Is your Internet marketer or web designer using confusing acronyms or buzzwords? Sometimes we web professionals can have a language of our own!

Here’s your translation dictionary so that you can understand what the hell all of these techies are talking about.

404 Error

An error that means that a given web page cannot be found.

Accessibility

Building your web site so that users with physical impairments can still use your web site. For example, certain ways of building your web site makes it difficult or impossible for a blind user to use your site. A blind user relies on a special type of browser, called a screen reader, that reads your web content aloud.

AdSense

An advertising program run by Google where you can place “Ads by Google” on your own site. You get paid by Google each time a user clicks on an AdSense ad on your site.

AdWords

Google’s advertising program. If you want for your ads to appear in the “Sponsored Links” on Google Search or in the “Ads by Google” section of a web site, this is where you do it.

AJAX

A method used in JavaScript to allow users to exchange data with your web site without having to wait for a full page refresh.

ASP

A server-side programming language distributed by Microsoft. ASP is no longer supported by Microsoft, who now supports .NET instead.

Banner Ad

A graphical ad placed on a web site. (See MSN for examples.) Banner ads are generally good for building awareness, but not necessarily for driving sales.

Client-side

Any technology that runs directly on the user’s browser. Typical client-side technologies are JavaScript and Flash.

Closed Source

Software whose code is not freely available. Most closed source software is sold for profit.

ColdFusion

A server-side technology by Adobe that allows you to write web applications. ColdFusion is known as a fast way to develop web applications.

Content Management System

These systems usually allow for you to update your own web content without much intervention from your web designer.

Cookie

A small piece of text that is sent by your web site to the user’s browser so that the web site can remember information about the user between page loads.

CSS

A language used to describe how your web site looks. CSS can be used to describe fonts, text size, positioning of elements on the page, how to print the web page, and even how fast a screen reader should read certain text.

Domain Name

The address to get to your web site. An example of a domain name is ebay.com.

Developer

A person who builds the technical aspect of web sites but isn’t necessarily very good at design. In short, a programmer.

Flex

A technology used to create applications that run in the Flash Player.

HTML

Simple code used to format text, graphics, and video in your web browser.

IE

Stands for Internet Explorer, the most popular browser on Windows.

Information Architecture

The discipline of researching how to best organize the information you have available on your web site.

Java

A client- and server-side programming language developed by Sun Microsystems (although typically used on the server-side). This allows for you to write web applications and other applications that can be installed on any computer.

JavaScript

A client-side programming language used to add “behavior” to web pages. If you want to animate something on your page, or if you want your tabs to load content without loading a whole new web page, JavaScript can handle this.

Meta Tags

Content put into your HTML that describes your web pages. These are usually not seen by your sites users, but rather the search engine spiders.

.NET

A client- and server-side technology developed by Microsoft. This technology allows for the use of dozens of different programming languages to write web applications. You can also use it to write other applications that can be installed on your Windows computer.

Open Source

An application whose code is freely available to anyone. Most open source software is built by a community of volunteers who have never even met each other face to face.

PageRank

Google’s patented “score” on how important your web pages are.

PHP

An open source programming language used to write server-side web applications.

PPC

Short for “pay per click,” or any form of online advertising that doesn’t charge you for advertising unless users actually click on your ads.

RIA

Short for “rich Internet application.” A RIA is an application that runs in your web browser but behaves more like programs you have installed on your computer. RIAs are typically built using AJAX or Flash.

Ruby on Rails

A method of programming using a programming language called Ruby. Ruby on Rails is known to be a fast way to develop web applications.

RSS Feed

A file published on your site that lets users be notified of updates to your site’s content. A user “subscribes” to your RSS feed using a program called a “feed reader.” Note that because RSS is a use of XML, it makes it easy for other web sites or computers to know when your site is updated.

SEO

Short for “search engine optimization,” a combination of tactics used to increase your site’s chances of ranking higher in search engines like Google and Yahoo!.

SERP

Acronym for “Search Engine Results Page.” An example is the page you get after you type in a Google search.

Server-side

Any technology that processes data on your web site’s server. These technologies normally do database transactions and send HTML, JavaScript, and Flash to the user’s browser.

Spider

A program that reads web pages and collects content for use in search engines. A spider is able to follow most links to other web pages, even on other web sites. This is primarily how search engines like Google find new web sites and new web pages.

URL

A given web page or document’s address. An example of a URL is www.clearcrystalmedia.com/gc/.

Usability Test

A test run with actual users that are interested in your web site or web application. Don’t confuse this with a focus group. The best way to run the test is with a single user at a time, asking them to perform a set of tasks without giving any directions on how to do them.

Web 2.0

Also known as the “Social Web.” This describes any activity on your web site that allows for socialization and collaboration amongst your users.

Web Service

A technology that allows 2 computers (typically servers) to exchange data with each other. For example, if you wanted for your web site to show Amazon’s products directly on your web site, you would have your web site use Amazon’s web service.

Wiki

A web site whose content is directly editable by users.

XML

Much like HTML, it’s simple code used to format text. Think of it as a document format like Word format, only to be “read” by computer programs instead of humans.