Internet Terms And Definitions For Beginners
Yeah. I know. It doesn’t look like much right now. Eventually I hope to develop this page into a valuable reference resource dedicated to explaining and defining internet terms and definitions for beginners.
I remember when I first started out on the internet, it was a completely different environment with customs and a vernacular unique unto itself. There were so many and I was constantly researching terms , definitions, slang and abbreviations just so that I could understand what I was trying to learn. To that end I am starting with the publication of this list.
It will be updated frequently as I will add more definitions or media on a daily basis(hopefully.) So if it ain’t here at first, check back soon. Or you could leave a comment with a specific request. It will be my pleasure to help you out.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
Advertorial – this has to be seen. Any definition I could offer pales in comparison Affiliate – an affiliate is a free lance associate. Somebody who works for and with a company or companies, without any actual ties to aforementioned. In other words, affiliation Affiliate Link – as an online affiliate marketer, (like any other job) you need to be paid. So how does that happen? How are you identified so as to receive your affiliate commissions? Links containing a special, unique code used for identification purposes. An affiliate link identifies you and only you to the company that generated the link. No affiliate link, no $$$$$ Affiliate Marketing – click this link for the definition. Algorithm- Analog Job – employment manifesting itself in the physical three dimensional world.(i.e. cook, office, construction etc. etc..)A work place environment which requires your regular physical presence. Anchor Text – the text highlighted and usually underlined which when clicked upon takes you to a different page other than the one you’re on. As an example, this is a link to my Wealthy Affiliate Review. The anchor text here is. “link to my Wealthy Affiliate Review”. It’s important the text is relevant to the destination page. In other words, if your anchor text is “vacation timeshares in the South Pacific” you don’t want to link to a page with “vacation timeshares at the South Pole” I can practically guarantee the most important section of that text is “South Pacific” not “vacation timeshares” Understand where I’m comin’ from?B
Black Hat SEO- Blog – or Weblog as it was called in it’s early days. A Weblog is merely the name of an online journal where thoughts and opinions are written. Over time, it shortened into the Blog we know today.Bounce – A “bounce” on a website is often misunderstood. Some say when a visitor lands and leaves immediately effectively bouncing away. Not quite. The visitor might land, read and then click away off the site. This is a “bounce”. If the visitor lands and clicks to another page on the same site, this is not a “bounce”.
Bounce Rate – a measurement term used within Google Analytics. The percentage of visitors who bounce away from your site as opposed to the total number of visitors. A low bounce rate is the goal. %88 is not a good bounce rate. Browser Search Box – the long/short rectangular box located at the top of your browser screen where you enter search terms or website URL’s.
C
Content Marketing – CSV File – Comma Separated Value file. (See image) Cyberspace – the intangible world wherein lies the existence of the World Wide Web.D
DA Rank- or Domain Authority Rank such as DA-27, DA-25, DA-72, etc., etc. with a ranking range of 1 to 100. DA=1 is the lowest, DA-199 would be highest. (Stay Tuned for further developments.) Direct Link – Direct Traffic – visitors arriving at your website through a direct link vs. an organic search. Domain – Areas of website occupation. For example; .com, .net, .org, .biz, .gov, .info. Anyway, get the idea? DNS – Domain Name Server(Stay tuned for further developments) Domain Name –G
Google Analytics –Google Sandbox – ahh the Google sandbox. Or should I say the alleged Google sandbox? Alleged because it’s existence has been neither confirmed or denied. Yet, according to experts in the field of SEO, they’ve noticed “sandbox like behavior”.
I find this statement fascinating because how does anyone expert or no, notice behavioral characteristics of the sandbox when it’s very existence hasn’t even been proven and nobody knows for sure what it does.
For all we know the google sandbox is something completely different from the theories and hypotheses(of which there are several)currently circulating on the net.
H
Home Page – the page of your website where everybody lands after entering the URL. For example: https//freehelpmakingmoneyonline.com is my home page. Hyper-Link –I
Internet – on January 1st, 1983 the assembly of a virtual construct christened the “network of networks” began. Often called the “information superhighway” (with good reason) it facilitates user access to the WWW.
Due to advanced telecommunications technology, the internet has grown in leaps and bounds, especially during the past four years. 2014 saw the WWW host to over one billion websites. Yes, that’s right. A 1, with nine zeroes after. Like this; 1,000,000,000.
So it took about twenty four years for the web to reach the one billion mark.. Now, fours years later, that number has practically doubled making the web home to more than 1.8 billion websites.
J
Jump Link – a different sort of link. Have you ever clicked a link and been taken to a page where you must search for the topic? Me too. Gets on my nerves. So a jump link takes you to s specific point on a specific page. For instance; this link will take you to the letter A on this page and this link will take you to the comment section on my About PollyB page.K
Keyword – Keyword Phrase or KeyPhrase – Keyword Research –L
Link – Link Text –see anchor text Long Tail Keyword –LSI – Latent Semantic Indexing. Much research is devoted to ranking well with Google and other search engines. Keyword research leads the pack. The keyword you’re trying to rank for is often used in the title and the first two paragraphs. If you land a spot on Google with it then the article is indexed with that keyword.
LSI occurs when the article becomes indexed with unintended keywords. In other words other phrases throughout the article are searched for and found and then ranked on Google for that particular keyword. Words written with no intent to rank.
M
Malware –O
Organic Search – as the word organic implies this is a natural search. (i.e.)SERP retrieval after entering keywords in the browser, as opposed to entering the web address and going directly to a specific website, or clicking a link within another page/post that goes directly to a specific page/post/website.R
Referral Traffic – Responsive Theme – website themes adaptable to any type of device used for access. i.e. PC, Laptop, Phone, ipad or other handheld device not a phoneS
Search Engine – Search Term – A word or group of words entered in the browser search box in order to locate specific information on the internet.
SEO – stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a gentle, positive, persuasive, art.
SEO exists in a fluidic state constantly changing and evolving along with new laws and rules(and Google algorithms)etc., etc., etc.
SERP – Search Engine Results Page. When you enter a search term in your browser, the search engine immediately goes to work finding the most relevant information for your viewing pleasure. After a few brief moments(normally)it returns to you with results displayed like so usually 10 results per page. This is a search engine results page.
Server –
Squeeze Page –
SSL – Secure Sockets Layer. An encrypted layer of code which uses two keys to ensure the security of data transfer between two websites. As a matter of fact, my website is protected by a 256-bit encrypted SSL creating a protected environment for all of my visitors. If you look at the search box in your browser, you’ll notice that it says https:(secure) as opposed to http:(not secure).
A website with SSL will do much better in search engine rankings, than an unsecure site.
Subdomain-
T
Website Traffic – website visitors TXT File – Text only File (See image)U
URL – Uniform Resource Locator. This is an address on the internet. Unlike a normal run of the mill search term, when entered in the search box, you are taken to a specific location on the web.V
Virtual – non-physical. Almost like the real thing. So there is physical reality(the dimension in which our tangible selves manifest)and virtual reality(the world of computer programming constructs like VR Games)we can interact with only using assistive technology(goggles, wands) Virus –
W
Website – a virtual construct existing on the World Wide Web, such as the one you are on now. The internet is huge. According to the Netcraft January 2018 Web Server Survey there are more than 1.8 billion websites. Most of those have very little traffic.
White Hat SEO-WWW – The 1,805,260,010(at last count)websites on the Web are all connected to one another via the internet. The construction of which began on January 1st, 1983. 
A year later in 1984, Bill Gates arrives on the New York Stock Exchange with his invention of the PC(personal computer).
In 1990, all websites and the entire internet were woven together and fashioned into one very large computerized construct aptly designated the World Wide Web. Invented by computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee it is a tangible, yet intangible, virtual, digitally fabricated world co-existing alongside our 3D universe, enveloping our planet unperceived by human eyes.
Comment Section
Hi there Polly!
Appreciate your initiative to have this post because it’s really of great help especially for newbies like me in the on-line business.
It’s oftentimes hassle to search for these unknown terminologies while in the middle of reading great articles and this post can surely be a quick reference for a hassle-free reading.
Thanks a lot.
-julius
hey Julius,
Trust me I totally get it. Glad to help
Polly,
This idea to have a page dedicated to internet terms and definitions for beginners was excellent. I’ve only been blogging about 6 months and I consider myself a newbie and I found this page extremely helpful. There were several words I hadn’t heard of yet, let alone knew their meaning, such as, Advertorial, google sandbox, and LSI (article indexed with unintended keywords). I especially like the video description of Advertorial, I completely understood the meaning after listening to and watching the video.
The list is neat, easy to read, well-organized, and will be very useful to myself and other readers landing on your website.
Thank for sharing this information.
Cora
I am pleased you found it helpful. I’ve been working on it a little at a time and I hope to make this a resource for anyone who needs to learn something new. Glad I could introduce you to a few new terms. Come again soon Cora
Polly
Hi.
I have been working online for about 4 months now and I know just how confusing some of the Terms and Definitions of the internet world can be. Especially when you are relatively new to it. That is why I found this article so useful and interesting.
I am looking at the moment at my website SEO. Just a few short months I never even knew what a Search Engine Optimiser was?
If I am ever stuck with finding out what something means on the internet I shall be logging back into your website to find out what its all about.
Will you be updating the Terms and Definitions constantly on your website?
Thank you for the information.
Best Wishes
Matthew
I completely understand your confusion. The internet is a community like any other with terms slang and vocabulary unique.
As to the updates, yes. I try to do a few everyday. I am hoping this will be a valuable resource to beginners unused to internet vernacular. I know I needed one when I was just starting out. Coma agin soon.
What a great idea. This is not only great for newbies but for others as well. I have been playing around with affiliate marketing for well over 7 years and there were a couple there I never seen before.
You really could brand this so that every marketer has it up in their favorites section.
Thank you for putting in all the effort to make this page a reality.
Thank you for your kind words Dale. My hope is to make this a valuable resource for anyone who needs it. Shoot, I’ve learned quite a bit myself while putting this page together. Knowledge is power, Yo.
Hey, I really like this. I can totallly visualize this as a very huge resource of information later on. Everyone has to start somewhere right? Don’t worry, you are off to a great start! So hmm… well, I have one website that I am currently working on. I haven’t gotten any organic search traffic yet but I am still learning.
Some things that I would like to know more about in terms of Internet Terms and Definitions For Beginners are;
Keyword Research, Back links, Back linking Strategy, Guest Posting, Black Hat vs White Hat SEO techniques and also, I want to know what it means when a site is called or rated “Da-25” or “Da-27” or whatever… I don’t understand what that rating means or how it is measured. Also want to know how to measure how well I am doing according to googles standards?
I am going to bookmark this for future reference! I really like how its coming out so far, great job!
I am happy to help. Learning new internet terms will increase your understanding about what you do and how to make things better.I will definitely get to working on the answers to your questions.
Real quick here…DA stands for Domain Authority. Ratings go from 1(being the worst)to 100(the best) so a rating of 25 or 27 is sub-optimal. Ways to improve will be forth coming. I might just write a short article about it. Stay tuned Sophia.
Hi Polly
I have only been building my online business for a very short time and I was looking for help on the terminology of all the different things we have to learn and landed on this website and Wow. you have done an amazing job with this post.
I have book marked it for future reference it is so easy to understand so thank you so much
I am happy to help. I know how difficult it can be. Sometimes I had to stop what I was doing and look up what I didn’t know to understand what the hell I was learning. Does that make sense?