Internet Glossary

ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Exchange. Or in plain English -- text. Every letter, number, and other character that can be displayed on your computer screen (and even control characters and some hidden characters) has a corresponding ASCII code between 0 and 255. For example, the ASCII code for the lower-case letter "a" is 97. For all ASCII codes and their corresponding HTML values, see this ASCII chart.

Banner
Usually a graphic advertisement, which is hyperlinked to an advertiser's web site. Standard banner sizes include 400x40 and 468x60 pixels. At one time banners were very effective, but these days people are beginning to tune them out just like TV commercials, and click-through rates are dropping pretty quick.

Banner Advertising
An online advertising tactic where a merchant's graphical advertisement is displayed on other web sites. Banners are usually hyperlinked to the advertiser's own web site, so that clicking on a banner will direct the user to the advertiser's web site where they will find more information on what the banner advertised. Although click-through rates are at all all-time low, banner advertising can still be cost-effective if used properly.

Binary File
A binary file is a non-text file, meaning that you can't easily view the contents of a binary file. Examples of binary files include .gif and .jpg images, .exe and .zip files.

Cache
Computer memory with a short access time used for storage of frequently accessed data. When you hit the back button on your browser for example, the last page that you visited is usually retrieved from your browser's local cache as opposed to being downloaded again. Caching reduces server load and increases access times.

CGI
Acronym for Common Gateway Interface -- a form of web programming that allows a user to execute programs on a remote server via their web browser. CGI scripts are most commonly developed using Perl, and they are the easiest and most popular way for a webmaster to add interactivity and other "cool" features to a web site.

Click-Through
When you click on an advertising banner, that is considered a click-through. While banner advertising is typically sold on an impression basis, you can also buy banner advertising on a click-through basis which is usually more profitable for the advertiser.

Click-Through Rate
Click-through rate, or ratio, describes the number of click-throughs versus the number of impressions and is expressed as a percentage. The industry average is about 0.5%, but there are many factors that come into play (such as banner design, targeting, etc.) and click-through rates of up to 10% or higher are achievable through testing.

CPM
Stands for Cost Per Thousand impressions, as used in traditional print and broadcast advertising. Most web sites will publish their advertising rates on a CPM basis, with anywhere from $5-40+ per 1,000 impressions being the "average". If a web site says that their banner ad rate is $25 CPM and you want them to display your banner ad 10,000 times, it would cost you $250 (25x10).

Cron
Cron is an application that allows you to automate the execution of other programs or scripts on your server at predetermined times, and is very useful as it allows you to automate all sorts of tedious daily chores. For example, Cron can be used to execute Weblog (or other server log analysis software) and update your web stats every night at midnight while you're sleeping. You'll have to ask your web host if they allow you to run Cron "jobs" as some unfortunately don't. If they don't, consider a better web host.

Dial-Up Account
A dial-up account refers to an account provided to you by an Internet Service Provider for accessing the Internet. You "dial up" your service provider's access number with your modem to connect to the network -- as opposed to a direct Internet connection such as those provided by ISDN, cable modems, DSL, etc.

Domain Name
Domain names are "labels" that correspond to one or more IP addresses. Instead of a user typing in the numeric address ("IP address") of a site, he or she can type in the domain name which makes it much easier to remember the web site address. Domain names can include numbers, letters, and hyphens (-) and can be up to 26 characters long including not counting the ".com", ".org", ".net", etc. designation. A good domain name can also generate traffic and lead to brand name awareness, thus, having your own domain name is an absolute must for any serious business on the Internet.

Download
Download refers to the process of transferring data from a remote computer (a web server for example) to your own computer. This can be a text file, an HTML page, graphics or audio files, executable files, or any other type of data for that matter.

Dynamic IP Address
A dynamic IP address is what you are typically assigned if you access the Internet via a dial-up modem connection. A dial-up ISP generally has control over hundreds or thousands of IP addresses that their customers can use to connect to the Internet, and each time you connect to the network you are usually assigned an IP address randomly from those that are not currently being used by their other customers.

FAQ
Acronym for Frequently Asked Questions. Commonly found on web sites and in instruction manuals, FAQs attempt to provide answers to commonly asked questions about the subject in question, in a straightforward question and answer format.

FTP
Acronym for File Transfer Protocol -- the most popular way that files are transferred between different computers that are connected to the Internet. This is what you will normally use to upload and download files to and from your web server. Popular FTP programs include WS_FTP, CuteFTP, and FTP Explorer (we prefer WS_FTP).

Hit (Hits)
Web marketers often talk about the number of "hits" their web site receives -- but this term is used incorrectly 99% of the time. A hit is defined as a single request for a file on a web server, thus, if your HTML page contains 3 images each visitor will actually "hit" your server 4 times -- once to access the HTML page itself and once for each of the 3 images. Do not use the term "hit" or "hits" when discussing web site traffic.

Impression
Normally mentioned in conjunction with banners -- in which case the term impression refers to the display of an advertising banner on a web page. Banner advertising is typically purchased in lots of 1,000-10,000+ impressions at a time, but due to browser caching and other factors purchasing 10,000 impressions doesn't guarantee that 10,000 people will see your banner ad.

IP Address
IP is an acronym for Internet Protocol. IP addresses identify specific computers that are connected to a network -- no two computers can have the same IP address at the same time. The format of an IP address is a series of four numbers which range from 0-255 separated by periods. For example, the domain name marketingchallenge.com "resolves" to the IP address of 192.41.34.135 which is our server. What this means is that when a visitor accesses marketingchallenge.com in their web browser they are actually connecting to the web server with the IP address of 192.41.34.135.

Newbie
A newbie is someone who is a new user of any technology, and this term is commonly applied to those who are new to using computers and/or the Internet. While this is not a derogatory term, it's often misused in this way to refer to ignorant Internet users.

Page Views
Refers to the number of web pages viewed. For example, if a user visits 3 different pages at your web site they are said to have generated 3 page views. Average page views is often used to help determine the effectiveness of a web site -- if your web site has 42 different pages and the average page views per visitor is only 2.1 that usually indicates that most quickly lose interest in your web site. An effective home page, good organization, targeted traffic, and an easy to use navigation system are all things that can help to increase average page views.

Perl
Perl is a high-level programming language, that is actually quite easy to learn. Perl's process, file, and text manipulation facilities make it particularly well-suited for tasks involving quick prototyping, system utilities, software tools, system management tasks, database access, graphical programming, networking, and web programming. These strengths make it especially popular with system administrators and CGI script authors. The official Perl web site is where you'll find everything you need to know.

Rich Media
Rich media is an Internet advertising term for content that utilizes advanced technology like streaming audio/video, java applets, JavaScript, etc. in an attempt to encourage user interaction. If successful this type of advertising can generate almost unheard of response rates and be extremely profitable, but rich media creation requires a greater investment of both time and money. Rich media also requires more bandwidth and results in longer download times for the end-user, but as high-speed Internet access becomes more and more widespread you can expect rich media to gain popularity.

ROI
ROI stands for Return on Investment, and is usually expressed as a percentage. ROI is calculated by dividing your net profit on an investment by the amount invested. For example, if you paid $1,000 for an ad and it generated $500 in net profits your ROI on that campaign would be 50% (500 divided by 1000). By determining ROI on all of your investments you can quickly and easily compare their relative performances.

Spam
Spam is loosely defined as unwanted and/or inappropriate commercial advertising on the Internet. Taken from the classic Monty Python skit, online Spam usually comes in the form of unsolicited email messages which you are no doubt familiar with if you've been online for more than a week. As each day passes more and more Internet users agree that Spam is one of the Internet's biggest problems, and there are some who absolutely hate it and will go to great lengths to take revenge against Spammers. Do not Spam, it is the fastest way to run your online business into the ground.

Static IP Address
A static IP address is one that doesn't change. A good example is 192.41.34.135, which is our web server (just imagine the confusion and problems that would result if the IP address of our web server changed frequently). Another example of a static IP address would be the one your own computer is assigned when using ISDN, cable modems, DSL, or any other type of a direct Internet connection.

Unique Visitors
The number of different users who visit a web site within a specific time period. To identify unique users, webmasters will often rely on some form of user registration or identification system, and/or effective analysis of the web server's log files (which isn't quite as accurate because not everyone has a "static" and unique IP address). You should use this term when discussing web site traffic, not "hits" or anything else.

Upload
The process of transferring data from your own computer to a remote computer. A good example of this is when you create a web page on your own computer and you want to transfer it to your web server for the world to see. The opposite of Download.

Visits
A sequence of requests made by a single user at a web site. If a visitor does not request any new information for a period of time, known as the "time-out" period (often 24 hours), then the next request by that same user is considered a new visit. The number of visits to a web site in a specific time period is often compared to the number of unique visitors to get an idea of new versus repeat visitors, etc.

Have term that your not sure about, why not email us and we will do our best to help you out.