Get Acquainted with ‘CyberSpeak’
Are you internet savvy? What is your Web IQ?
Here are some internet buzzwords for you to demystify the web.
ActiveX
A set of technologies created by Microsoft to enable interactive content on Web sites. With ActiveX, Web sites can be animated using multimedia effects, interactive objects, and sophisticated applications that create a user experience comparable to a high-quality CD-ROM.
Adwords
The brand name of Google's pay-per-click advertising service which currently dominates the pay per click market. A very cost efficient form of advertising where charges only apply if visitors actually click the advertised hyperlink on Google (or its advertising network) to actually visit the advertised website. Adwords ads appear below the heading 'Sponsored Links' and sit alongside the natural search results of the keyword searches performed by the user.
AJAX
Asynchronous JavaScript And XML is a technique allowing a web page to request additional data from a server without requiring a new page to load or an existing page to refresh. Ajax is used in Google maps and bbc.co.uk homepage to name but two.
CAPTCHA
A CAPTCHA is a type of challenge-response test used in computing to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer. The process usually involves one computer asking a user to complete a simple test which the computer is able to generate and grade. Because other computers are unable to solve the CAPTCHA, any user entering a correct solution is presumed to be human.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The response rate of an online advertisement, typically expressed as a percentage and calculated by taking the number of click-throughs the ad received, dividing that number by the number of impressions and multiplying by 100 to obtain a percentage. CTR is a major measure of Internet-ad campaign effectiveness and provides a basis for comparison of creatives.
CMS
Content Management Systems are applications that allow a variety of people to work on a website, editing or adding content in plain language, without the need for HTML coding skills. Usually achieved with a web browser and using embedded word processors.
Domain Name
A domain name is a unique address on the internet. The Domain Name System (DNS) translates your domain name into the numerical IP (internet Protocol) addresses used by the internet. Changes or updates to a Domain name can take up to 48 hours to propagate around the internet due to the way that these look up requests are cached and stored.
Encryption
The process of encoding (securing) online information from anyone without a specific key to unlock or translate the data. An example of this is when on a registration page the protocol switches from HTTP to HTTPS, a visual padlock is usually displayed usually bottom left on the end user's browser window. An SSL certificate is required to enable this.
GUI
Graphic User Interface - the readily accessible graphical user interface featuring windows, icons or menus. The most significant development in computer accessibility, whereby operations could be undertaken by the click of a mouse rather than the input of a tedious keyboard command.
Hit
A hit is the sending of a single file whether an HTML file, an image, an audio file, or other file type. Since a single Web page request can bring with it a number of individual files, the number of hits from a site is a not a good indication of its actual use (number of visitors). It does have meaning for the Web site space provider, however, as an indicator of traffic flow.
IA
Information Architecture - the essential plan of a website and its pages including the web tree and wire frames determining the structure and content of a site before the design process establishes the creative look and feel. Basically the belt and braces of a site build.
IP Address
The unique, clearly identifiable numeric internet Protocol Address of every computer connected to the net.
Interstitial Ads
Web pages that pop up between what the viewer is looking at and what they are expecting to get. More like a TV commercial than anything else on the Web.
Javascript
Web scripting language developed by Netscape (the dominant web browser of the 1990s) independently of the full JAVA language. It is an "open" language, free for anyone to use and adapt.
Log File
A file created by a web or proxy server which contains all of the access information regarding the activity on that server.
MOSS
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 is an integrated suite of easy-to-use server applications that provides a single platform to manage intranet, extranet and website applications.
Open Source
In general, open source refers to any program whose source code is made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit. Historically, the makers of proprietary software have generally not made source code available. Open source software is usually developed as a public collaboration and made freely available. The Apache Web server software is a good example of this.
Podcast
A contraction of iPod and Broadcasting - a method of publishing audio and video files to the internet for playback on mobile devices and personal computers.
Sticky
Term for sites where visitors stay for extended periods of time. For example, a site with a game or greeting card composer encourages people to stay and use the feature, rather than going elsewhere.
Web 2.0
The term "Web 2.0" describes the changing trends in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aim to enhance creativity, communications, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality of the web.
Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web culture communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, video sharing sites, wikis, blogs and folksonomies.
You can download your FREE copy of CyberSpeak at www.cyber-gear.com/cyberspeak
If you would like to add more terms to the lexicon, email sharad@cyber-gear.com
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