Coming to Terms

Web technology changes so quickly, it’s difficult to keep up with features and definitions. Here are some of the terms you need to know.

by Jamie J. Gooch (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
September 2007
 

Blog: A web log written in chronological order. They often focus on current events and allow site visitors to type their comments on the post. Video versions (vlogs) and those focused on sharing photographs (photoblogs) exist with the same basic structure.

Flash: Technology that allows multimedia, including web applications, animations, audio, video and games, to be displayed in a Web browser or other Flash player. It is commonly used to add interactivity to sites, integrate video into Web pages and add animation to online menus and advertisements.

Pay Per Click (PPC): An advertising model in which advertisers only pay when someone clicks on their online ad. Ads are served based on keywords that advertisers bid on in order to increase the chance that their ad will appear when someone searches for those keywords.

Podcast: Named after Apple’s iPod digital media player, a podcast is the syndication of a digital audio file with subscribers via the Internet. Podcasts typically take the format of radio talk shows or interviews.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS): A means to publish content summaries and links, which are called feeds, related to content such as blogs, news headlines, podcasts or any other frequently updated online content. Visitors can use software that aggregates the RSS feeds they subscribe to from multiple Web sites so that the online updates they are interested in are in one place.

Search Engine Optimization: The process of making a site rank higher on popular search engines, such as Google. It may include altering a site’s coding, content or structure so that the site will display higher when certain terms are entered into a search engine—with the goal of more searchers finding the site.

Social Networking: Using online tools, such as chat rooms, instant messaging, video sharing, file sharing, blogging and forums to interact with a community of people online.

Wiki: A Web site that can be edited by its visitors.

See related story, "Virtual Makeover."