When it comes to building a website, the first step to familiarize yourself with the process is to understanding the terminology involved. There are a number of terns that are used quite frequently online and it is important that you understand what these are so that your can build your website on knowledge and understanding.
Understanding Website Terminology – Website explained
As surprising as it may be to some, there are website owners who do not fully comprehend what a website actually is. Essentially a website is a collection of pages made up into a so-called folder. This folder has its place on the web server and is identifiable through its domain name. In order for these pages to be loaded properly on the web server you to need to first have a web hosting account while using an application such as WordPress to create your pages directly onto the server. Editing your pages when using WordPress for example, will occur directly where they are located on the web server. If your pages were loaded using HTML/PHP templates instead then you will require software in the form of web page editors such as FrontPage as an example,, although there are a variety of such programs available.
Understanding Website Terminology – Domain name explained
Your domain name is what makes your website identifiable. It is essentially your website’s address. However, you can use your domain name to also link to another website.
Understanding Website Terminology – Web server explained
A web server is simple a machine designed for holding web pages. This machine is a physical entity and is always connected to the Internet in order to carry out id basic function. A web server can either host one website or a number of websites. A web server that will carry just one website is usually the case for big companies or large corporations. Smaller companies will share a web sever with other companies, In these cases, this is termed shared hosting – this is the most commonly used form of website hosting.
Understanding Website Terminology – Web pages explained
Web pages is what will make up your website. Web pages are the essential elements to building a website. There are various ways to build these pages, either using more specialized tool or using more common text editing tools such as Notepad. This is where HTML fits in. Web pages are laid out using hypertext markup language – which is a specialized language for building and structuring web pages. A computer’s browser, such as Internet Explore, then reads these HTML web pages.
Understanding Website Terminology – Links or hyperlinks
Links or hyperlinks are references found on any one web page to another web page or article – similar to how a book will contain references to other books and information – this will follow the same principle. The address for these web pages is shown as hyperlinks which are usually underlined.
Understanding Website Terminology – Home page explained
The home page of a website is almost like the contents page of a book. It is the first page you will access when coming across a website. A home page will usually summarize what the website is all about and will help users navigate through to the various other pages.
These are some of the more common terms used. We hope by outlining some of these your understanding of website terminology has improved. Once your understanding unfolds and yo become involved within the world of websites, these terms will become second nature.