Help Center – Glossary of Terms
Find answers to your questions about web sites and the internet

Help Center – Glossary of Terms
Find answers to your questions about web sites and the internet

The perfect solution for
Small Business

E-Commerce

Starter Sites

Web & Internet Terminology: A to D

BLOG, Web Log. A blog (short for “web log”) is a type of web page that serves as a publicly available personal journal or log for an individual. Blog software usually has archives of old blogs and is searchable.

Browse. Browse is to follow links or shop around on a page or site, similar to window shopping. The opposite of browsing a page is searching. When you search a site, you find a search box, enter specific terms, and find all occurrences of the terms throughout the site.

Browser. Browsers are software programs used to view WWW documents. They translate HTML-encoded files into the text, images, and sounds you see and hear on the Internet. Microsoft Internet Explorer (also called IE), Netscape, Opera, and Mosaic, are examples of browsers used to view content on the Internet. This software must be installed on your computer.

Cache. Cache is the space where pages you visit are stored in memory your computer. When you use the GO or BACK buttons to revisit a document, the browser first checks to see if a page is in cache and will retrieve it from there faster than retrieving it again from the server.

CGI, Common Gateway Interface. CGI is a scripting language and a common way web programs interact dynamically with users. Many search boxes and applications that result in a page with content tailored to the user’s input use CGI to process the data once it’s submitted and then deliver the response for HTML display.

Cookie. A cookie is a tag sent from a server and saved to the browser on your computer. When your computer reconnects to the web server, the cookie is sent from your computer back to the server. This is how you receive personalized web pages.

Domain, Top Level Domain (TLD). Naming scheme for the type and/or location of a web site. In the U.S., common domains are .edu (education), .gov (government agency), .net (network related), .com (commercial), .org (nonprofit or research organizations). Outside the U.S., domains indicate a country: .ca (Canada), .uk (United Kingdom), .au (Australia), .jp (Japan), .fr (France), etc.

Domain Name, Domain Name Server, DNS Entry. A domain name is also known as a web site address. These refer to the beginning of a URL address, where the domain name of the host/server computer is listed. A domain name is translated in tables standardized across the Internet to a numeric IP address unique the host computer. These tables are maintained on computers called “Domain Name Servers.” When a domain name lookup fails, a DNS error occurs. You can try the URL again, when the server is less busy, or once a server that was temporarily unavailable is again up and running.

Download. To copy something from a remote source to a local one, as in saving something found on the Web (located on its server) to a diskette or to your local hard drive.

Didn’t find the term you were looking for? Search for almost any computer term in the PC Webopedia, or Wikipedia

Help Center – Internet Facts & Figures
A web site is important for your customers
and your business.

The perfect solution for
Small Business

E-Commerce

Starter Sites

The internet has permanently changed the way people search for information and shop. With a growing youth market and increasing number of baby boomers and senior citizens going online, internet usage is expected to continue growing for years to come. See interesting statistics under “Internet Trends” to the right.

Benefits of a Business Web Site

There are several compelling reasons for going online. You don’t need to be in a consumer or retail business to benefit from having a business web site. A web site gives your business maximum exposure at a very low cost.

It’s a simple, inexpensive way to advertise to large audiences.
Share information about your business 24 hours a day.
Customers can contact you 24 hours a day, outside normal business hours.
Save employee time spent giving routine information over the phone.
Save printing costs, such as price lists, menus, brochures and discount coupons.
Allow customers to do business with you from out of town or from their homes.
Help customers make educated product purchase decisions.
Post immediate, time-sensitive information or promotions.
Sell services or products to special interest, local or international markets.

We make getting online affordable and easy

Contact Web Creations for a no obligation consultation.

Help Center – Getting Started
Find answers to your questions about web sites and the internet

The perfect solution for
Small Business

E-Commerce

Starter Sites

Below are steps involved in setting up a web site, and some links to sites that provide various services and helpful information. There are literally thousands of companies to choose from.

Internet access. Choose a company that can provide you with a connection to the Internet. You will need internet access and an e-mail account to register your domain and set up a web hosting account. Web hosts usually e-mail detailed instructions to you to access and set up your site.

Modem Dial-Up, approximately $10-15/month. (This uses your regular telephone line.) LocalNet.Com

DSL, approximately $30/month. Visi.com

Broadband/Cable, approximately $40-$50/month.
Contact your local cable company for pricing.

Domain name registration. Choose your web site address.

Check to see if your desired domain name is available through NetworkSolutions.com.

Domain registrations are renewable at the end of a specified term. Renewal plans differ between registrars, and can range from annual (approximately $30/year) to multi-year plans.

Web hosting. Choose a reliable company to host your web site.
Most web hosting companies offer monthly or annual web hosting plans, where you rent server space (a home) for your web site. Some providers may include the cost of domain registration and domain transfer for new customers, while others charge for this service. Costs can start around $10/month, and can be up to several hundreds of dollars if you need a dedicated server.

If your business depends on your web site being available 24×7, you may consider spending more for a service that provides 24×7 support or one that guarantees a high percentage of up time.

NetworkSolutions.com or iPowerweb.com

Web design. Find a company to design and program your web pages, or do it yourself. Predesigned web page templates and custom design services are available. For the technically inclined, there are do-it-yourself options available through some web hosting companies.

Making money with your web site

E-Commerce
For larger stores, there are Store Front packages that include features that make it easy to accept credit cards, provide shopping cart features, and create invoices. Fees can be a one-time, on-going or transaction basis. There may also be charges for setting up a merchant account and payment gateway to accept credit card payments.
For selling a few products, PayPal is a popular program that accepts credit card payments, with fees charged on a per transaction basis.

Affiliates Programs

Paid Ads

Advertise your web site. There are several different types of web advertising:

Free advertising
Nonsubscription search engine submissions (such as yahoo, google, msn, dmoz, dogpile, AlltheWeb)
Link exchanges, where you agree to link to another site if they agree to link to yours.
Include your website on all printed and promotional materials (business cards, letterhead, print advertisements, etc.)

Paid advertising
Search engines (Google, Yahoo, and others) offer pay per click advertising. When a user types keywords you choose, your ad shows up next to or inside the search results – you pay only if the user clicks your ad. Costs can be as low as 5 cents per click.

Banner Ads *
E-mail Marketing *
Pay per impression advertising, including pop-up and pop-under ads that appear when a user navigates to or away from a specific website *
Pay per click advertising on websites related to your business – contact the web site you’re interested in directly to set something up.

* Some ads are not necessarily recommended as many people are annoyed by them.

For more details about these types of services, visit NetworkSolutions.com or FreeWebHostingTips.com.

We do not endorse, nor are responsible for, the services provided by the companies mentioned on this site.