internet lingo

ISP (Internet Service Provider) is the company that connects you to the Internet. This could be RoadRunner, AOL, your phone company, earthlink, etc.

Browser is the software you use to surf the Internet: Internet Explorer and Safari (for macs) are a couple of the most popular browsers. Since there have been so many problems with Microsoft's Internet Explorer, surfers are flocking to Mozilla's Firefox (formerly Netscape). Mac users should also check out Camino. With AOL, the browser is built in.

Link and hyperlink are other names for a hypertext link. A link could be underlined text, a button, or an image—and when clicked, will take you to another page, or sometimes to another area on the same page (like this link).

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a website's address. For example, the URL of this page is http://www.walkermedia.net/lingo.html. (You can see it up in the browser's address bar.)

Web Site Host is the company that "rents" you space on their server for your website.

Server is the online computer/server where your website is located.

Home Page is the first page of your website.

Splash Page consists of a large graphic or a Flash animation for your home page—after that, you get to enter the site. Personally, I feel splash pages are a waste of a visitor's time. When someone finds your site, they're looking for information—not hi-tech glitz that slows them down.

Search Engines are basically huge databases that find and index links to websites. If you want someone to find you by searching the web, you need to get your website on them. Learn more»