Do you Know these Common Blogging Terms
If you’re new to blogging, you’ll discover a whole myriad of new blogging terms to learn, but what do they really mean?
I’ve put together a definitive list of common blogging terms so you know what’s what in the blogosphere. It’s the blogging glossary to end your confusion.
Plus, it’ll help me to refer you back to this page if I get a little too technical.
I expect these terms to be updated periodically, so make sure you bookmark this page. (Last updated 2015)
COMMON BLOGGING TERMS
A
Above the fold
Content on a blog that appears without scrolling down in the open window. This content is the most valuable on a blog page.
A/B Testing
Testing of two pieces of copywriting or images to determine which is the most popular
Affiliate
A person who is connected to another larger merchant
Affiliate Link
A URL that connects an affiliate with a merchant and contains traffic tracking codes
Affiliate Marketing
Performance based marketing where the affiliate is rewarded for sales made by the merchant
Akismet
A popular anti-SPAM tool used by WordPress bloggers
A-List
A list of bloggers that receives more traffic and attention than the rest of the blogosphere. Typically these blogger spend more time in the spotlight.
Alt Text
This is the image text that replaces an image it doesn’t render properly. Important for site accessibility.
Anchor Text
Text used as a replacement for an actual URL. This presents a more readable format to the audience.
Article
A blog post is often referred to as an article
Author
A person that writes a blog post
Avatar
A photo of image that represents the owner across the Internet.
B
Backlinks
Links that point from one website to another
Back-end
Often referred to as the behind the scenes administration panel
Backup
To save data externally as a method of protecting the work that has already been done. (see Restore)
Badge
A badge is a way for bloggers to link between each others blogs. This could also be referred to as a button and is typically 125 x 125 pixels.
Banner
An advertising panel, usually for at the top of a website.
Bandwidth
Often used in relation to the amount of traffic or data flowing to and from a website
Bing
A search engine maintained by Microsoft
Bit.ly
A web shortening service that allow to shorten lengthy URL’s
Blackhat
Method’s of improving a website’s ranking using deceptive tactics
Blog
A regularly updated website or web page, typically run by an individual or small group of people, that is written in an informal or conversational style
Blogger
The person who writes on a blog. Google also has a blogging Platform called Blogger
Blogies
Popular yearly blog awards
Blogosphere
The collective community of Bloggers found on the Internet
Blogroll
A bloggers list of other blogs that they read and or follow. No longer popular
Bookmark
A tool to save a website URL for later viewing
Bounce Rate
The percentage of people that arrive and leave a website without visiting more than one page
Button
(See badge)
C
Captcha
An acronym for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”. Captchas are often distorted word and letter verification images that are used to determine if the visitors are human and not an automated bot.
Carnival
(See link party)
Category
A way to group posts into topics
Click-Through rate
The percentage of clicks an advertisement receives calculated against the views the advertisement recieves
Cloaked Links
A simple way to shorten and rename a long affiliate URL. (See Pretty Link)
Comments
Feedback provided by the readers of a blog
Conversion Rate
The percentage of visitors that convert or follow a given action calculated against the views that page receives
Cookie
A small text file that resides on the computer of someone who has visited a website. Often used to tailor the information specifically to that user.
cPanel
A common web interface used to maintain a self-hosted blog.
CPC (Cost per Click)
The actual price you pay for a click in a PPC campaign (see PPC)
CPM (Cost per Mille)
The amount per one thousand views you earned from display advertising
Creative Commons
A non-profit organisation that released legal copyright licenses that can be used to distribute electronic media freely
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
A term to describe how HTML element are displayed on a screen
D
Directory
A catalog of blogs grouping them either by ranking or category
DoFollow
A signal to a search engine to follow this link
E
Email Marketing
A form of direct marketing that uses an email list to sell goods or services
Embed
To place content from one site onto you web page
Evergreen Content
Content which remains relevant despite it’s age
F
Favicon
The small image that appears in a browser tab. This term was derived from ‘favourite’s icon’
Flat design
A web design that only uses two-dimensional images
Feed
Typically an abbreviated form of content from a website (see RSS Feed)
G
Gravatar
A global avatar image associated to an email address
Ghost Writer
Someone who writes anonymously on behalf of a blogger
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
An image file format
H
Hashtag
A method of tagging a post specific to a topic (symbol #)
HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)
A language that is used to build websites.
I
IP Address
A unique string of numbers that identifies a device on the Internet.
J
JavaScript
A language used to enhance websites and to make them interactive
JPEG (Joint Photographic Expert’s Group)
An image file format
K
Keywords
A word or phrase of great significance within a blog post
Keyword Research
Actively finding the words or phrases that people are using in everyday web search
L
Landing Page
A customised page used to improve traffic conversions. Usually, this page has the navigation menu removed (see Squeeze Page)
Lead Magnet
An irresistible piece of content offered to a potential customer in exchange for their contact information.
Link Bait
Headline created to gain the attention of the passing web traffic. Not always relevant to the contents.
Link Party
When a popular blog hosts an event in which other bloggers are invited to post a link to feature their blog (see Carnival)
Long Tail
A large number of search phrases that can’t be considered as common search terms.
Lurker
Someone who regularly reads blog posts, but never leaves comments.
M
Media Kit
A collection of documents, images and references supplied by a blogger with the intent of attraction media exposure
MEME
A cultural concept or idea that spreads quickly throughout the Internet, often with subtle changes.
Micro Blog
A blog with very short content. (see Twitter)
N
Newsletter
An e-mail communication that is used to inform the subscribers that new content has been published.
Niche
A specific market subset.
NoFollow
A signal to a search engine to not follow this link.
O
Organic Traffic
Free web traffic that is sent from search engine results.
Open Rate
The percentage of people that open your emails.
P
Page
A static piece of content on a blog.
PageRank
An old term used by Google to determine the importance of a website.
Permalink
A permanent link to a specific piece of content.
Plugin
A feature that improves the functionality of your blog
Post
An article on a blog.
Q
Quora
A popular Q&A website that allows you to follow by a particular topic.
R
Rate Card
A document that outlines the pricing structure for advertising on your website or blog.
Responsive Design
A theme or template that can change according to the screen size it is viewed on.
Robots.txt
A file on your web server that gives instructions to web crawlers such as GoogleBot.
RSS Feed
An abbreviated form of content from a website (see Feed).
S
Self-Hosted Blog
A blog that is owned and run by the owner typically using external servers.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Techniques to improve the visibility of a website within search results.
SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
The data returned from a search engine after a successful search is conducted.
Split Testing
(See A/B testing)
Shortcode
An abbreviated code used to embed content, files or objects into a blog post or page.
Sponsored Post
A blog post that is paid for by a third party. Often this post is written specifically to promote the third parties goods or services.
Subscriber
A person that has chosen to receive regular updates from a blog
T
Tag
A word or phrase that groups a blog post in a sub-category.
Tagline
A short phrase describing your blog.
Trackback
A method of notifying a blogger that someone has linked to them.
A micro-blogging platform.
U
Useability
The ease of use and learnability of a website
URL (uniform Resource Locator)
The full English address that identifies an exact location on the Internet.
URL Shortener
(see bit.ly)
V
Viral
Content that is popular and is shared expotentially.
Vlog
A video blog
W
Web Crawler
An Internet bot which systematically browses the World Wide Web for the purposes of search indeaxtion.
Weblog
A web log (see Blog)
Widget
A small application with limited functionality usually placed in a blog’s sidebar, footer or header.
Whitehat
Method’s of improving a website’s ranking using approved tactics
X
XML (Extensible Markup Language)
A language used to transport data between websites.
Y
Youtube
A Google owned video sharing platform
Z
Zee
The last letter of the alphabet ;-P
Now, you know your ABC’s next time won’t you share for me 🙂 Please comment below if I’ve missed any common blogging terms you want to the definition of.
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