Understanding website development and the terminology behind it can be very difficult, but hopefully the definitions we've provided below will begin to bring a bit of clarity to your confusion.

If you're a techno-geek, you may want to argue that our definitions are over-simplifed, but we believe these explanations are good enough to clear away the fog for all of the non-techies in our lives.  For the definitive answer on any of these topics there is always Wikipedia.

• SEO
  The term "SEO" stands for Search Engine Optimization.  SEO is the process of improving the quality of your site to increase your ranking within search engines such as Google.  There are many ways you can refine the Search Engine Optimization, such as improving your website's coding and adding high quality content.
• CMS
  CMS stands for Content Management System.  There are many content management systems, but the core function of every CMS is the ability to add, edit and delete content without special software and without being a programmer.  A good CMS can be styled to look like anything and has features like a blog, forums and podcasting.
• Website design
  Often used interchangably with website development, we consider "website design" to be the asethetic and usability-focused part of creating a website — the look, the feel, the layout of content and the user experience.
• Website development
  Often used interchangably with website design, we consider "website development" to be the process of creating a functional website.  This includes all of the behind-the-scenes programming that makes your site work properly.
  
• Encryption
  Without Encryption, a hacker may be able to see all of the information sent between your personal computer and a website that you are using.  Encryption is a tool that locks the information before it is sent from  your computer to the website — your computer and the website are the only ones with the key to unlock the information.  You'll know that you are connected to an encrypted page on a website when you see the "lock" icon on the bottom or top of your browser window.  Encryption is required whenver you are transmitting sensitive information, such as making an online payment.
  
• SSL Certificate
  SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer.  This is the tool used to create an encrypted connection between your personal computer and the website.  There are different kinds of SSL Certificates with varying levels of protection and verification.  SSL Certificates must be purchased and renewed each year.
• php, html, css, xml, javascript
  All of the above are types of code used when creating websites.  
  • PHP and JavaScript are functional — they do stuff.  
  • XML is a format for transmitting information in a universal way, such as RSS feeds.
  • HTML is for structurally displaying information.
  • CSS is a design language — it makes everything look pretty.
• RSS or "feed"
  It is common for the contents of a blog or a podcast to be published on a web page and in an RSS feed. The feed is a simple text file that can be downloaded and read by other programs like a feed reader or iTunes for podcasting.  Publishing an RSS feed helps notify users when you have published new content and enables them to share that content with others.
• Lightbox
  A lightbox often refers to a pop-in window that can be used to display galleries, videos or other webpages.  A lightbox is less intrusive than a pop-up window and is not blocked by pop-up blockers.
  
• Browser
  A browser is a program on your computer that allows you to view web pages from the Internet.  There are many browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.  Older browsers often display web pages improperly.
• (Credit card) Payment Gateway
  Websites that have a shopping cart require a payment gateway such as authorize.net, Google checkout or PayPal in order to accept credit cards. 
• Accessibility
  A website that is considered "accessible" can be used easily by individuals with disabilities, such as a vision impairment.
• Usability
  The usability of a website refers to how easy the site is for new users to navigate and find the information that is important to them.
• Database
  Interactive websites store data such as page text, preferences, and user names in a database.  The database is like a giant spreadsheet with many different tables.
• (Google) Analytics
  There are many tools for tracking visitors who come to your site, one of which is Google Analytics. These tools record information about every visitor on your site, including what site they came from, what pages they visited, and how long they visited each page.
• Bandwidth
  Bandwidth is the volume of information that is transferred from one computer to another. For example, a website may be allowed to use 200 gigabytes of bandwidth per month.
• Server
  When you visit a web page, your computer requests the contents of that page from a "server."  A server is a computer that holds the contents of a website and sends it to whomever requests those pages.
• Cookie
  A cookie is a small file stored in your browser that helps websites keep track of things like preferences. For example, a cookie will remember your volume setting on a video player or to skip an advertisement you've already seen.
• Internet vs. Intranet
  Internet is the big network open to everyone. Your personal or business Intra-net is a network of computers or a website that can only be accessed by you and your employees.  Often, access of an Intranet is limited to a specific location — like within your business.
• Open source
  Any intellectual property such as art, music or software can be licensed as "open source." This means that it is free to use, free to share and free to make money from!  Open source often requires you to share any improvements or changes with the community or the original creator.  You are also often required to give attribution where necessary.
• Hosting
  Hosting is the service of "serving" (see "Server" above) your website.  The hosting service often includes, hosting your website and your email, as well as regular maintenance and updating of the server computer to ensure that your website always stays online.
• Domain name
  A domain name is the ".com" or ".org" name that you choose for your website to be accessed from.  For example, "google.com" and "variantstudios.com" are both domain names.  Your domain name may also be used for your email addresses such as "info@variantstudios.com."  Domains must be purchased from a domain name provider and must be renewed each year.
• URL
  URL stands for Universal Resource Locator, but that's not important to remember.  What is important is that a URL is the address or location of a page on the Internet.  A URL such as "www.google.com/maps" has 3 components:
  • "www" is the subdomain
  • "google.com" is the domain name
  • "/maps" is the page
• IP address
  An IP address is to computers on the Internet what a physical address is to a house on the street.  When your computer is connected to a network or accesses the Internet, it is assigned an IP address.  Websites also have IP addresses, but they are masked by the domain name (see Domain Name above).  To access Google.com you could type into your browser's address bar "http://www.google.com" or, if you knew the IP address, you could type "http://74.125.19.104/".  Google.com is much easier to remember, so most people stick with that.
• GIF / JPEG / PNG
  GIF, JPEG (JPG) and PNG are types of image formats.  They can be identified by the extension on an image file such as "my_photo.jpg" or "background_image.gif."  There are many other types of image formats such as TIFF, RAW and BMP, but GIF, JPEG (JPG) and PNG are the most common formats used on the Internet because of their ability to reproduce high-quality images with relatively small file sizes.
• Flash
  Flash is a plug-in created by Adobe that is a very powerful tool for adding multimedia such as animation, video or audio to websites. Sometimes it is used to create entire interactive websites.  A very high percentage of all multimedia presented online is done using the Adobe Flash player plug-in.
• POP 3 vs IMAP
  Mobile devices and desktop applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Eudora, Mac Mail or Thunderbird use the communication protocols POP 3 or IMAP to connect to your email server to download and send messages.  Both are fairly common, but the advantage of using IMAP is that it allows your messages to stay syncronized in every place that you access your email.  If you send and receive messages on your Blackberry, you will be able to see those messages and the history of those messages on your desktop computer as well.
  Accessing your email using web-based email such as Gmail (http://www.gmail.com) or Hotmail (http://www.hotmail.com) does use either of these email communication protocols.