Jargon Buster

Always wondering about those web and internet terms everyone is throwing around? Our Jargon Buster helps you make sense of it all.
If there is something you’re not sure about and it’s not covered in the list below, feel free to ask us.

  • HTML

HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language) is the language in which web pages are programmed. Mark-up is a way of placing website parts in their correct place and specifies how they should look in terms of size, colour, etc. Using HTML, a web programmer combines text and images that are positioned in rows and columns, making up a grid-like architecture.

  • URL

A web address, eg: www.popweb.co.za that is typed into the address bar in a web browser.

  • Domain

Your domain is your unique web address, for example popWeb.co.za or Google.com. A domain can have a .com, .co.za or a variety of other suffixes. Domains are subject to availability and are renewed annually.  Failure to renew your domain results in the domain “lapsing” and therefore becoming available to someone else to register. Fortunately popWeb takes care of your domain renewal automatically so you don’t have to worry about it.

  • Hosting

A hosting company provides the computer (also called a server) where your website files are stored and from where a web browser fetches and displays a website.

  • ISP

Internet Service Provider. ISPs such as M-Web, Telkom or Vodacom give the user access to the internet and provide an ADSL or 3G connection. You still need an ISP once you’ve signed up for a popWeb website as popWeb is not an ISP.

  • Navigation Link / Menu

Navigation links are the page-names you see across the top of the website or down the side. When you click on one of them the browser will load the page that it is linked to. Typical navigation links include “About us”, “Contact us”, “Products”, “Services” or “Image Gallery”.

  • Contact form

Your Contact page can have your contact details such as phone number and address displayed, as well as a contact form. On the contact form info such as “name”, “mobile number” and “email address” is filled in by the user and it then sends you an email with their message and contact details.

  • Social Media

Social Media refers to sites like Facebook, Linked In, Instagram, Twitter, etc. These sites allow users to share news, photographs, links, business contacts, events, etc. If you have a Facebook page for your business or a Twitter account we can add linked icons to them on your website.

  • Header and Footer

The Header is the top part of the website that has your logo and company name on it. The Footer is at the bottom of the website and has the copyright and other small print.

  • Content Management/Content Update

This is the monthly update of your website content, included in the popWeb service offering. See our FAQs for details on how to send us your changes.

  • Blog

A blog is like having an online journal for your business where you can write and publish articles about your field of interest. Readers of your blog can comment on your article (known as a “post”) and you can moderate (check and edit) and reply to those comments. All comments are visible to readers of your blog. You can have a blog instead of a website (also at your own domain), or you can make a separate blog and link to it via your popWeb site. We will custom design your blog to suit the identity of your business or personality. See our packages to see which ones allow for a blog.

  • PDF upload/download

If you have a document that contains lots of information like a Resume, restaurant menu, or Price List, you can save it as a PDF file and make that available on the website for users to Download to their computers or phones. We UPLOAD the file to the website. We then create a link that says “Download Price List”. When the user clicks on it, the document will be DOWNLOADED to their device where they can read it or save it.

  • JPEG

JPEG (also known as JPG) Is one of the types of images (pictures) used on websites that can be displayed by a browser. For example: “PhotoOfCat.jpg” Most images on websites are in the JPG format.

  • Responsive

Over half of websites that are browsed today are being viewed on mobile devices. A Responsive website is one which recognises the size of the phone or tablet screen and adjusts the items on the page to fit. This makes it easy to navigate the site, view images and read the text without having to pinch-zoom.

  • Search Engine (visible vs high-ranking)

A Search Engine allows us to search for things on the internet. The most commonly used Search Engine is GOOGLE. All popWeb sites are constructed so that they are visible and readable to search engines. You can increase your visibility by including words in your text that people would use to find you. These are called “keywords”.  For example, if you are an interior designer in Cape Town, include keywords like “curtains, interiors, fabric, décor, cape town, furniture, upholstery” in your Home and About pages. Search Engines like GOOGLE will “rank” your page. A higher ranking means you will be on page 1 – 5 of someone’s Google search. Rankings increase with, among other things, relevant incoming links to your site, so get other companies and websites to link to yours and you will improve your chances of people finding your site via search engines.

  • SEO

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a carefully crafted range of methods to improve your Google Ranking, and can be done for an additional charge. The most important of these methods is the creation of high quality, relevant text and image content that contains all the keywords that users will search for. There are many ways to improve your google ranking and we can help to achieve that.  Contact us for more information on SEO.

  • e-Commerce

e-Commerce is a term used to describe an online shop. If you would like to sell your products online with credit card or EFT payments, an e-commerce solution is needed.  Each product has its own page with images, description, price and options for variations like Colour, Size, etc.  e-Commerce is available with the popWeb Premium package.