Ever wish you had a resource to pick up some common web related terms that are frequently thrown around by web designers? Look no further, here are some common web terms to add to your vocabulary.

Web hosting

The business of providing the storage, connectivity, and services necessary to serve files for a website.

Shared hosting

Hosting option whereby several client websites are housed on and share the resources of a web server.

What is a domain name?

Domain names, such as www.your_domain.com, are easier to remember, so DNS servers associate each IP address with a domain. When you point your browser toward www.your_domain.com, your browser takes you to the corresponding IP address.

There are different levels of domains. Examples of the various levels are as follows:

Top-level (TLD) – .com, .net, .org, .edu, .gov

example: www.mysite.com

What is an I.P. address?

Internet Protocol Address, a number used to uniquely identify a computer or device on an internal network or the Internet by TCP/IP. It consists of a series of four numbers separated by dots (for example 123.123.123.1).

What is a URL?

A URL is a web address such as http://www.mysite.com.

What is a browser?

A web browser is a program that displays web files on your monitor. When you “surf the net,” you start by opening a browser window, then pointing the browser at a website. examples: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Netscape.

What is SSL?

Secured Sockets Layer, a protocol enabling encrypted, authenticated communication over the Internet.

What is FTP?

It stands for File Transfer Protocal . Its a method of using a FTP program to log on to another computer to copy files. When you log on you enter your username and password to access to all your files.

What is Anonymous FTP?

A method of using the FTP program to log on to another computer to copy files, even though you don’t have an account on the other computer. When you log on, you enter anonymous as the username and your address as the password, and you get access to publicly available files.

When a host refers to a Backbone, what do they mean?

A high-speed cable, telephone line, fiber cable or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network such as a T-3, OC-12, or Gig-E line.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Its the process of studying the search engines in an effort to determine how to get your web site to rank high on user searches. Rank is the position in the search engine results page that a web site appears when someone searches for a specific keyword or keyword phrase.

It’s possible to get a significant amount of free traffic from the major search engines if you properly optimize your web site pages.

What is bandwidth?

The amount of data that can be transferred through an connection in a given amount of time..

Acceptable Use Policy

A set of rules describing which sorts of activities are permitted during the use of a network, server, web site, e-mail or newsgroup.

Terms of Service

A contract between you and your provider (us, Hawkesbury Websites in this case) decribing methods we use to bill for services, provide services, are responsibilities and yours.

What is a Bit?

The smallest unit of measure for computer data. Bits can be turned on or off and are used in various combinations to represent different kinds of information.

What is a Byte?

8 bits

What is a KiloByte?

1024 bytes

What is a MegaByte?

1024 KiloBytes

What is a GigaByte?

1024 MegaBytes