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What is HTML, cache and SEO? What are cookies and how do algorithms work? Digital language explained

Tech speak can give us all a headache sometimes. Every day in the digital age, it seems we have a new phrase to contend with that describes the intricate workings of a website.

How can we be expected to maximise our online presence if we don’t understand the terms being thrown around?

Future London is on a mission to get Londoners skilled up in the digital world - starting with breaking the jargon and explaining the basics.

Here is a list of 10 terms you really need to understand in order to get to grips with the online world:

SEO

SEO stands for search engine optimisation, which is the way in which websites increase visitors by making sure their content stands out in search engines.

Much of this is done through including certain words and phrases in the website’s content that could be popular searches on search engines.

Engagement

User engagement in the context of the web refers to how many people have ‘engaged’ with your content, whether that is on a website or a social media post.

Another word for engagement could be interaction – describing people who have somehow responded to your content (which could mean as little as clicking on it).

Traffic

Web traffic explains how many people have visited a website, which is transferred by data that is sent when a person visits a site.

Traffic is measured in visits rather than visitors – so one person who clicked on a website five times would count for five visits.

HTML

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language, which is one of the main languages in which websites are built.

It involves typing words and symbols in certain orders that will create pages containing text and images.

Cookies

Every time you visit a website, your computer will download cookies from that site. These cookies are then saved on the computer.

If you visit a website for a second time, the site will recognise from your computer’s cookies that you have been there before. It may then tailor some of its content to suit you.

Digital asset

These assets are essentially anything that exists online that you have the right to use. This includes photos and other images, sound recordings and videos.

More simply, word documents and websites themselves are considered digital assets.

Cache

Web browsers can often be described as “cached.” This refers to how the browser stores information from websites which can be accessed more quickly later on.

Web browsers most commonly cache HTML codes and other codes, as well as images.

Computer aided design (CAD)

Computer-aided design is the way in which computer software is used to help design and build things.

It is often used to increase precision and accuracy of designs – and is often paired with computer-aided manufacture (CAM).

Algorithm

Algorithms are a set of mathematical specifications or rules that must be followed in order by calculations to solve a problem.

They are used by search engines, which take the words and phrases typed into the search bar as its input, searches its database and then returns its results.

PPC - pay per click

This is an online business model centred around the number of clicks a certain piece of content has attracted.

For example, a company that has placed an online advert on a website will monitor the number of clicks that advert has had in order to determine how much money it will pay to the website.