Online Business Dictionary

This Online Business Dictionary defines all the terms that are found on My Famous Website. Listed in alphabetical order, we've gathered many online business terms and are still adding more. Feel free to click on the words that are blue for even more information.

Looking for a term, but can't find it? Give us your insight on how we could make our dictionary better by posting in the comment section below.

3StepAds - a free advertising blog where you can promote your business, products/services, and affiliate links.

4 Day Cash Machine - a 4 day email marketing campaign developed by Frank Kern.

404 Page - an generic error page that results when a URL cannot be found.

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above the fold - the section of a web page that is visible without scrolling down. This term is taken from newspapers, referring to the top half of the front page (see "below the fold").

Adobe Systems, Inc. - a leading, high-quality software company that produces graphic design and desktop publishing applications.

advertisement - a message that attempts to influence or reinforce an advertiser's products/services toward consumers. On the Internet, advertising is most commonly delivered via e-mail, or in the form of banners on web pages.

advertising - using an advertisement to attempt to influence or reinforce an attitude and/or behavior towards the advertiser's products/services.

affiliate - a web site, company, or marketing program that promotes products/services for a merchant in exchange of a commission.

affiliate link - a link to an affiliated web site that sells products/services.

affiliate marketing - a type of internet marketing that involves selling another's products/services for a share of the online revenue. The owner of the product/service usually provides marketing material such as affiliate links, banners, etc.

affiliate program - a program that allows others to sell for others in exchange of a commission.

alt text - the alternative text that is displayed when an image can't be displayed.

Amazon - an affiliate site that pioneered affiliate marketing, and extends its market reach by selling products/services via the internet.

anchor text - the clickable (hyperlinked) text on a web page

AWeber - an email marketing software that helps online businesses create, run, and manage email campaigns.

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B2B - a "busines to business" marketing or transaction of goods/services.

B2C - a "business to consumer" marketing or transaction of goods/services.

back link - a hyperlink from someone else's website to your site.

banner ad - a web graphic (usually GIF or JPEG and rectangle in shape) that is placed on a web page, and serves as an advertising unit that links visitors to an advertiser's web page/site.

below the fold - the section of a web page that is only visible by scrolling down on a page. This term is taken from newspapers, referring to the bottom-half of the front page (see "above the fold").

blog - short for "web log" - a web site (or portion of a website) that features chronological publications of information (blogs, which are similar to a diary/journal) - usually based on a specific subject, and users have the ability to comment.

Bookmark - a web browser feature that allows users to store website addresses/links in a folder for future reference.

bounce rate - refers to how quickly a visitor leaves a website.

brick-and-mortar business - a traditional business operation that involves face-to-face communication, and an actual building (office or store) that serves the public. (see web-based business).

browser - see "web browser"

browsing - the process of exploring the World Wide Web, with a definate objective or strategy in mind (see "web surfing").

button ad - a graphic web advertising unit that is smaller than a banner ad.

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Camtasia - a screen recording software that allows you to record anything on your computer screen.

Cascading Style Sheets - see "CSS"

click - the act of selecting an internet link by placing one's mouse cursor on hyperlinked text, graphics, banners, or buttons (see "click-through rate" and "hyperlink")

ClickBank - a popular affiliate program that provides thousands of digital products for others to sell (and make money from) online.

click-through - the process of clicking through an online advertisement or link in order to reach the ad's (see "click").

click-through rate (CTR) - the percentage of visitors who click on an advertisement. Found by dividing the number of users who clicked on an ad/link by the number of people who visited your site (see "click").

co-branding - internet commerce, in which two businesses work together to market a good/service. - a website with a significant visitor base that advertises one or more goods/services for another online business

conversion rate - the percentage of visitors who take a desired action.

cost per acquisition (CPA) - How much money was spent in order to obtain a new client or sale

cost per click (CPC) - the price you pay when someone clicks on a link (what's different b/t this and PPC?)

cost per thousand (CPM) - cost per thousand ad impressions, or views (M is the roman numeral for 1,000).

CPA - see "cost per acquisition"

CPC - see "cost per click"

CPM - see "cost per thousand"

CTR - see "click-through rate"

CSS - Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are HTML codes that allow web page appearance to be altered or changed.

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dangling links - a link to nothing, when a link is clicked but both the visitor and the search engine crawler are left at a dead end.

deep linking - linking to a web page that is not the home page of a site.

description tag - an HTML tag that appears in search engine listings, and provides a description for a web page

domain name - an internet web address (such as www.myfamouswebsite.com) that is based on the Domain Name System (DNS) and identifies the official name of a web site (see "URL").

domain name registrar - a company that manages the reservation of Internet domain names, and offers such services to the public.

Downtown Host - a web hosting service that specializes in shared web hosting, blog hosting, and resller hosting solutions.

Dreamweaver - the HTML editor created by Macromedia

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eBay - is an online auction website that allows people to host and shop online auctions. Through eBay, both it is able to buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services on a global level from the comforts of home. eBay also owns Paypal, Skype, StubHub, and other online businesses.

eBay Partner Network - eBay's affiliate program in which online sellers are paid a percentage of commission whenever something is sold.

ebook - an electronic book (.pdf file or plain text file) that you can read on your PC. These sell really well online because no shipping charges are involved, and delivery is instant.

email - (short for electronic mail) the transmission of online messages via email services such as Gmail, etc (add to this)

email marketing - using email to communicate, promote, and sell to consumers.

email newsletter - a newsletter (a regularly distributed publication) sent to subscribers via email.

email spam - unwanted, unsolicited email

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FileZilla - a free, portable, and open-source FTP application that holds your server list and settings.

Firefox web browser - a free, open source, safe web browser (such as Internet Explorer) that allows users to customize their browser options and add-ons accordingly.

Firefox Add-Ons - features that can be installed on your Firefox web browser. The types of Firefox Add-Ons include extensions, plugins, and themes.

Fireworks MX - the image editor created by Macromedia

flash - multimedia technology, developed by Macromedia, that allows...(add on)...in a relatively small file size

forum - a website that serves as an online community, in which visitors can read and post topics and exchange ideas.
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GIF - (Graphic Interchange Format) an image file that's used for graphic (non-photographic) images (see JPEG).

GoDaddy - a domain name registrar site where people can register an Internet domain name and web hosting (a domain name registrar).

Google - the most popular search engine on the internet today.

Google Adwords - a google program that includes pay-per-click (PPC) keyword research can drive traffic to your website.

Google Adsense -a Google advertising program in which website owners display Google ads on their site, and get a percentage of ad (PPC) revenue.

Google Analytics - a program that tracks your hyperlinks, and gives you the ability to understand where your traffic is coming from and how much traffic you are receiving. With this vital information, you can further optimize your site to get more targeted and specified traffic.

Google Keyword Tool - helps you decide what search terms and keywords to target, so that you can obtain more search traffic to your site. - Shows you related keywords to use and the number of people who are searching for them. It also gives you information on the costs involved for related search campaigns that you could use to market your product and/or service.

GoToMyPC - a remote desktop connection software that allows you to connect to your PC from any location.

graphic design - (also known as desktop publishing) the use of graphic (visual) elements and text to communicate an idea or concept.

graphic design software - (also known as desktop publishing software) software such as Adobe, Quark, Serif, Corel, or WordPress that are used to graphically (visually) design a webpage.

guerilla marketing - unfair marketing with the purpose of getting maximum results from minimal, irrelevant resources.

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.htaccess - stands for hypertext access, and is a directory-level configuration file made of HTML language that tells a server how to configure your website.

HTML - See "Hypertext Markup Language"

HTML editor - a software that's used to create and edit HTML documents (examples include Dreamweaver and FrontPage).

hyperlink - (also called a link) a gateway to another web page or site, usually in the form of different colored text or an object.

hypertext - differentiated from normal text by a different color, underlining, or both. User is transferred by a mouse click.

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) - a "markup language" that's used to create web content (web page copy, images, sounds, animatation, etc). Web browsers use HTML to interpret web content for viewers.

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impression - when a person types a term into a search engine and a web page or ad is displayed, this is termed an impression on that person

inbound link - a hyperlink that points to your site from a site other than yours (opposite = outbound link).

internet marketing = the use of the internet to communicate, advertise, promote, sell and/or distribute products/services to others.

Internet Protocol (IP) address - an identification number (four sets of numbers seperated by periods) that identifies a specific computer that is linked to the internet.

IP address - see "internet protocol address"

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JPEG - (Joint Photographic Experts Group) an image file format that is used for photographs (see GIF)

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keyword - a word that is typed into a search engine.

keyword phrase - (also called search string) a series of keywords that are typed into a search engine.

keyword research - an analysis of which keywords would yield the highest potential return on investment (ROI) for your website - depends on frequency, and how specific or general a specific term is.

keyword stuffing - an unethical SEO technique, in which one or more keywords are repeated throughout a web page's content in an attempt to rank higher in organic search engine listings.

keyword tag - a meta tag that uses keywords to define the primary theme of a web page/site

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link - see "hyperlink"

link checker - a tool that is used to check for broken hyperlinks

link popularity - the amount of quanity and quailty sites that link to your site

linkrot - when a web page if moved or deleted, and is no longer reachable at its previous URL.

link text - the text that is contained in (and sometimes near) a hyperlink

log file - a file which records activities on a server, counting the number of times each event occured. These files can help determine how successful a web site is and show where it could be improved.

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marketing plan - the part of a business plan that outlines the marketing strategy for a product and/or service

META data - hidden HTML tags that allow a page to be indexed in search engines. Made up of a META title, description, and keywords.

META description - an HTML code that summarizes what a web page is about, often appearing in search engine listings.

META keywords - an HTML code that specifies the main keywords of a web page.

META tag generator - a tool that generates META tags based on input page information.

META tags - HTML codes that describe various themes of a web page.

META title - the HTML code that specifies a web page's title, and appears at the top left corner of a web browser.

monetize - to convert something (like a web page/site) into monetary value; to make money off of something.

MyFax - an online fax service that lets you send and receive faxes directly from your computer, which no fax machine required.

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Name.com - a domain name registrar site where people can register an Internet domain name (a domain name registrar).

natural search engine listings - (also called organic) the unsponsored listings that occur in search engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of trying to rank higher in natural search (see "sponsored search engine listings").

navigation - movement from one web page/site to another

netiquette - "network etiquette" regarding acceptable online behavior, an online code of conduct.

newsletter - see "email newsletter"

niche - the focused area of concentration (or theme) that a business can be built upon.

niche keywords - keywords that relate to specific terms needed for a niche website or blog.

niche marketing -the act of marketing to a particular group of people who share interest in a niche.

niche website - any website built around a particular niche (or theme) that is clearly focused on a single market segment.

Notepad - a text editor that is part of Windows.

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online marketing - selling any product or service on the World Wide Web.

on-page optimization - changing a web page to improve its rankings in natural search engine listings.

off-page optimization - popularity outside of their own web pages

optimize - to make something (like a web page/site) more efficient; to get the best out of something.

opt-in email - email that a recipient agrees (opts in) to or requests (see permission marketing)

organic search engine listings - see "natural" search engine listings.

outbound link - a link that goes to a site outside of yours
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page view - a request to load an HTML page

Pay Pal

pay per click (PPC) - when payment is solely based on qualifying click-throughs (change)

pay-per-click search engine listings - see "sponsored search engine listings"

pay per sale (PPS) - when payment is solely based on sales

permission marketing - when a marketer must ask a customer permission before marketing, such as opt-in email marketing.

PHP coding - a scripting language that is used to build, manage, and personalize the content of a web page.

phpBay Pro - an affiliate plugin that allows web pages to post eBay auction listings, with both parties sharing the profit.

phpZon Pro - an affiliate plugin that allows web pages to post Amazon product/service listings, with both parties sharing the profit.

plugin - pieces of code that have been developed by to enhance your a web page or site.

portal - a web site/page that acts as a gateway to other web sites/pages through links.

PPC - see "pay per click"

publishing software - see "graphic design software"
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ranking - the position a website/page holds in a search engine for a given search term.

rate card - (double check this term) a document that details the prices for various types of ad placements.

reciprocal links - links between two websites, this often involves an agreement (among site owners) to exchange links.

return on investment (ROI) - the amount of money an advertiser gains from ads, compared to the amount of money the advertiser spends on their ads. - The amount of money made as a result of what was spent on an advertising campaign.

robots.txt - a text (.txt) file that is found (or placed) on a website's server, with the purpose of telling web robots (also known as web wanderers, crawlers or spiders) how to decipher that website's pages.

ROI -see "return on investment"

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search engine - an online program (like Google or Yahoo) that indexes documents and then attempts to match them to relevant search requests.
- allows web pages to be searched for on the internet.

search engine marketing - using the processes of keyword research and search engine optimization (SEO) to gian higher traffic and search engine rankings for your website/page.

search engine optimization (SEO) - the process of choosing natural keywords and phrases that relate to a site and are also popular in search engines. - The process of improving a web page's rankings by making it highly relevant for specific keywords. Involves both on-page optimization (improving the actual website) and off-page optimization (popularity outside of their own web pages)
- The process of altering the content and meta tags of a web page in order to make it more "search engine friendly" (to make it rank higher in natural search engine listings for a particular search term).

search engine spam - irrelevant content that attemps to manipulate search engine rankings (add to this)

search engine spider - also called a web crawler or robot, is a program that crawls the internet visiting web pages to search out of information to add or update a search engines index of pages (edit). - Software that searching the Internet for keywords relevant to queries in search engines.

search string - see "keyword" and "keyword phrase"

self-serve advertising - advertising the can be purchased without the assistance of a sales representative (double check this term).

SEO - see search engine optimization.

ShareASale - an affiliate marketing network where people (affiliates) can find products to promote, and then earn commission through their own website for any referrals they generate. Merchants can use the program to implement, manage, and track their affiliate program.

ShareASale - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shareasale

site search - a search that is specific to just one site.

Skype - an internet communication service that provides services like online phone calls, voicemail, text messaging, video chat, instant messaging.

Smug Mug - an online photo and video storing, sharing, and selling site.

social media - a category of websites that are centered around user interaction and user-generated content (such as Facebook or MySpace).

spam - content that is unwanted, inappropriate and extremely low in value (add to this).

spider - see "search engine spider"

sponsored search engine listings = (also called "pay-per-click search engine listings") the sponsored listings that occur at the top, bottom, and side of natural listings. Google and Yahoo are the top two search engines in the sponsored listings category.

Squidoo - a user-generated web platform that allows users to create free pages (called lenses) for subjects of interest.

Stat Counter - software that keeps track of a web site's statistics (visitors, unique visitors, which pages are attracting visitors, which ones are driving visitors away, etc).

surfing - see "web surfing"

text editor - a simple word processing program (like Notepad) that don't allow text to be formatted (bold, italic, color, etc). These programs are great to use in the creation of web site content, because only the letters themselves (and no extra, annoying codes) will be pasted within.

title tag - an HTML tag that defines the text that appears in the top, left of your web browser. This is often used by search engines as the title of a listing.

Toggl - a time tracking website that allows people to keep track of the time they spend on various projects.

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unique visitors - the number of people who view a web site during a specified amount of time (a day, a month, etc). A web site's "log file" approximates the number of unique visitors during this time by using cookies to identify the PC's that visit (using IP addresses to identify multiple visits from the same domain).

URL - (Uniform Resource Locator) the complete internet address of an internet location, that inludes information to the left of the domain name, identifying the correct Internet protocol (such as http://www.myfamouswebsite.com) - see "domain name"

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vBulletin - (vB) an internet forum software that is used to create community forums for a website.

visitors - the number of people who view a web site (see "unique visitor").

viral marketing - marketing in which people pass along (just as a virus spreads) a marketing/promotional message from one person to another out of interest (rather than force or monetary gain)

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web-based business - a business operation that uses the internet to serve the public, and has lower costs and greater flexibility than brick-and-mortar operations (see brick-and-mortar business).

web browser - ("browser" for short) a software application (such as Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer) that allows users to access, navigate and search the World Wide Web and translate the HTML of web pages into text, images and sounds. - and can be customized with add-ons.

web directory - a categorized, organized list of web sites.

web host - a service that provides internet connectivity, and allows the public to use an online server to store, manage, and maintain a web site's files. In other words, it's a physical location in which a website is kept and connected to the World Wide Web.

web log - see "blog"

web page - the pages the make up a website, and are intended to be viewed on the internet with a web browser.

web searching - an exploration of the World Wide Web with a definite objective and strategy in mind.

web surfing - exploring the World Wide Web without a definite objective or strategy (see "web browsing" and "web searching")

web traffic - the amount of visitors and visits to a website or page.

website - a collection of web pages (owned by an individual or company) that are intended to be viewed on the internet with a web browser.

website usability - how easy it is for visitors to use a web site

WordPress - a free web hosting service that specializes in shared web hosting, blog hosting, and reseller hosting solutions.

WordPress plugins - folders, files or pieces of code that are developed to enhance your WordPress experience, or to make your website more profitable.

WordPress themes - codes that change the design and appearance of your website.

Wordtracker - a free keyword suggestion tool that reports what keywords and phrases are actually being used in search engines.

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Yahoo - the 2nd most popular search engine (see "Google").

Yahoo Site Explorer - shows you where your backlinks are coming from and how many you have.

Online Business Dictionary

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