A Journey Through The "Web Hosting Jargon" Jungle

Your web hosting provider is your best source of information when you are having trouble understanding or using ecommerce terminology.

The traditional business environment has undergone drastic changes in the past decade.  Ecommerce has become a fact of life for businesses looking to grow market share in today’s fiercely competitive and constantly changing landscape. The internet allows people to reduce both the time and personnel required to complete transactions.

At its basic level, ecommerce is simply buying and selling goods, services or information on the internet.  The terminology that accompanies this “simple” way of doing business, however, leaves many ecommerce owners baffled, confused and discouraged. The jargon jungle can be enough to scare even the most savvy internet user into limiting or even eliminating their online presence. Neither of those options is viable because conducting business online has morphed moved from “value-added” to “must-have.”

The web hosting jargon jungle is complicated, but not impossible to navigate. All you need is a little information and a basic understanding of some of the frequently used ecommerce terms.

Keep the following list handy until you are comfortable with the terminology that inevitably accompanies online business.  It’s easy once you get the hang of it.

• Blog: This is an easy-to-use web-based content management system. The activity of updating a blog is called “blogging.” Blog readers typically have the ability to comment on what you have written and have those comments appear on your site.
• Auto responder: This is an automated program that acknowledges receipt of email messages then sends back a previously prepared email to the sender, letting them know that their message was received.
• Banner: An online advertisement in the form of a graphic image on a web page that links to a location of the advertiser’s choice.
• File transfer protocol (FTP): This is a way of transferring files across the internet. Most websites are uploaded to the internet via by means of an FTP program.
• Meta Tag: These are commands in the HTML code, residing in the header, that instruct the browser or search engines to perform specific tasks, identify keywords, site definitions, etc. These tags are not visible to site visitors.
• B2B: Business to business: The exchange of goods and services between businesses
• B2C: Business to consumer: The exchange of goods and services with the end consumer being the target market.
• Cookies: Small text files stored on your computer when visiting a site that record the preference for that particular site’s usage. Cookies are also common in shopping cart applications in order to remember visitors as they move throughout product pages. 
• CRM (Customer Relationship Management) The entire process of a pre-sales, sales and service relationship with a customer. Many software applications are now available that permit you to record this relationship from the time clients ask their first question. Good CRM software is much more efficient than fragmented records as it can save time in tracking communication and transactions with a particular person.
• Encryption: Process of transforming data into a form that prevents casual observers from deciphering.
• Etailing: These are mainly “virtual storefronts” which act as a catalogue of products of merchants and usually include a “shopping cart” system to enable consumers to purchase online with the use of credit cards.
• Firewall: Software/hardware used to prevent unauthorized access from a computer system or network of computer systems.
• Merchant account: A special account where money from credit card sales is first routed and held before transfer to your own business account. This process is usually fully automated in ecommerce transactions. Money may be transferred into your standard business account in real time or during various points in a 24 hour period. A merchant account is a crucial part of ecommerce.
• Shareware: Software that is distributed at no cost that can be used for free for a specific period of time or under certain circumstances that allow evaluation.

As always, your web hosting provider is your best source of information when you are having trouble understanding or using ecommerce terminology. Your host is proficient in “webspeak” and capable of unraveling even the most baffling terms. Your web host can guide you on a safari through the jargon jungle that allows you to come out on the other side communicating like a seasoned ecommerce executive.