Glossary
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Affiliate marketing - a marketing practice that allows a business to promote and sell other company’s products and services, and vice versa.
Apps - an abbreviation for applications. Apps is now a popular term for pieces of software that can run on smartphones and other handheld devices.
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) - data communication technology that runs over the copper telephone line and is used to provide internet access to homes and businesses.
Automate/Automation - replaces manual operations by computerised methods.
Blog - a web log; a website that is focused on providing frequently updated information on a particular topic.
Bounce rate - the percentage and length of visits where the visitor enters and exits at the same page without visiting any other pages on the website in between.
Branding - involves creating a unique name and image for a product (good or service) in the consumers' mind through marketing and advertising campaigns with a consistent theme.
Brochure site - an information-only site that provides visitors with information about the business, including contact details, address, information on products and special offers etc.
Browser/web browser - a software application which displays websites and web pages. It is the window you use to navigate the Internet.
Business to business (B2B) - commonly known as EDI (Electronic Data Interchange); involves companies buying from and selling to each other online.
Business to consumer (B2C) - involves businesses selling products/services to consumers online.
Business to employee (B2E) - known as an intranet. An intranet is a web site developed to provide employees of an organisation with information.
Cloud/ Cloud computing - internet-based computing, through which shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers on demand, like the electricity grid.
Collaborative tool - a tool that helps people to collaborate with others. Popular Web2.0 collaboration tools include web conferencing, wiki, file sharing etc.
Consumer to business (C2B) - involves a consumer requesting bids for a specific service. Businesses review the requirements and make a bid. The consumer then reviews and selects the most appropriate bid.
Consumer to consumer (C2C) - involves consumers selling to other consumers.
Content Management Systems (CMS) - software that is used to create and manage the content for a web site. It provides for the storage, maintenance and retrieval of HTML and XML documents and all related image, audio and video files.
Cross promotion - where two parties, who target identical or similar niche markets (but are not directly competing against each other), decide to promote each other's products and services.
Cross selling - a strategy of providing existing customers the opportunity to purchase additional items offered by the seller.
Crowd sourcing - allows businesses to source products and services from members registered with the site around the world. It is a popular new way of finding suppliers.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) - a strategy for managing and nurturing a company’s interactions with customers and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organise, automate, and synchronise business processes.
Data mining - involves exploring and analysing detailed business transactions. It entails "digging" through a mass amount of data to find out patterns and relationships contained within the business activity and history.
Domain name - internet host computers use domain names as host identifiers, or hostnames. Hostnames appear as a component in Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for Internet resources.
E-business - a term that describes many different aspects and activities involved in business management and marketing using the internet.
E-business plan - a plan that outlines the tasks and strategies that need to be completed to make your e-business works. It should contain information about market research, marketing strategies, business goals, budgets and what you anticipate to achieve in the long term.
E-commerce - refers to the transactional process of exchange of goods and services online. It involves online activities such as buying and selling of goods and services, payment, and delivery.
Email marketing - involves sending customised emails to customers with information specific to them, which can help to build awareness about your business and generate extra sales.
Encryption - reversible transformation of data from the original/plain text to a difficult-to-interpret format (the ciphertext) as a mechanism for protecting its confidentiality, integrity and authenticity.
Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML) - a language used to construct websites which allows a consistent appearance across a range of browsers.
FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions pages are often used on e-business websites to address the most common issues raised by users. They can save you time by reducing the amount of simple questions asked by your customers.
Firewall - a method for keeping a computer secure from intruders. It allows or blocks traffic into and out of a private network or the user's computer.
Forum - an online discussion site; a place where people go to comment on a particular topic.
GIF - Graphic Interchange Format is a common format for image files used on the internet.
Gigabyte - 1024 Megabytes of data.
Google - one of the largest search engines on the internet, allowing people to find the information and websites they are looking for quickly and easily. Google also provides a range of free tools and services for people who manage their own websites.
GUI - a Graphical User Interface allows users to navigate a system using their mouse to click on menus and icons. This is in contrast to older or complex systems where users need to enter text into a command line to access information.
Hardware - physical components of a computer and other devices.
Homepage - the starting and main page of a website.
Host server - a computer that stores websites and its web pages and content files. When someone requests to view a webpage, they access it through the host server.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) - the code that tells web browsers how your site should look when someone accesses it.
Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) - a widely used scripting language and software platform for creating dynamic web pages.
Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) - a protocol used to send files and webpages over the Internet or computer network.
Intellectual Property - the result of the application of someone's mind or intellect to create something new or original.
Internet Marketing/ i- marketing/ online marketing/ e-marketing - the use of online resources to communicate directly to your existing and potential customers. It allows you to design campaigns based on your website and utilise the features of other internet tools.
Internet Protocol - the method used to send data from one computer to another over the internet.
Internet Service Providers (ISP) - a company that provides access and connection to the internet.
Intranet - a website developed to provide employees of an organisation with information.
Java Script - the language behind a website that lets users access things such as drop down menus in the navigation panel.
Key-based authentication - uses cryptographic keys to establish or confirm that something is authentic.
LAN - Local Area Networks provide access to the immediate area and are often limited to the same workplace, building or office.
Login - the account name or number used to gain access to a computer system. For security purposes, this is usually entered in combination with a secret password.
Merchant account - a special account that will enable you to accept debit and credit card payments for purchases.
National Broadband Network (NBN) - A new broadband network that will provide high speed broadband access to the internet to 100% of Australian premises.
Niche market - the subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing. It addresses the specific product features that are aimed at satisfying specific market needs.
Online fraud - involves conducting fraudulent activities or transactions via the internet.
Online retailing - involves letting people buy your products through you website – taking orders, accepting payment and delivering the product.
Order tracking - the ability to track orders at each stage of the sales, dispatch and delivery process.
Outsource/Outsourcing - the process of subcontracting activities to a third-party, as opposed to completing in-house.
Payment gateway - a facility that allows you to accept debit and credit payments through your website.
Payment service provider (PSP) - offers merchants online services for accepting electronic payments through a variety of payment methods.
Point to Point Protocol (PPP) applications - software that will allow you to connect to an ISP.
Portals - websites that present information and links from various sources.
QWERTY - this is the term used to describe a standard computer keyboard. The term is taken from the first six letters across the top row of the keyboard.
Risk management - involves identifying risks and implementing procedures to protect your business from those risks.
RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication) - a group of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated information such as blog entries, news headlines as well as audio and video.
Scalability - the ability to easily increase the output of the business using the resources that are already at hand.
Search engine - a website that allow you to search for information on the internet.
Search engine marketing - occurs where companies pay search engines for advertising.
Search engine optimisation - where websites use specialist techniques to improve their chances of appearing near the top of the organic search results list.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) - a protocol that encrypts the communication between web browsers and the web servers that host websites. This encryption prevents third parties from accessing sensitive information such as bank details, credit card numbers, account transactions, etc.
Security protocol - a concrete protocol that performs a security-related function and applies cryptographic methods.
Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) - a communication protocol used over serial lines to support internet connectivity.
Shopping cart - an internet based system designed to allow an online shopper to collect and purchase items.
Social media - online networks where people or businesses create their own profile, like a miniature personal webpage, and then interact with each other with messages, videos and photos.
Social networking - a practice by which internet users build relationships and bookmark important sites with like-minded people.
Sockets Layer Certificate (SSL) - used to confirm the identity of a website or server, encrypt data during transmission, and ensure the integrity of transmitted data.
Software - a type of programme or a set of encoded instructions that is used to operate a computer or other devices.
Spam - unsolicited "junk" e-mail, usually selling a product or service.
Spider - also known as a web crawler; software application controlled by a search engine that trawls web pages for information. Search engines use spiders to identify the information a web page contains and then uses this information to rank websites in organic search results lists.
Spyware - a type of malicious software that obtains information from a user's computer without the user's knowledge or consent.
Telecommunications - the transmission of analogue or digital signals over a long distance. This includes telephone calls, radio and television broadcasts and data transfers over the internet.
Uniform Resource Locator (URL) - a string of characters that represents the location or address of a resource on the internet and how that resource should be accessed.
Video conference/ web conference - a meeting, presentation or other communication hosted via the world wide web.
Virtualisation - involves sectioning one physical server into multiple virtual servers where each of these virtual servers can then operate with other devices, applications and/or data as though it were in fact one physical server.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) - a way of using the internet for phone calls and faxes.
Web 2.0 - refers to the second generation of web use that includes the interactivity presented by social networking and other trends.
Web Analytics - the process of collecting, measuring, analysing and reporting of user activity on a website to understand and help achieve the intended objective of the website.
Web applications/ online applications - an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. It also refers to computer software application that is hosted in a browser-controlled environment or coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a web browser to render the application executable.
Web hosting - the housing, serving, and maintaining files for web sites on a dedicated server with direct access to the internet.
XHTML - See Extensible Hypertext Markup Language.
YouTube - this is a highly popular video sharing site where people can upload videos for others to watch, rate and post comments. It has become an increasingly useful marketing tool for many successful e-businesses.
Zip File - a type of compressed file that is commonly used to archive files. A 'zipped' file takes up less hard disk space and takes less time to transfer to another computer, making it perfect for internet downloads.
