Learn About Websites
Common Website Terminology
Understanding commonly used website terms will help enhance your whole online experience.
Server: Similar to homes that live on pieces of land, websites live on servers. All websites must be connected to a server in order to live on the Internet. Website vendors typically provide servers for their websites. You can access the server yourself if you’re familiar with navigating FTP systems, or have your vendor access it for you.
Domain Name: A domain name is like the address of your house. People find your website through your domain name, such as www.beyondindigo.com. When you "own" a domain name, you have the right to use it for a certain amount of time, depending on your contract. You have the right to sell your domain name during the time that you own it, but as soon as you stop paying for it, someone else can buy it. At Beyond Indigo, we recommend that you buy your domain name. This keeps paperwork and confusion to a minimum. We believe that the best and most cost effective place to purchase domain names is www.GoDaddy.com.
Data Transfer: When someone visits your website, they download information onto their personal computers. This is called data transfer and it can be thought of like cell phone minutes. Data transfer fees are generally included in your vendor’s fees. If your website gets a sudden and dramatic increase in traffic, you may incur additional data transfer charges. When selecting a website vendor, ask up-front questions about server and data transfer fees so that there are no surprises.
Hit:Hits measure how many people have viewed your site by clicking on your web address. We think that hits are an inaccurate way to measure website traffic because they’re nebulous and include graphic images.
Pageview:A page view refers to one entire page that has been viewed by a visitor. A page view can include an unlimited number of graphics. When marketing veterinary websites, we’re most concerned with the number of page views are clients are getting.
URL: A URL refers to your domain name, such as www.beyondindigo.com.