Online & Website Term Glossary


The Glossary is an educational tool to help people understand the different aspects of website development and internet marketing. 

A numerical value, developed by Moz, that determines the page rank on a search engine results page (SERP). Scores range from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating a greater likelihood of better rankings. 

A term used to designate the ranking of a website. Google ranks websites and pages reportedly based on over 500 million variables and 2 billion terms. Pagerank is on a scale from 0 to 10. The higher the rank the more relevant it is based on Google algorithms.

The average number of pages viewed during one session.

The total number of pages viewed on a website.

These are two of the most important, if not notorious, Google updates that have occurred over the past few years. These updates have changed how websites are ranked dramatically. They have provided a better understanding though of what Google finds most important when ranking a page. This includes unique content and content that has been shared via social media.

Note: Penguin has become real-time and now discredits bad/deceptive links instead of penalizing websites.

In web design, the manner through which the background images move more slowly than the foreground images that are used. 


Data provided in the URL to specify a site's behavior.

A person who isn't currently interested in your products or services, but could be in the future. In other words, they haven't begun the buyer's journey.

An internet marketing strategy by which advertisers pay the publisher (a website) when the ad is clicked. Advertisers can bid on a keyword that is relevant to their target market.

PPC ads can display on the top of a SERP when a keyword matches the advertiser's keyword list, as well as be shown on social media outlets, such as Facebook and LinkedIn. 

The use of data collected and analyzed to personalize a marketing strategy directed at a specific user.

Pillar pages cover all aspects of a specific topic on one page. Included on this page are various links to more in-depth articles that expand upon the topic and link back to the pillar page.

Pillar pages are an important SEO tactic for increasing search visibility for target keywords.

This is a critical part of every website project, especially ones that include extensive functionality. Project managers play an important role in a variety of ways such as specifying: goals, requirements, schedule, budget and the Project Planning. They also often are responsible for completing Definition deliverables such as sitemaps, wireframes, and functional specifications as well as QA and testing.

The amount of project management time needed is typically 20% of the total project time e.g. if the project has 100 hours then 20 hours should be allocated for project management.


Insufficient allocation of time for project management increases the risk the project will not run smoothly or encounter cost overruns.

This is the operating document for completing a website or Internet marketing project. It is based on the 4 phase process: Define, Design, Develop, Deploy. This uses a ‘Waterfall’ project management process where each action item and phase follows the other, one after the other.


Make sure you understand what is included in your Project Plan and are familiar with the terminology used.

This is a secure site that houses all deliverables and other communication regarding a web site project. It typically has one page for Postings which list project activity chronologically and links to the sitemap, wireframes, the Project Plan and a project team page.

This is the process of creating a prototype for a website. It's not easy to create a desired website on the first try, often times it takes prototyping to eventually get the correct design.

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