Ecommerce Jargon Buster

By Angus  |  4 Dec 2014 16:00:00

I mentioned in a previous post titled Ecommerce for Dummies how the industry jargon can often be confusing, sometimes leading to prospective merchants permanently keeping one tab open in their browser solely for researching such terms before starting their website!

To save this hassle, I’ve decided to compile a list of the most common abbreviations you are likely to encounter when setting up your web shop.

The order of this list is as such so that no "jargon" is mentioned before it has been explained.      

URL Definition

Uniform Resource Locator: A unique address for any file on the internet. This is the address that appears in your web browsers address bar when you load a website page, and is one of the most common ways people access websites. E.g. https://www.facebook.com/.

Domain Name Definition

This is a key component of a URL that makes it easier to search for web pages. Your domain name will be an important factor in getting people to find your website and should ideally contain popular Keywords for your industry. An example of a domain name is www.sellr.com.

Keywords Definition

The words or phrases people type into search engines.

IP Address Definition

Internet Protocol Address: Every computer connected to the internet is identified by a unique number known as an IP Address.

DNS Defintion

Domain Name Server / Domain Name System: This is an online service which translates domain names into IP addresses. For example www.sellr.com may translate to an IP address of 192.167.964.2. Because the internet is based on IP addresses, this is a highly valuable service as clearly alphabetic addresses are far easier to remember than a series of numbers.

Hosting Defintion

Hosting is the process of storing website pages and other data on another computer (web server), so that they can be accessed via the Internet.

HTTP Defintion

HyperText Transfer Protocol: This is the means by which data is transferred from a server to an active web browser.

CMS Defintion

Content Management System: A software application that allows the user to edit and publish content on their website without having to access and change any code.

HTML Defintion

Hypertext Markup Language: This is the standard coding (programing) language used to create web pages.

P.S
If you are using a template based website (e.g. Sellr) you do not need to know this, but you may wish to note that ASP (Active Server Page), PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) and JavaScript are other common programing languages that you may encounter. These are used to convert information from databases into HTML so they appear on a web page and to add interactive elements to web pages amongst other things.

CPC Definition

Cost Per Click: A form of online advertising where you set an amount of money you are willing to pay for every time someone clicks on your advert. It works as an auction and the higher your bid, the higher you advert appears in the search results.

AdWords Definition

An advertising tool by Google that works by bidding the maximum CPC you are willing to pay for a link to your website to appear next to their search results for your chosen Keyword.

Analytics Defintion

Another Google tool that allows you to track the number of unique page views, visitor activity and conversion rates on your website.

SEO Definition

Search Engine Optimisation: The process of getting your website to rank as high as possible in a search engines organic (unpaid) search results. This is a crucial factor in the success of most websites and more information on the subject can be found by clicking here.

Backlinks Definition

An incoming hyperlink from one web document to another. The more high quality backlinks (backlinks from high ranking websites) you have to your website, the higher your website should rank as this is seen by search engines as a sign of credibility. 

Meta Tags Definition

This is a term for the words and phrases a website owner edits that summarise the key content of a webpage. Traditionally used for SEO to rank higher for chosen Keywords, most search engines no longer take this into account.

Payment Gateway Definition

The term for software that is integrated with your website and which processes the payments you receive. This software is provided by a Payment Service Provider, e.g. PayPal, who will take either a percentage or a flat fee in exchange for securely facilitating the transaction.

CRM Definition

Customer Relationship Manager: Software which stores customer details such as contact information to facilitate easy communications with them.

Affiliate Marketing Definition

A popular online strategy to increase your market share by allowing your product or service to be advertised for sale on a 3^rd parties website. This will involve a commission arrangement with the 3^rd party, to be paid whenever they generate a sale for your website.  

PCI Compliance Definition

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard: This is a set of requirements every company that processes, stores or transmits credit card information must meet (i.e. every online merchant). More information can be found by clicking here, but if you are a Sellr merchant then do not worry because all of our websites more than comply with these standards.  

SSL Definition

Secure Socket Layer: This is the industry standard security technology for transmitting private documents over the internet. The way in which it does this is via encrypting the data and only providing the intended receiver with the key to access it. On Sellr, all pages that contain sensitive information are encrypted with a minimum 128 bit SSL Extended Validation. Extended Validation ensures customers will feel secure purchasing from your website due to trust signals such as the green padlocked address bar.