Glossary

While building and promoting your Homebased Business website you may find this glossary helpful

above the fold-the part of the webpage visible without scrolling.

Acrobat reader-a program that will read files in the pdf format. It can be downloaded free from the internet.

affiliate-basically a salesperson for a given program, also sometimes referred to as a publisher.  On the internet an affiliate would advertise or presell a merchant's products through various methods.  For the purpose of this website and it's general meaning of affiliate marketing this would be by featuring reviews, articles or endorsements contained in a webpage and containing links or graphics that point back to merchants products.  If these links from affiliate's website lead to a sale, the affiliate is paid a specified percentage.

algorithm-a search engine's specific criteria for determining where to rank your website in their system. Each engine has it's own set of rules

ALT text-text that displays in place of a graphic.

B2B-refers to business to business sales of products or services.

backlinks-links in to your website from other websites also called inbound links.

bandwidth-the amount of data sent from one server to another.

Bot/spider/crawler-terms used to describe programs the search engines used to look at your website.

chat room-similar to a forum, except it is in real time.  It would be like instant messaging where you can talk back and forth now in real time as opposed to leaving a post or message in a forum and waiting for someone to post an answer.

click trouugh-the action of clicking on an ad and being taken to the destination site.

click through rate- the number of click throughs that occur per 100 ad impressions.

conversation rate-represents the percentage of visitors who take the desired action.

cookie- a small piece of information stored on a computer so preferences are remembered.

directory-a listing of websites, sometimes but not always. related to specific subject matter. Directories are usually overseen by humans instead of spiders or robots.

domain name-location or address on the internet. For example http://www.ezee-options.com is the domain name or url for this website.  (ezee-options.com) is specific to this website.  I could have chosen .biz-.ws-etc. The other elements are just a given on the internet.  A dot com is always the best choice.

download -to transfer data from one computer to the computer you are using.

ebooks-are books that are produced, usually in pdf (portable document format), that can be downloaded via the internet. pdf requires acrobat reader to be read. Acrobat reader can be obtained as a free download.

email marketing-marketing merchandise on the internet through email.  This is usually done through a newsletter or ezine of subscribers.  To safely market on the internet you cannot send email that is unwanted or unsolicited.

FAQ's-frequently asked questions

favorite/bookmark-most providers such as aol or juno provide a place to save url's that are often used.  You simply use the save to favorites/bookmarks feature and the url is stored.  You are simply saving a much used address on the internet for future convenient access.

forum-a website where members can post messages or questions and other members answer or respond to these posts.  Forums are good places to learn about things and ask questions.

FTP or file transfer protocol-software used to upload your webpages to your web host.

HTML or hypertext markup language-the language used to format web pages.

HTML link-a hyperlink used to get from one page to another.

home page-the main or introductory page of a website.

impression-on the internet this term usually means a single instance of an advertisement being displayed.

inbound link-link from another website to your website.

keyword-word or phrase used to perform a search.

keyword density-the overall percentage that a given word has been used on a page.

link popularity-assessing the number and the quality of links that link to a given site.

meta tags- are tags used in the header of a page. They can usually be viewed by going to view on your browser and clicking on source or view source. This shows the markup language that makes up your page. If you use WYSIWYG you only need limited knowledge of this language, usually html. However, as said elsewhere on this website it is good to know some of the basics of html and there are free tutorials on the web.
The term meta tags means information about. So following meta you will see description (a description of your page), keywords (followed by your page's main keywords), possibly followed by author (website author's name).
If meta tags are new to you, browse a few websites and view their source.

navigation-method used to direct visitors through a website.

newsletter/ezine-are used interchangeably.  They are usually sent to a list of subscribers and are usually theme based, or geared to a particular field of interest.  Many are related to internet marketing or homebased business, but they could also be based on any hobby or interest.  Cats, golf, hunting, cars or whatever.  Most are sent by email, but some are hosted at websites.

Niche-a field of interest that has been narrowed down to a specific area. For instance, dogs is a field of interest to many people. To further narrow down this field of interest to a specific niche, you might focus on one breed of dogs or perhaps focus on training them for a specific purpose.

plug-in- a piece of software that adds features to another piece of software.

opt-in-email that has been specifically requested.  This is usually accomplished through a form on a website.

outbound link-link from your website to another website.

pay per click (PPC)-advertising on a pay per click basis.  Traffic is targeted according to keywords.

reciprocal links-links between two websites, usually by pre-agreement.

search engine optimization/SEO-is simply the process of making your website desirable and easy for the search engines to understand.  Search engines do not read your site like a human visitor.  Certain elements should be put into your website when you are creating it just for the benefit of the search engines.  Read about it in Search Engine Placement.

SERPs-is a term you'll often see. It refers to the search engine results placement. When a keyword or keyword phrase is entered in the search engine, where does your page place for that keyword?

sig file-a block of text you add at the end of a message with information about the person posting or sending a message and usually contains a url. These are often used in forums, where allowed. They can be added to all your email as well.

Spam- unwanted and unsolicited email.  Do not send unrequested email, it will get you in major trouble.

text ad-an ad using text-based hyperlinks.

two-tier affiliate program-a program where you the affiliate earn commissions both on your sales and also a percentage of the sales made by persons you refer who sign up for that affiliate program.  This is very desirable.

unique visitors-those who have visited a website once during a given time period.

URL or uniform resource locator -the address of a website or web page. Such as www.yourdomain.com

viral marketing-a method of passively passing along advertising.  One example would be a report or ebook that you offer free to pass along as long as your link or website address is not removed.

web browser-an application that allows you to view web pages.  Internet explorer, netscape, and opera are just a few examples

web hosting-a service that allows you to host a website on the internet.  It stores your web files and allows for connectivity to these files.

zip file-a file that has been zipped or compressed to save disk space. These files have a zip extension and require a zip utility to unzip or decompress them.

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