UK Website Design - Jargon Buster

Website Design and Internet terms explained. A few of the words mentioned on our website are technical terms, and we un-avoidable, so we have listed them here with a brief description of what they mean.

WWW. World Wide Web. Home of ALL Websites

HTML. HyperText Markup Language. HTML is the special programming code all websites are designed and written in. Right-click this website page, select  "View source" and view the HTML code this page is designed in

INTERNAL LINKS. Links on a website that connect all the pages together, or can use links to enable to reader to jump to different pieces on the same page. All internal links should be incorporated into the design of your website and should be text based

INTERNET EXPLORER & NETSCAPE.  These are the two most popular browsers that allow you to surf the websites on the World Wide Web, Internet Explorer is the favourite, whilst many still prefer Netscape. (A browser is the internet window you view websites, and where your refresh, back and favourites buttons are) The Internet browser reads the html code of the website and deciphers it to display the website and the design of the website on your screen

JAVA & JAVASCRIPT. A special Website Design programming language used along side HTML. HTML is used for designing plain text websites, whilst java is used for images and text that move, it is also used for many interactive features, like drop-down menus and images that change when you place your mouse pointer over them. Java and JavaScript can be incorporated into the design of your website so it is not a static web page.

MODEM SPEED. A modem is what your PC uses to connect to the internet to download websites to view them on your PC. Your modem transfers data in what is measured in "bps" which is translated to "bits per second". The higher the bps, the quicker website pages will download onto your screens through your modem. The design of your website is important here, as complex designs with large or many images, with flash and java can take longer to download through your modem, whereas a simple plain text design will download quicker

SEARCH ENGINE SUBMISSION. Search Engine Submission is to introduce your website to all the major search engines, so they can categorize your website in relevant searches to direct people to your site (targeted customers) So your website will be listed on their screens when a relevant search is conducted. It is important your website design is search engine optimized before submitting to the search engines to ensure quality results

META TAGS. Meta Tags are used for search engine optimization. they are invisible keywords, phrases and descriptions placed in the design of your website. Meta tags are specially placed at the top of your website, on every page by your website designer, to assist the search engines to categorize your website when a search is placed through a search engine.

FTP. File Transfer Protocol. System used to upload your website pages on to a server, enabling it to be viewed on the World Wide Web.

WEB HOSTING. A company that owns servers (big computers that hold all the websites in their memory) A website hosting company offers disc space available to be rented, to transfer your website files on. Once your website is uploaded on to the server, it can be accesses world wide. Hosting can cost up to around £30 per month for large disc space.

DOMAIN NAME. The name/address of your website. Example: www.mediadesignstudio.co.uk

RECIPROCAL LINKING. Swapping links with a website. Reciprocal linking means you link to another website, and in return they link to you.