Internet & E-Commerce Glossary

browser compatibility

A term that compares the way a Web page looks on one WWW browser as opposed to another. Usually this is done with Microsoft Internet Explorer (MIE) and Netscape Navigator, but can also refer to cross-platform compatibility. (For example, the way a page renders or displays on a Windows system as opposed to a Mac.) The reason these incompatibilities exist is due to the way a browser interprets the Web pag es code (HTML). The differences are usually very slight, but they're enough to annoy some Web designers and sometimes even their clients to the point in which great time and energy is spent to make a website compatible with any browser on any type of system. Browser compatibility is also used in conjunction with (and should not be confused with) the term browser support.

CPC

Cost-Per-Click (CPC), an Internet marketing formula used to price online advertisements. Advertisers will pay Internet publishers based on the number of clicks a specific ad gets.

directory

An area on a disk that contains files or additional divisions called "subdirectories" or "folders". Using directories helps to keep files organized into separate categories, such as by application, type, or usage.

dynamic content

Content that is updated frequently and is fresh and relevant for its appropriate audience. Dynamic content can include content served as a flat HTML page that is updated many times a day, content that includes sophisticated Javascript or Shockwave for an interactive experience, or content that is generated on-the-fly from either a file-system or a server-side database and includes , CGI scripts, Java servlets, or an application server.

email campaigns

The Delivery of advertising or promotional messages to customers or potential customers by e-mail.

information architecture

Information architecture involves the design of organization and navigation systems to help people find and manage information more successfully.

Why is information architecture important? Well, imagine that you've just invested a few million dollars in your site. It's aesthetically beautiful, technically perfect, and full of wonderful content. But you're finding that users can't find the information they need , and that you can't determine where to put new content and when to remove old content. That's a pretty good justification for information architecture.

keyword

(1) In text editing and database management systems, a keyword is an index entry that identifies a specific record or document.

(2) In programming, a keyword is a word that is reserved by a program because the word has a special meaning. Keywords can be commands or parameters. Every programming language has a set of keywords that cannot be used as variable names. Keywords are sometimes called reserved names .

(3) A word used by a search engine in its search for relevant Web pages.

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 pag es content. Many search engines use this information when building their indices.

organic search traffic

This is "traffic," or "listings" that search engines do not sell (unlike paid listings ). Instead, sites appear solely because a search engine has deemed it editorially important for them to be included, regardless of payment. Paid inclusion content is also often considered "organic" or "natural" even though it is paid for. This is because that content usually appears intermixed with unpaid organic results.

robot compliance

A robot is a program that runs automatically without human intervention. Typically, a robot is endowed with some artificial intelligence so that it can react to different situations it may encounter. Two common types of robots are agents and spiders. Commercial robots are programs that are used to fetch Web pages, but the user never has an opportunity to see the content of the requested documents. Personal robots provide the user with the opportunity to see the requested Web pages, usually in an offline mode. Also known as bots.

Compliance means that when pinged the server and robots are in line with all current search engine guidelines.

ROI

Return on Investment (ROI), is the amount of money spent divided by the net profit generated over a defined length of time.

SEM

Search Engine Marketing (SEM), the technique of utilizing search engines as a way to attract more visitors to your website. Every search engine compiles a database of web pages, and when a term or phrase is entered into search engine, that search engine searches its database for pages that contain the search term or phrase. It then ranks these pages by relevance, listing the most relevant first. Every search engine uses different algorithms in order to determine a web page's relevance , b ut there are a number of steps that can be taken to help a web page receive higher ranking in search results.

Search engine marketing companies provide an invaluable service to you by finding and implementing means to elevate your website's page rankings in search engines. This will allow your business to gain a stronger web presence and it will allow you to connect more easily with the people who are searching on the internet for the services or web content you offer.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the process of increasing the amount of visitors to a website by ranking high in the search results of a search engine . The higher a website ranks in the results of a search, the greater the chance that that site will be visited by a user. It is common practice for Internet users to not click through pages and pages of search results, so where a site ranks in a search is essential for directing more traffic toward the site.

SEO helps to ensure that a site is accessible to a search engine and improves the chances that the site will be found by the search engine.

SERP

Search Engine Results Page (SERP), the Web page that a search engine returns with the results of its search. The major search engines typically display three kinds of listings on their SERPs. Listings that have been indexed by the search engine's spider , listings that have been indexed into the search engine's directory by a human, and listings that are paid to be listed by the search engine.

spider

A program that automatically fetches Web pages . Spiders are used to feed pages to search engines . It's called a spider because it crawls over the Web . Another term for these programs is webcrawler.

Because most Web pages contain links to other pages, a spider can start almost anywhere. As soon as it sees a link to another page, it goes off and fetches it. Large search engines, like Alta Vista , have many spiders working in parallel.

statistical data

Refers primarily to the collection of numerical data. This data forms the basis of the information to be used in the statistical analysis of a websites performance.

streaming audio/video

Technology that permits continuous audio and video delivered to a computer from a remote Web site. The host or source compresses, then "streams" small packets of information over the Internet to the user, who can access the content as it is received.

URL rewrites

URL rewrites are programming techniques that allow the returned URL to be more search engine friendly by removing the question mark (?) and ampersand (&) from the returned URL found in the location or address bar. This enables the search engines to index the page without having variables or session id's interlaced into the URL.

There are two types of URL rewrites. Each has the same purpose, but the advanced URL rewrite is more search engine friendly. The following examples will give you an idea of the important factors.