The act of moving information from one location to another within a Web site, or to or from a server. Transfers can include sending profile information, downloading content or doing an FTP transfer.

The process by which data is moved from an outside source into a computer source, whether by manual entry, optical character recognition, imaging, scanning, recording or other means.

A collection of files serving different purposes, used in analyzing Web site data. Datasets keep data separated by site, make imported log files part of the dataset so old logs never need to be imported, retain a complete historical record for the Web site and save settings and analysis parameters.

To process an encoded message into its original format so that it once again can be viewed. Your email client will automatically decode attachments.

A demographic is a statistical characteristic of a human population (such as name, age, zip code or income) that can be used to segment mailings for specific targets.

Descriptive text summarizing a Web page and displayed with the page title and URL when the page appears as the result of a user query on a search engine or directory. Some search engines use the description in the description meta tag, others generate their own description from text on the page. Directories often use text provided at registration.

A meta tag that allows the author to control the text of the summary displayed when the page appears in search engine results. Some search engines respond to this information, others ignore it.

A server or a collection of servers dedicated to indexing Internet Web pages, returning lists of pages matching user queries. Directories use human editors to review and categorize sites for acceptance and are compiled manually by user submission (examples: Yahoo!, LookSmart).

A site within a Web site open to communication among site visitors, using a system of threaded discussion topics. The forum can be moderated, with comments appearing only after approval by an authorized site user, or unmoderated.

A computer used to look up domain names to find their IP addresses.

An item of information that users want to retrieve. It could be a text file, a Web page, a newsgroup posting, a picture, etc.

A sub-set of Internet addresses. Domains are hierarchical, lower-level domains often refer to specific Web sites within a top-level domain. The distinguishing part of the address appears at the end. Example of top-level domains: .com, .edu, .gov, .org (subdividing addresses into areas of use). There are also numerous geographic top-level domains: .ar, .ca, .fr, .ro (referring to specific countries).

A unique address identifying a site on the Internet. The domain name follows the "@" symbol in an email address and is followed by ".com," ".net," ".org" or other designations. Example: Lyris.com.

The way domain names are translated into TCP/IP addresses.

A Web page submitted to individual search engine spiders to meet specific relevancy algorithms. The doorway page presents information to the spider while obscuring it from human viewers. The purpose of doorway pages is to present the spider with the format it needs for optimum rankings while presenting a more appropriate version to human viewers. It's also a way for Webmasters to avoid publicly disclosing placement tactics. The use of doorway pages customizes submission to each individual search engine. Also known as gateway pages, bridge pages, entry pages, portals or portal pages.

A list that requires members to confirm their membership before being added to the list.

A formal standard for the description of metadata elements.

Web page content that changes or is changed automatically based on database content or user information. You can usually spot dynamic sites when the URL ends with .asp, .cfm, .cgi or .shtml, but it's also possible to serve dynamic content with standard static pages (.htm or .html). Many search engines index dynamic content, but some don't if there's a "?" character in the URL.

A site map scripted to allow the user to expand or collapse categories within the navigation map.