Kim’s Website and Marketing

Digital Marketing & Website Glossary

If you are reading this post, chances are high that you have come across words and phrases on the internet that you may not understand their actual meaning. If you use the internet to do research or to market your business, knowing the common web terminologies will make your work a lot easier. In this post, I am going to share with you 40 common web terminologies that every internet user needs to know. Some of these may not be new to you but I promise by the time you go through the full list; you’ll learn about a couple of new terms and what they mean in simple terms.

Here we go

1. Server: A server is a high-speed computer that allows access to certain resources on a network. It’s on a server where websites/web apps are stored. For instance, all the data on Facebook is stored on Facebook servers. Most other websites are hosted on other servers and we rent a space to use the storage, hence why we pay a hosting fee.
2. Web hosting: Web hosting is the service that allows websites to be visible on the world wide web (www) by installing them on high-speed computers (servers) that are always powered on 24/7. The hosting company charges a fee to have your site installed on their servers to maintain these servers and also make some profit
3. Domain name: A domain name is simply the address name of your website on the internet. So, every website has a unique domain name. If you are searching for a website and you change just a single letter or character of the domain name, you will be led to a totally different website
4. URL: This acronym stands for Uniform Resource Locator. A URL is a full address that directs internet users to a specific page of a website. So, a URL will always have the domain name in it and some more information.
5. HTTP: This is an acronym that stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. This protocol is the data communication standard for web pages that are understood by both your browser and the server computer.
6. HTTPS: This standard for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. This data communication standard is similar to HTTP but with more security that involves encrypting the data that is transferred between the browser and the server. A website that has HTTPS data communication standard is secure and will not steal any of your personal information like credit details or your account passwords
7. HTML: This acronym stands for Hypertext Markup Language. This is the standard language that browsers and servers understand. All the web pages you see on the web have some element of HTML in them.
8. Encryption: This refers to the process of protecting data from being accessed by unauthorized parties. An encrypting algorithm (mathematical formula) is used to convert the data into a confusing pattern that can only be interpreted by authorized parties. For instance, WhatsApp encrypts your text messages. So, when you send a message via WhatsApp, it is converted into confusing patterns so that it can’t be accessed by the server computer it goes through before reaching the person you are sending the message to. When the message reaches the intended person, it is decrypted and they will be able to get the exact message you sent
9. Cloud computing: This refers to the storage and computations of data using server computers and such data can be accessed with a web browser instead of having to install the software that stores or computes this data on your PC. This is mainly used for software that needs high hardware resources. Some of the cloud computing platforms include; Google docs, Amazon web services, iCloud, etc.
10. A blog: This refers to an informational website that is often updated with content that is written in an informal or conversational style. These days most websites have a blog as one of the sections of the main website. Others may choose to have the whole website to be in the form of a blog
11. Content management system: This is a web-based system where the end-user can create and change content on their website without having any web programming knowledge. Some of the most common content management platforms include; WordPress, Wix, etc.
12. Search engine: This is software that is used to search for data (information on the internet). Examples of search engines include Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.
13. SEO: This acronym stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the process of improving the quality and quantity of content on a website to make it rank higher in search engine results.
14. IP address: IP stands for internet protocol. In simple terms, an IP address is a label given to devices connected to a computer network, in this case, the internet. When you connect to the internet the device you are using is assigned an IP address. All the data sent to and from your device is sent using that address.
15. Cache: This refers to the hardware/software component that stores data so that future requests for the data get a faster response
16. Datacenter: This refers to the infrastructure that houses high-capacity devices that store and process data. In simple terms, a data centre is a collection of many server computers in a gazetted area. For instance, big tech companies like Google and Facebook have data centres.
17. VPN: This acronym stands for Virtual Private Network. In simple terms, a VPN is a network connection method that adds an extra layer of security to a public or private network connection. If you connect to the internet through a VPN, your internet service provider will not be able to trace your IP address and all the activities you’re doing on the internet.
18. API: This acronym stands for an Application programming interface. An API is basically a computing interface to a system that defines how other applications or systems interact with that system. For example, the google maps API can be used by developers to integrate Google Maps services into their web applications
19. Software as a service (SaaS): This refers to a method of delivering a software service via the internet. Some of the examples of Saas include; Microsoft Office 365, dropbox, Google Maps, etc.
20. Artificial Intelligence (AI): In simple terms, AI involves using computers to do human-like tasks that involve decision-making as well. For instance, proofreading software and plagiarism checkers are good examples of artificial intelligence systems.
21. Customer Relations Management (CRM) Software: This is a type of software that is used to collect and manage data about customers of a particular company. An example of such software is HubSpot CRM.
22. Engagement: In digital marketing, engagement refers to the act of someone reacting to your content by either commenting, sharing or liking.
23. Impressions: In digital marketing, an impression refers to the act of someone viewing your piece of content. You can use impressions and engagement data as feedback that can help you build your content marketing strategy.
24. Organic reach: In digital marketing, organic reach is the way of reaching out to your potential audience on the internet without using paid Ads. Making your content reach your potential audience organically is the most sustainable way of marketing your business in the long term.
25. B2B marketing: B2B stands for business to business. So basically, B2B marketing is the business strategy used by businesses that seek to sell their products or services to other businesses.
26. Influencer: This refers to someone who uses their presence on a certain social media platform to influence the decisions of their followers through the content they create. Influencer marketing is one of the most used forms of marketing in this era.
27. Handle: In digital marketing, a handle refers to your username on a particular social media platform. For instance, your username on Twitter is your Twitter handle.
28. Affiliate marketing: This refers to the marketing strategy where a business pays people (affiliates) when they refer paying customers to them. This kind of strategy is among the commonly used strategies by many eCommerce platforms like Amazon.
29. Call to action (CTA): This refers to a text or an image that triggers a visitor to your website or Ad to take action that is being described in the text or image.
30. Sales funnel: This is a digital marketing strategy where a customer is led through a series of steps that can be mapped out in the form of a funnel
31. Conversions: A conversion refers to the successful result of any marketing campaign. When a target customer finally places in order, that is considered a conversion
32. Keywords: Keywords are the common words or phrases used to search for content in search engines. Keywords are important when creating content as a way of improving a website’s ranking in search engines results
33. Traffic: In digital marketing, traffic refers to the number of people visiting your website or your social media platform. To make sales on any website, you need to have some good traffic that you can in the end turn into buying customers
34. Content marketing: This refers to an online marketing strategy of creating relevant content that attracts an audience to your website or social media. This strategy is one of the most sustainable strategies for growing your website or social media platform as a small business.
35. User interface (UI): This includes all parts of a website, web application, software application or operating system that are directly visible to the user and can be manipulated to do a couple of things. The UI of a website and any other form of application play a key role in attracting traffic to your platform
36. User experience (UX): This refers to the emotions and the ease of use someone gets while using a product or service. When designing any digital product, UX is very key to its success. User experience also plays an impact on how a website and a web application rank in search engine results
37. User persona: These are theoretical user profiles created by product designers that outline the kind of users the website is being built for. User personas are created after extensive research about the target users for the persona.
38. Big tech: This is a term that is normally used by journalists and bloggers to refer to the top 4 or 5 tech companies. The companies that fall in this category include; Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook
39. Big data: This refers to a huge collection of data that cannot be processed using traditional processing means.
40. Database; This refers to the architecture that defines the way data is collected, stored, accessed and used by users that access a particular system. For instance, all the data on any website or web application is stored using a particular database architecture.