Web Site Design - Industry Lingo

To make the right business purchases, you have to know the language. Here's a guide to graphic design lingo.

Banner ad
An ad on Web sites that promotes and links back to your Web site. Most banner ads are formatted as GIF images, although many sites accept HTML banners as well. Ads are charged at their rate of impressions, or amount of times the ad is viewed by Web visitors, usually in groups of 1,000.

Branding
A marketing concept used to create a greater awareness of your company's products and services. Companies that are interested in branding try to get as many Web users as possible to view their banner ads and logos, with less concern for the number of clickthroughs to their Web sites.

Bulletin Board
An online forum for a threaded conversation. Users can browse through previously posted messages or add their own message.

Campaign
Refers to the schedule by which a banner ad will run or fly.

Common Gateway Interface (CGI)
A CGI script is a small program that results in an action based on the user's input.

Chat
Allows Web surfers to "speak" to one another on a real-time basis. Generally, messages typed in can be viewed immediately.

Clickthrough Rate
The percentage of Web visitors who actually click on a banner ad to get to a Web site. Clickthrough rates vary from as low as 0.1 percent to 1 percent for Run of Network campaigns, to as high as 3 percent to 5 percent for more targeted campaigns.

Co-Located Server
When your site is hosted on a co-located server, an Internet service provider (ISP) provides high speed Internet access for a Web server that you provide and set up. Generally, the ISP is responsible for making sure the connection is up, while you are responsible for making sure the site works.

Cookie
Web sites use browser-assigned cookies to collect user information and to deliver customized content.

Cost Per Click
Cost per clickthrough to your site.

Cost Per Thousand (CPM)
Ads are charged at their rate of impressions, or amount of times the ad is viewed by Web visitors, usually in groups of 1,000.

Dedicated Line
A type of telecommunications service in which a high-speed open connection is maintained between two points.

Dedicated Server
When your site is hosted on a dedicated server, the Internet service provider (ISP) provides a NT or UNIX server and connects it to a high-speed Internet network. All you have to do is develop content for your site and install the necessary applications on the server.

Domain Name
A text-based address used to locate a specific set of Web pages. Most for-profit businesses end their domain name with .com; nonprofit organizations generally use the .org ending.

Dynamic Pages
Web pages that are automatically generated based on user input and activity.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
FTP software allows you to upload or download files from sites on the Internet.

Firewall
A way to ensure that data on a Web server or connected computer will not be available to anyone on the Internet. Firewalls block outsiders from accessing private information or altering your Web site.

GIF File
Also called CompuServe GIF, it is a common way that images are stored on Web sites. Another popular type of image is JPEG. Some sites limit the number of GIFs that a banner can have, so pay close attention to this.

Host, Web Host
The server that stores the pages of your Web site, offered by both ISPs and dedicated hosting companies.

HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
The code used to write a Web page. The language uses text commands to create a series of "tags" that specify how information should appear on the Web page.

HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP)
The protocol used to access pages across the Web.

Impression
Another term for page view. The number of Web users that view a particular page.

Internet
A worldwide network of interconnected computers. The Internet uses the TCP/IP protocol to send information between disparate systems.

Inventory
The number of banner ad impressions that are available during any period of time.

IP Address
A string of numbers that is used to identify the location for your domain name on the Web. The domain name system translates domain names into these addresses, which are represented by a series of numbers that look like this: 123.123.23.2.

ISDN
A digital dial-up service that can be used for a high-speed Internet connection.

Internet Service Provider (ISP)
ISPs offer businesses and consumers connections to the Internet. Some offer Web hosting and site development services as well.

Java
A programming language developed for Web sites. Java gives Web sites the ability to create small interactive applications for visitors.

JavaScript
A scripting language for developing client and server Internet applications.

Meta Tag
A special HTML tag that provides information about a Web page. Unlike normal HTML tags, meta tags do not affect how the page is displayed. Instead, they provide information such as who created the page, how often it is updated, what the page is about, and which keywords represent the page's content. Many search engines use this information when building their indices.

Perl
A computer programming language. This language is favored by programmers for tasks involving system utilities, software tools, system management tasks, database access, graphical programming, networking, and Web programming.

Point of Presence (POP)
A physical location maintained by an Internet service provider to provide a local connection to the Internet.

Portal
Another term for search engine. A portal is basically an Internet hub that acts as a starting point for locating information on the Web. Some examples of portals are Yahoo!, Lycos, Excite, and InfoSeek.

Secure Pages
Pages that are encrypted to ensure privacy. These are typically used for forms where sensitive information, like a credit card number, is being relayed.

Shared Hard Drive
A type of Web site hosting service that allots you a certain amount of hard drive space for your Web site. Generally, you are given a folder into which you can upload your Web pages and images.

Static Pages
Web pages that consist only of HTML and images.

T1, T2, T3 Lines
These dedicated lines are typically used by companies with substantial connection requirements. Dedicated lines carry enormous amounts of data per second, with T1 having the smallest capacity and T3 the largest. They can be used to connect a user to an Internet service provider (typically T1), or to connect an Internet service provider to other locations on the Internet (T2 and T3).

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
These two protocols were developed by the U.S. military to allow computers to talk to each other over long distance networks. IP is responsible for moving packets of data between nodes. TCP is responsible for verifying delivery from client to server. TCP/IP forms the basis of the Internet and is built into every common modern operating system (including all flavors of Unix, the Mac OS, and the latest versions of Windows).

Telnet
A powerful program that allows users to access other computers from remote locations. Users are then able to run commands and programs as if they were sitting at that remote computer.

URL
Depending on whom you talk to, URL stands for Uniform or Universal Resource Locator. Essentially, it's a Web address that represents a particular Web page on the Internet. You can recognize URLs by their prefix "http."

Virtual Domain Name
A service offered by Web site hosting companies that allows you to utilize a domain name as your Web site address. Companies that do not offer this will require that the hosting company's domain name be part of your Web site address.

Web Site
A collection of Web pages (or files) that are extensions of a particular domain name.

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