earth.
Guest checkout: Online feature to allow customers to process an order without signing up for an account.
HHyperText markup language, or HTML: Main markup language for web pages. HTML elements display data and are the basic building-blocks of web pages.
IInternet Protocol address, or IP address: Numerical label assigned to each device (e.g., computer, printer) participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. May also be known as an Internet connection point.
LLanding page: The page website visitors arrive at after clicking on a link.
Load time: The time required to load all the elements on a web page. The load time depends on a many factors: the number of words on the web page; the amount of video, audio, graphic, and animation on the web page; server architecture; network traffic, etc.
Log-in/log-on: Process used to access a computer system or application. Most log-in/log-on processes require a User ID and a password to identify and authenticate the user.
M.mobi website: Top-level Internet domain used for Web sites that supply content to mobile devices.
m.site.com: Sub-domain of a current URL, built to supply content to mobile devices.
Mobile app: Software application for mobile devices.
Mobile devices: Portable electronic devices including smartphones, iPads, tablet computers, netbook computers, and laptop computers.
PPCI: Acronym for Payment Card Industry.
Pod: Acronym for Proof of Delivery.
Page views: Number of web pages requested by visitors.
Payment Card Industry Compliance, or PCI Compliance: Adherence to a set of specific information security standards developed to protect credit card information during and after a financial transaction. The goal of PCI Compliance is to ensure merchants provide the maximum security when processing customer payments or handling customer data. PCI Compliance applies to ALL organizations or merchants---regardless of size or number of transactions---that accept, transmit, or store any cardholder data.
RResponsive web design: Web design that provides the user with a different experience based on their device. NOTE: This is accomplished by using one domain with multiple CSS style sheets.
SSearch engine indexing: Collection, parsing, and storage of data to facilitate fast and accurate information retrieval by search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo!.
Search engine geotagging: A way to add geographical metadata -- usually latitude and longitude coordinates -- to websites to help users find location-specific information.
Search engine optimization or SEO: Methods to boost the ranking and frequency of a website in results returned by a search engine, in order to maximize user traffic to a website.
Secure sockets layer or SSl: Technology that establishes a secure session link between the visitor's web browser and your website so all communications transmitted through this link are encrypted and secure. NOTE: Websites using SSL technology are indicated by https:// before the Internet address and often a padlock icon at the bottom of the browser window.
SSl certificate: Used to secure communications between a website, host, or server, and end users connecting to the server. The SSL Certificate: (1. confirms the identity of the domain name operating the web site; (2. encrypts all information between the server and the visitor; and (3. ensures the integrity of the transmitted information. There are three generally recognized categories of SSL Certificates:
Domain validation: The authority issuing the SSL Certificate verifies control of a domain name by emailing an e-mail address related to the domain name.
Organization validation: The authority issuing the SSL Certificate verifies the organization owning the domain through an independent search of databases
Extended validation: The authority issuing the SSL Certificate verifies the organization owning the domain with an additional specific set of identity verification criteria. NOTE: Websites with Extended Validation prominently display a green address bar and a security status bar with the name of the verified organization that owns the website.
Secure HTTP: A website with an SSL Certificate. Displays https:// before the Internet address.
Site map: A single web page displaying a website?s structure, usually in outline format.
Site overlay analytics: Graphical statistics displayed beside each link on the web page, representing the percentage of clicks on each link.
Software robot, or bot: Software program that gathers and/or filters information on a specific topic and then provides a list of results to the user.
Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70, or SaS70: Internationally recognized auditing standard used to report on the processing of transactions, that provides an authoritative guidance enabling service organizations to disclose control activities and processes to auditors and customers in a uniform format. NOTE: When a service auditor issues a report that has been prepared in accordance with SAS70, this signifies a service organization has had its control activities and control objectives examined by an independent accounting and auditing company.
TTime on page: Time a visitor spends on one web page before clicking off.
Time on site: Time visitors spend on a website before exiting.
Traffic patterns: What people are doing once they get to your website, including the pages they click on next, what they are looking at, and where they come from. NOTE: Knowing the website traffic patterns on your site can help you redesign and improve your site to help direct customers to key areas of your website, increase conversion rates, the length of time visitors stay on your website, and the numbers of pages they actually visit.
UUniform Resource Locator, or URL: Address at which specific web pages can be found.
Usability: Quality of a user's experience when interacting with a web site, mobile technology, or any user-operated device.
V
Visitor counts: Number of distinct visitors who have visited at least one page of a website, measured by the IP address assigned to a computer.
WWeb analytics: Measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of Internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage.