We try to cut through the jargon, but sometimes it just has to be used.
Here's some of the phrases you will hear and an explanation of what they mean.
Admin
This is the site administrator, the person who logs into the Admin Centre to set the site up, add content and products and so on i.e. YOU or people who you set up as fellow admins.
Affiliate Marketing
Allowing 3rd parties to market your products and rewarding them with a small commission for resulting sales.
Alternative Products
Alternative products you wish to show with the main product as part of up-selling to your visitors and increasing your order value. For example, if you sell a 20 megapixel canera then you would show 30 and 40 megapixel cameras etc as associated products to encourage the visitor to trade up to a better product.
Analytics
Widely used to refer to Google Analytics, this is the analytical data you need to be able to record visits to your site and how people interact with it. It is highly recommended that you install Google Analytics on your site and familiarise yourself with it's features.
API
This is the interface by which data can be shared between applications. We have an API system built into REC and we use this to create custom applications which are outside of the standard system.
Associated Products
Complementary products you wish to show with the main product as part of cross-selling to your visitors and increasing your order value. For example, if you sell laptops then you would show laptop cases, memory upgrades etc as associated products.
Cross Sell
Showing extra add-ons that visitors can buy using the Associated Products feature.
CMS
Content Management System. This lets you add content to web pages via the Admin Centre.
Conversion Rate
This is the percentage ratio of purchases / visits to your site. The industry average for the UK is around 1%.
DNS
These are IP address settings for your domain name which tell it where to look for your website content and email.
Domain Authority
This is a number between 1 and 100 which denotes the SEO and marketing strength of your website.
Drop Shipping
Drop Shipping allows you to sell products which are fulfilled directly by the supplier, without you ever needing to purchase or hold the stock yourself. This improves your cash flow position but you usually receive lower margins.
Google Merchant Centre
This is a paid facility where you can upload your products into the Google Shopping channel and advertise them via Adwords Product Listing Ads (PLA's).
Guest Registration
This is when someone buys a product without signing up to become a regular user nor to receive newsletters.
IP Address
This is an address on the web where web content is stored and to which domain names normally point in their DNS settings, for example 41.20.1.154.
PPC
Pay Per Click means paying to advertise your website on the web using tools like Google Adwords typically.
ROI
Return On Investment is the percentage ratio of sales gained for money spent getting them. This is used to measure which forms of marketing give the most value.
SERP's
Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are the pages displayed by search engines when you type into their search facility. Typically, the higher up you are in these results the more traffic you receive to your site. You need to formulate a researched internet marketing strategy to achieve good rankings in search engines and across social media.
SEO
Search Engine Optimisation means presenting your data and content to search engines so it is easy to index and has the right words and phrases to attract visitors searching for those terms.
Sitemap
A list of all of the content and products on your site set out in a structured search engine friendly way.
SSL
Use SSL certificates to encode data transmitted from your site across the web during the checkout process and provide the familiar padlock symbol so visitors understand your site is secure. When using SSL pages the URL changes to begin with https rather than the normal http you see on regular web pages.
Superadmin
This refers to us when we log in as an admin to your system for support purposes.
Upsell
Showing higher specification products that users can trade up to using the Alternative Products feature.
URL
This is the address by which you are found on the internet. Usually it is your domain name (e.g. www.mycompany.com), but it can also be an IP address (e.g. 41.20.1.154) if you are building a new site and haven't yet made your domain live.
User
A visitor to the website who signs up to the site to buy products, receive newsletters and so on. Users are stored in the database.
Visitor
A person who visits your website but doesn't sign up to or buy anything.
Webmaster Central
Google's Webmaster Central facility contains useful information about how Google crawls your site and reports any errors or problems it sees. You validate and "claim" your site with Google to use this service.