1. No category

Web Site Creation and
Maintenance
A Quick Start Guide for Avaya BusinessPartners
+ Plan
Use this guide to successfully
represent the “face” of your
company.
+ Execute
Follow steps to increase
traffic to your Web site.
Visit Avaya Partner Marketing Central at https://pmc.avaya.com
for more Quick Start Guides and additional resources.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Introduction
Web sites are a crucial part of any company’s marketing and sales efforts. A professional Web site
accurately represents your brand, encourages customer engagement, and works around the clock as an
always-on resource for customers in every stage of the purchase process. In other words, a Web site is
the face of your company when customers want to engage you on their own time. Therefore, it should do
everything you would do in person to drive traffic and sales, including:
++ Provide the best and most current way(s) to reach you directly (address, phone, e-mail, directions, etc.).
++ Explain your business simply and accurately on the home page (like your “elevator pitch” to a new prospect).
++ Give current and thorough details about the products, solutions and services you offer that make your
customers’ lives easier.
++ Show your skills and thought leadership through examples of your work, testimonials of previous
customers, or by inviting visitors to see for themselves (for example, inviting visitors to attend an
upcoming webinar presented by you/your company). Focus on content that will generate leads from those
who have found you because you offer what they need.
++ Be engaging. A good mix of content means more than just text pages. It’s easier than ever to create and
upload video (for example, tutorials), audio (podcasts), PDF documents (reports, articles, etc.) and more
to your Web site and social media profiles.
++ Collect contact and related information from those visitors interested in your products and services.
Capturing this information in a database is a powerful way for you to execute additional marketing
touches outside of your Web site to stimulate demand.
++ Connect with customers in social media environments like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. and keep your
social media profiles current.
Navigate the Quick Start Guide:
Introduction
Understand
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
Consider
Analyze
2
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Introduction
Luckily, creating and maintaining a persuasive Web site doesn’t require you to master the intricacies
of programming or to add Web site traffic analysis to your list of daily tasks. Instead, it begins with
defining your brand and then designing and building an online experience to reflect that brand from your
customer’s point of view. With some upfront work and the right partner, you can create and maintain a
Web site that can become an integral part of your sales cycle.
While this Quick Start Guide will take you through Web site creation and maintenance, we encourage you
complete the Avaya guide “How to write an Effective Marketing Plan” first to be sure that any investment
in your Web site is part of a larger sales-driving effort. When you’re ready, this guide will help you:
Understand
Understand the approach and process of building and maintaining a Web site,
whether you manage it internally or hire a professional partner.
Consider
Consider how a Web site fits into your marketing mix and advances your objectives.
Familiarize
Familiarize yourself with the concept of Web site analytics so that you can analyze
your traffic and improve your Web site’s performance.
Engage
Engage your customers on your Web site, with rich, varied content, as a part of
your cohesive plan aimed at driving sales via the Web.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
3
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Understand
Why do I need to learn how to build and maintain a
Web site?
Next to actual conversation, your Web site is probably the deepest
interaction your customers will have with your company. Taking an
active interest in the planning and development of your Web site
ensures that the site you create functions as effectively as possible.
You may even discover new insights about your company that can
inform other marketing tactics.
The Three Stages of Web site Creation
1. Define
The Define phase of a Web site build is intended to thoroughly
immerse you and your partners in the business needs, brand
considerations, and most importantly, customer needs that will
influence the design and “construction” of your Web site.
Goals of the Define phase:
++ Identify your company’s online business objective(s)
++ Define the target audiences—develop personas
++ Define the design/development environment
++ Define the products/services and solutions being marketed
++ Set benchmarks for success
Identify your company’s online business objective(s)
It sounds simple but defining what business goal(s) your Web
site will influence is crucial to success. Even if you’re not enabling
e-commerce on your Web site, your Web site can still influence sales
by streamlining or enhancing parts of the sales cycle. Whether your
goals are lead generation, customer relationship management (CRM),
internal productivity/efficiency or beyond, defining your goals clearly
and measuring them consistently is key to ongoing success. Also keep
in mind that everyone should be clear from the beginning who will
make the final decisions for all work (stakeholders) and how that work
ties back to business objectives.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
4
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Understand
Define the target audiences—develop personas
Your Web site should be built around your customers. You should gather as much information as you can
about your primary and secondary customers, what they look for from your company, and what they look
for in a Web site to help create realistic profiles of your most valuable Web site visitors (called personas).
Personas are simple but detailed profiles of fictitious customers that are likely to use your Web site—their
age and other demographics, what they’re looking for from your Web site, what they should be able to
accomplish, etc. Basically, personas put an imaginary face to any customer data you may have.
To get a vivid picture of your customers that can be compiled into effective personas, you can:
++ Ask your customers or partners about their needs, perceptions, concerns and more through surveys or
social networks.
++ Find third-party research relevant to your business or category and try to find “best practices” that apply to
companies like yours.
++ Review competitive sites (and your existing) to help determine content, features, ways you can stand out from the
pack, and what does and doesn’t work.
++ Consider what secondary audiences like employment seekers, procurement reps, the press and others may need
from your Web site.
Try to learn as much as you can about your customers and their goals for visiting Web sites like yours and
then develop simple, one-page personas that bring your customers to life. Remember to always keep the
target audience at the center of your efforts.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
5
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Understand
Define the design/development environment
This is where the Define phase gets a little technical. Before you can “build” a new Web site, you need to
know what capabilities are at your disposal, what technical options you might have, and how all the pieces
Personas
will tie together (HTML and other
coding, Web site hosting, database integration, etc.). Ask those who
manage or built your current Web site to give you all technical details or assets (or help to define them if
Customer
Customer
Customer
it’s a first-time launch) and then have
the company stakeholders
in charge of
the new site explore options
for the relaunch.
Questions to ask:
++ Have you purchased all the domain names (URLs) you might need? From whom? You can search for and purchase
available domains at sites like godaddy.com, networksolutions.com and many others.
++ Where will the new Web site be hosted? What do the hosting fees include (bandwidth, storage, etc.)?
++ What files still exist that might be used in the new Web site (Photoshop design files, logo or image files, HTML files,
Flash files, etc.)? Where are they?
++ Will the new Web site communicate with any databases (form submission, log-in areas, etc.)? How? What level of
database security is needed?
++ Who will design the visual layer of the site? Is that different from who will code the site (HTML, AJAX, Flash, etc.)?
How should those two parties collaborate?
Design
Work
Questions
Development
++ Once the site is live, who is responsible for updates? What will that process be? Will you have a Content
Management System (CMS)?
Define the products/services/solutions being marketed
This is where the Define phase gets more
marketing-focused. What will you say about your
company? Your solutions, products and services?
Promotion
How will that content work with other marketing
you may have running at the same time, especially
search campaigns, which need to work together
with your site content? Again, refer to your overall
marketing plan and then make sure that all content
Products
Web site
on your new Web site supports the goals in that
plan and accurately reflects your company, its
products/services/solutions, and its people. Work
with your internal sales and marketing teams or
outside partners to make sure you’re “wowing”
customers with your new Web site.
Service
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
6
Efficient Design
Search
Campaign
Vision/
Mission
Solution
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Poor Design
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Understand
Set benchmarks for success
Just as you set sales and profitability goals for your company, you should set performance goals for your
new Web site. Goals can be as simple as “generate more leads” or as complex as “increase number of
purchases.” Look at whatever data is available for your current Web site (if any) and be sure to set realistic
goals for the new version. Focus on meaningful goals such as which specific actions you want customers
to take (as opposed to just visiting your home page) and be sure to plan for changes to the Web site in the
future to maximize its effectiveness based on lessons learned from analytics. There are many free analytics
tools available—Google Analytics (www.google.com/analytics), Piwik (http://piwik.org/), etc.—as well as
customizable feedback forms (www.kampyle.com/feedback_form) but if you don’t want to learn how to
process all the data, work with a partner who can help you benchmark and optimize your Web site effectively.
Free analytics tools
Google Analytics
www.google.com/analytics
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
Piwik
http://piwik.org/
7
Customizable Feedback Forms
www.kampyle.com/feedback_form
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
onas
ustomer
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Understand
2. Design
The Design phase applies the decisions made during the Define phase to the creative process. It’s a
collaborative process that uses feedback from you, and even your customers to create the visuals, text and
other elements that will come together to create a results-oriented Web site.
Goals of the Design phase:
++ Site mapping and interaction design
++ Visual layer design and copy/text
++ Final animation/application functionality
++ Transition from designers to developers
Site mapping and interaction design
The way you structure a Web site and the way your visitors
interact with it can have a dramatic impact, not only on a
Customer
visitor’s ability
to complete a task, but Customer
also on your Web site’s
ranking in organic search results (See Avaya guide to Landing
Page Optimization for details). Once your team has reviewed
all the recommendations from the Define phase, they should
plan the navigation structure of the site, the basic page layouts
needed, and how pages will work together from a usercentric perspective. The guiding principle of site mapping and
interaction design should be simplicity in the service of your
customers—giving visitors clear and easy paths to the content
they seek. This step can be formally presented as “wireframes”
which are like blueprints for the Web site or as simple as
handwritten sketches. Either way, they are crucial to visual
design and copy.
You can also conduct a “card sorting” exercise by writing down all the pages (and the types of content
on those pages) on individual index cards and have people sort them according to categories that
make sense to them. For example, the cards with your address listing, a map to your office, and contact
ROI
Design
information might allWork
be grouped in a “contact us”
category. Card sorting
is a simple exercise that tells you
Development
Questions
a lot about how people evaluate the navigation and categorization of a Web site.
Once you feel you’ve created enough wireframes to mimic your eventual site, test their effectiveness by
challenging people to accomplish simple tasks as if they were your actual site by having them show you
where they would click and why. It’s a quick and easy way to get a realistic assessment of how user-centric
your design really is.
Search
Campaign
Promotion
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
Products
8
Web site
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Vision/
Mission
Personas
Introduction
Understand
Customer
Consider
Customer
Analyze
Engage
Customer
Get Started
Glossary
Understand
Visual layout design and copy/text
The visual appearance and copy “voice” of your Web site are the most obvious expressions of your
company’s brand and also work together to persuade visitors to take the actions you want them to take,
whether it’s contacting you for more information or making a purchase.
All work on visual design and text should support the decisions made during site mapping and interaction
Work
Questions
design while
adding enough creativity and
style to make your WebDesign
site easy to use, easyDevelopment
to understand,
and compelling throughout. Work with a professional interactive agency to make sure you’re using web
design best practices (navigation placement, use of color and animation, search-friendly text, etc.),
showing rather than telling, and building confidence in the mind of the visitor about any decisions made on
the Web site, including purchase. Be sure that the design supports and complements your other marketing
materials—especially the logo.
When developing copy/text for your Web site, keep it brief. Web users read similar to newspaper readers
by skimming, scanning, and jumping between sections with short attention spans.
Be sure you’re writing
Search
Promotion
clear, attention-grabbing headlines, short sentences (7-20 words) and paragraphs
(40-50
Campaign words or 3-5
sentences), and providing credible content. Here are some additional guidelines for writing for the web:
Guidelines for WritingProducts
for the Web
Web site
Vision/
Mission
Organize your text: Outline the content, look at the page design, and decide what
goes where.
Make it readable: Use bulleted lists, correct spelling, and proper punctuation and
capitalization.
Service
Solution
Make it shorter: Get to the key point immediately. Read it out loud, then shorten
and rephrase long sentences and eliminate redundancies.
Make it clear: Consider the audience, use vocabulary appropriately and spell
out acronyms and abbreviations.
Efficient
Efficient Design
Design
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
Poor Design
Design
9
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Understand
Once you’ve created the content, develop a strategy or business process for managing updates (authoring,
approvals, publishing), make sure you’ve cleared the rights to any protected works your Web site (for
example, stock photography or video), and explore additional ways to distribute that content through
social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). For more guidance on Social Media, see the Avaya Quick
Start Guide “How to Engage Customers Through Social Media.”
Final animation/application functionality
If your new Web site will contain Flash animations/applications or similar “rich” functionality, those pieces
will have to be designed and coded separately from the rest of the site. Ideally, you should work with
someone who has skills in both visual design and coding. Also, make sure that specifications like Flash
version and file size are discussed with the team responsible for building the rest of the Web site before
work begins to avoid having to “scale back” the work later based on technical needs.
Transition from designers to developers
If the team that designs and writes the text for your site is different than the team that will code it for the
web, then you should plan on the two teams getting together for a handoff once all creative decisions
have been made. Details can sometimes get lost in translation and needed files may be missing and have
to be recreated before the site is published. The key to a successful transition from content and design files
(such as Photoshop files) to a live working site is open and cooperative communication.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
10
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Understand
3. Develop
The Develop phase translates the final creative elements from the Design phase to build a fully functioning
“live” web experience. It’s a specialized process that requires technical expertise and excellent
communication among groups to bring your vision online.
Goals of the Develop phase:
++ Coding of Web site and/or related applications and databases
++ Quality Assurance (QA) testing
++ Ongoing Web site maintenance and optimization
Coding of Web site and/or related applications and databases
Once all the creative assets have been created, a development team has to translate all of those assets into
a working Web site that is “live” on the web. Essentially, this means that all the pieces (logos, photos, text,
etc.) have to be stitched together by HTML or a similar language that will enable them to appear together
online as a working Web site. The same applies for any databases that will have to communicate with
pages of your Web site because information is being requested or submitted by the visitor.
The complexity of your Web site will affect how long the development process will take. Simple “brochure”
style Web sites that simply offer information take less time to develop than Web sites that include
shopping carts, adding comments/ratings, registration, and other data-intensive features. Have your
development team outline the strengths and weaknesses of your programming options (HTML vs. Flash,
PHP vs. .Net) so you know that you’re not simply getting what’s easy to code—but what’s right for your
business and your long-term goals.
Notes for first-time launch
Back in the Define phase, you should have secured a domain name (the URL a user
types into the browser address bar) and web hosting for your new site. Remember
that you can have multiple domains (for example, AcmeAvayaPartner.com,
AcmeChicago.com) point to a single Web site.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
11
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Understand
However, owning a domain isn’t everything—you also need to set up a web-hosting account, which is
simply server space where you can put your Web site files (HTML pages, images, etc.). Typically, you can
register a domain and secure web hosting from the same source or host the Web site internally.
When choosing a web hosting provider, CNET recommends the basing your decision on the following:
Must-have features
Nice-to-have features
++ Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL) capability (for secure pages)
++ Support for wiki and other collaboration tools
++ Support for blogs and other new publishing tools
++ PERL/PHP/MySQL installation by default
++ Upgrade path for features, such as backup and
recovery
++ Dedicated CGI-bin (Common Gateway Interface) for
scripts
++ Upgrade path for additional bandwidth as needed
++ Credit card authorization capability
++ Upgrade path for additional disk space
++ Shell access via SSH (Secure Shell)
++ IMAP mail access
++ Web-based control panel for managing users
and account settings
++ Content management system
++ Detailed statistics and server logs
++ Server Side Includes for page templating
++ POP and Web mail with spam blocking
++ Guaranteed uptime of 99.9 percent or better
++ Customer support available via e-mail and telephone
++ Operating system and software patch management
Source: http://www.cnet.com/1990-10192_1-5510570-7.html?tag=rb_shell;rb_mtx
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
12
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Understand
Quality Assurance (QA) testing
It’s important to test a public Web site thoroughly before launching it. This simply means testing that
everything works as intended in different conditions and environments. For example, a page might appear
or act differently for someone using Internet Explorer to browse than it does for someone using the Safari
browser. Your development team can create “test scripts” that can manually or automatically test system
functions performed by the Web site (form submission, log in, etc.). You might also engage an outside firm
to test functionality with a neutral panel.
Either way, plan sufficient time for testing and ensure that QA testing is completed before you launch
your new Web site. Anything that doesn’t look or operate as designed is called a “bug” and should be
fixed before the Web site is launched to the public. Otherwise, these bugs will give your visitors a poor,
unprofessional experience and might stand in the way of your goals (for example, forms that don’t submit,
hindering lead generation).
Ongoing Web site maintenance and optimization
Over time, as you get feedback on your Web site from those who use it, as well as information on site
usage from analytics tools, we recommend that you use that information to make improvements to your
Web site. Keeping a Web site current and helpful to customers is the key to maintaining healthy traffic and
quality lead generation.
Here are some common Web site maintenance items you should periodically (at least once a quarter)
evaluate, and/or address as needed:
++ Make sure your list of products, services and solutions reflects your current business offerings. The same applies for
any other content or descriptions.
++ Promote current incentives (discounts, financing, etc.) and remove expired ones.
++ Update all employee and contact information (bios, phone numbers, e-mail addresses) to reflect any changes.
++ Test all online forms or other submissions made on site to make sure they’re being delivered promptly to the
right addresses.
++ Find and link to other Web sites or blogs that relate to your business (for example, industry organizations) and
encourage them to link to yours to help your ranking in search engine results pages.
If you have a Content Management System (CMS) already in place, you will be able to upload or delete
content yourself. For larger changes to layout and structure, you’ll need to work with designers and
developers to make revisions to the site.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
13
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Understand
We recommend that any changes you make to your Web site are based on real data, especially web
analytics, to maximize the effectiveness of any changes. By studying how users find your site and what
they do when they get there, you can make changes that can positively affect your bottom line. For
example, if people are landing on a page of your site from a search ad, you can adjust both the search
ad and the page to increase the likelihood that they will “convert” or click-through to take the action you
want, such as contacting you, sometimes by simply rewriting the text. The level of detail you can track
varies by analytics solution but making changes based on data is always a safer bet than making changes
based on hunches or unproven trends. Here are some examples of Web site metrics:
Page views:
Which pages of the site are popular with visitors
Session:
The average time an individual spends on your Web site before leaving
New visits:
Number of visitors who have never visited your Web site before
Traffic sources:
How visitors were driven to your site (direct traffic, other sites, search engines)
Measuring and learning from web analytics should be a regular exercise. How often to look at analytics
reports depends on how often you’ll be able to act on that information (revising web pages or paid
search ads) but you should commit to at least a monthly review so you can spot larger trends that might
need attention (for example, no traffic visiting your contact page might mean that page is hard to find).
Remember to explore free analytics tools like Google Analytics (www.google.com/analytics) and Piwik
(http://piwik.org/) to learn more about the possibilities of Web site analytics.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
14
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Consider
As we mentioned in the beginning of this guide, we encourage you complete the Avaya guide “How to
Create a Marketing Plan” first to be sure that any investment in your Web site is part of a larger salesdriving effort. Your Web site should reinforce or supplement other elements of your marketing mix (radio,
print, etc.) and advance your overall objectives.
However, there are also ways to drive traffic to your Web site and make sure that it’s working as hard as it
can to attract the attention of your customers. Your Web site can both begin and deepen a conversation
with new and existing customers and ultimately increase qualified leads and sales. Consider these tactics
to promote your Web site and build valuable traffic:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engines run programs or scripts called Web “crawlers” or “spiders” that constantly scan pages on
the Web and categorize them based on their content. Natural search engine optimization (SEO) ensures
that the code and content of your pages (as well as other tactics) provides these “spiders” the right
information to help position your Web site well in search results related to your business.
As you build your Web site from scratch, make sure these elements of the Web site are reinforcing the
keywords and phrases customers might use to search for you:
++ Page titles
++ Links within the site
++ Meta description
++ Links to other sites
++ Body content
++ Image names and
descriptions
++ Header tags
For more guidance on Search Engine Optimization, see the Avaya Quick Start Guide “Landing Page
Development and Optimization.”
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Once you’ve determined the most effective set of
keywords and phrases to drive qualified leads to
your site, you can start a paid search campaign with
leading search engines yourself, with a professional
SEO/SEM firm, or with Avaya.
Once your Web site has been fully optimized
for natural search (and this should be a periodic
ongoing process based on what you learn about
your traffic), you can capture an additional share
of search-driven customers through Search Engine
Marketing (SEM): paid advertising listings in results
pages.
For more guidance on SEO and SEM, see the Avaya
Quick Start Guide “How to Launch an Effective
Search Engine Optimization and Marketing
Program” or contact Avaya regarding our Search
Engine Marketing Partner Program.
The information you gather from the search
engine optimization process and the subsequent
analysis of your site traffic is invaluable for your
paid search (SEM) strategy. Through them, you
can determine which terms are attracting the
most profitable or action-oriented customers to
your site. In turn, you should consider optimizing
specific pages of your site (i.e., landing pages) for
each of your SEM campaigns.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
15
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Consider
Social Media
The rise in popularity of “social media” (sites and tools that help you easily connect with others and share
content) has quickly made social elements a necessary part of any new Web site. However, it’s not just a matter
of what’s on your Web site. The whole point of social media is sharing, so any social media strategy has to
address not only how your Web site integrates with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others, but also how you
can add your presence to their sites and enable their visitors to engage with you outside of your site.
Keep in mind that these types of social media are based on fresh content, so make sure you are able
to update that content frequently. Also, social media are public by nature, so your company must be
comfortable allowing an online community to comment on and rate your content. If you haven’t already,
investigate the most popular social media destinations and consider how you can offer something of value
to your potential customers through those channels.
For more guidance on Social Media, see the Avaya Quick Start Guide “How to Engage Customers Through
Social Media.”
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
16
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Start Collecting
Subscribers
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Consider
Response Rates
Decide the Type
and Frequency
Consider
ROI
Development
A Mobile Version
of Your Web site
Create well-designed
Email Templates
Mobile phones have become exponentially more powerful and interactive in the past few years. This giant
leap in the mobile marketplace is mostly due to the development of “smart” phones (phones that can
access web content) such as the Blackberry, Apple iPhone or Google G1. These phones integrate the Web,
Quality
e-mail, text, voice, GPS, search, and all of the media and content theseDevelop
technologies
deliver.
Relevant Content
Consider creating a mobile version of your Web site because the mobile space is becoming more popular
as a means to access the Internet. The mobile Web site should capture the essence of your main site but
be tailored to the smaller screen space of mobile devices. Avoid big blocks of text and keep images small
and lightweight when creating your mobile-friendly site. If you have a content management
Customerssystem, use
the principal of “author once, publish multiple times.” This allows a subset of your PC content to appear on
your mobile site without human intervention.
Visits
Keyword
For more guidance on mobile marketing, see the Avaya Quick Start Guide “The Power of Mobile Marketing.”
Sales
ion/
sion
TXT
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
VM
17
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Consider
Accessibility (U.S. guidelines)
In 1998, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act was enacted in the U.S. to eliminate barriers in information
technology, provide new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of
technologies that will help achieve these goals. Essentially, it means enhancing the content on your Web
site in ways that will help people with vision, mobility or other physical disabilities navigate and learn from
your site.
Examples of how those standards should be addressed on your Web site:
++ Every image, Java applet, Flash file, video file, audio file, plug-in, etc. that conveys content should have an
equivalent alt description or text description, or be described in the adjacent text.
++ The alt descriptions succinctly describe the content conveyed by the objects, without being too verbose (for
simple objects) or too vague (for complex objects).
++ Alt descriptions for images used as links are descriptive of the link destination.
Accessibility Guidelines
Full Section 506 Checklist for the U.S.: http://www.webaim.org/standards/508/checklist.
For countries outside the US different regulations may apply. For additional information go
to W3C resources: http://www.w3.org/WAI/Policy/
Full summary of Section 508 standards: http://www.section508.gov/index.
cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=11
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
18
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Analyze
Web analytics refers to the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of Internet data to help understand
and optimize Web site usage. Most available analytics tools offer valuable features for understanding your
Web traffic. When choosing an analytics tool, keep in mind that it should be easy and accessible enough
for everyday use, and it must provide actionable data that answers the following questions:
Search (SEO/SEM)
Which keywords bring in the most sales?
• Develop Web site content, sales materials, and other marketing to capitalize on
and reinforce the most profitable keywords for your business
• Buy pay-per-click ads using the most profitable keywords
What new keywords are customers using?
• Develop content and optimize pages for new keywords; revise key messages used
in advertising and collateral to match customer language
Landing pages
Which landing pages are popular?
• Continue to keep popular pages fresh and revise content or navigation on pages
with low conversion rates
What is the average sale per visitor?
• Share increases in average sales per visitor with your sales team to demonstrate
the value of search engine optimization and other marketing efforts
Advanced functions
Depending on the complexity of your Web site, you can also track the following:
• E-Commerce: How can you improve someone’s ability to purchase?
• Search within your site: What are people looking for on your site?
• Geotargeting: Where are your customers located?
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
19
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Personas
Customer
Customer
Customer
Engage
We encourage our Avaya Partners to engage the services of a professional, results-oriented interactive
firm. A professional firm will research your business and marketing objectives, coordinate a strategic plan
of attack, and monitor to maximize results. Follow these steps to make sure you hire the best firm for your
specific needs:
Work
Questions
Design
Development
ROI
Email Marketing
Questions
& More Questions
Service Provider
When you contact a firm for the first time, they’ll have lots of questions for you. What business are you
Start
Collecting
in? What are
your
greatest challenges? Do you have any customer
Search data or research? How do you measure
Promotion
Subscribers
success? What
do you hope to gain
from a Web site redesign?
Campaign
And you’ll have lots of questions for them. Have they ever worked with telecommunications or technology
Consider
Email
Marketing
companies
before?
Have they worked with other companies that market business-to-business? Can you
Response
Rates
Service
Provider
see examples
of their
work? How much will it cost? What kind of results can your company expect? Once
you’ve talked through all those issues, a proposal will be designed for your specific needs.
Products
Vision/
Web site
Mission
Decide
the Type
Start Collecting
Beginning
Work
and
Frequency
Subscribers
Email Marketing
A professional
firm
will begin the Define phase immediately and request copies of your current marketing
Service
Provider
Create
well-designed
materials,
anyConsider
research you might have, and other information that will help them (and you) define the
Service
Solution
Response
Rates
Email
Templates
best possible
Web
site
experience. Share as much about
your business and your audience as possible, as
early as possible.
Encourage
company
stakeholders
to
take
an active interest in all phases of work. Once
Start Collecting
the researchSubscribers
sets the direction, your partner will get to work developing recommendations and moving
Decide
the
Type
Develop
Quality
into the Design
and
Develop
phases.
and Frequency
Relevant
Content
Consider
Design
andRates
Copy
Response
Create well-designed
Customers
Emailfirm
Templates
A professional
will have designers who specialize in the web. Give them as much visual “source
material”
as
you
can
(logos,
Decide
the
Type approved photos, color palettes, etc.) and let them translate your company’s
Visits
Keyword
and
Frequency
identity into
a working
Web site. You may be tempted to have internal team members or other partners
Develop
Qualityprocess, but unless they have deep experience designing for the web, you will
participate
in theSales
design
Relevant
Content
most likely
get more
realistic and ready-to-use designs from a web-focused professional. Assume a couple
Create
well-designed
of rounds of Efficient
feedbackDesign
for the design ideas, and then once
approve a direction, it will be applied
Poor you
Design
Email
throughout
the Templates
Web site to come. All of the above applies for copywriting as well.
Customers
Keyword
TXT
DevelopVisits
Quality
Relevant Content
Sales
Customers
Visits
Keyword
Sales
Web Site Creation and
Maintenance
VM
20
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Email Marketing
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Service Provider
Start Collecting
Subscribers
Consider
Response Rates
Email Marketing
Service Provider
Decide the Type
Development
and Frequencyand IT
Start Collecting
Throughout Subscribers
the process, the firm will work together with your internal IT team on any technical issues or
questions
thatwell-designed
arise. Very often, your IT team is already busy. It’s best to include them early in the process,
Create
Email
Templates
so that they
understand
how important their input is to the success of the redesign and how much work
Consider
will be required
on their end.
Response Rates
One your Develop
Web siteQuality
is up and running, you may also engage a partner to monitor your marketing analytics
Relevant
and/or related
paidContent
search campaigns. The firm will offer ongoing strategy tweaks, maintain or revise
Decide
the Type
your content
as needed,
and potentially add more keywords per your plan. Your team should also use the
Frequency
marketing and
analytics
to understand your customers’ behavior and apply that analysis to additional tactics in
the overall marketing
mix.
Customers
Engage
Keyword
Create well-designed
Visits the Return On Investment
Demonstrate
Email Templates
Sales
Always know the goal you’re working toward—sales—and make an effort to identify the best tactics that
Develop
help you reach
it. AQuality
regular cycle of analysis, revision and relaunch will reveal your company’s “perfect
Content
formula” Relevant
for increasing
your sales through Web site optimization over time. Remember, a professional Web
site combined with marketing analytics is a recipe for overall, demonstrable marketing success.
Customers
Visits
Keyword
Sales
VM
VM
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
21
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Get Started
Designing and maintaining a Web site has come a long way in just a few short years. You’re now able to
offer a depth of information, interaction, and sharing that may have been impossible the last time you
launched a Web site. As the web matures and your customers rely on it more and more, be sure that you
can satisfy their needs in an effective, business-building way with a professional Web site.
Remember:
A Web site that accurately represents your brand, encourages customer
engagement, and works around the clock as an always-on resource for customers
in every stage of the purchase process will drive traffic and sales and become an
integral part of your sales cycle.
If you don’t have the capabilities to create, update, or enhance your Web site, Avaya can help with the
MarketLeaders program. With MarketLeaders, you get access to a complete range of traditional and
interactive marketing programs and agencies that can help create and or update your web presence and
strategy. To learn more or to get started, contact a MarketLeaders program coordinator by calling
1-800-969-5686 or visiting www.Avaya.com/ml today.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
22
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Glossary
Website Maintenance Terms
A
ActiveX
A programming interface (API) that
allows web browsers to download and
execute Windows programs. (See also
Plug-In)
Ajax
Ajax, sometimes written as AJAX
(shorthand for asynchronous JavaScript
and XML), is a group of interrelated
web development techniques used on
the client-side to create interactive web
applications or rich Internet applications.
With Ajax, web applications can retrieve
data from the server asynchronously in
the background without interfering with
the display and behavior of the
existing page.
Anchor
In web terms: The starting point or
ending point of a hyperlink.
ANSI (American National Standards
Institute)
An organization that creates standards
for the computer industry. Responsible
for the ANSI C standard.
ANSI C
An international standard for the C
programming language.
ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber
Line)
A special type of DSL line where the
upload speed is different from the
download speed.
Analytics
The science behind tracking and
analyzing your Web site traffic and
effectiveness. Managing analytics on
your site allows you to see how visitors
interact with your site and adjust it
accordingly in order to optimize their
experience.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
Animation
A set of pictures simulating movement
when played in series.
Anti-Virus Program
A computer program made to discover
and destroy all types of computer
viruses.
Apache
An open source web server. Mostly for
Unix, Linux and Solaris platforms.
API (Application Programming
Interface)
An interface for letting a program
communicate with another program. In
web terms: An interface for letting web
browsers or web servers communicate
with other programs. (See also Active-X
and Plug-In)
Authentication
In web terms: the method used to
verify the identity of a user, program or
computer on the web.
ASCII (American Standard Code for
Information Interchange)
A set of 128 alphanumeric and special
control characters used for computer
storing and printing of text. Used by
HTML when transmitting data over the
web.
ASP(Active Server Pages)
A Microsoft technology allowing the
insertion of server executable scripts in
web pages.
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is a web application framework
developed and marketed by Microsoft
to allow programmers to build dynamic
web sites, web applications and web
services. It is the successor to Microsoft’s
Active Server Pages (ASP) technology.
ASP.NET is built on the Common
Language Runtime (CLR), allowing
23
programmers to write ASP.NET code
using any supported .NET language.
AVI (Audio Video Interleave)
File format for video files. Video
compression technology developed by
Microsoft.
B
Banner Ad
A (most often graphic) advertisement
placed on a web page, which acts as a
hyperlink to an advertiser’s web site.
Bandwidth
A measure for the speed (amount of
data) you can send through an Internet
connection. The more bandwidth, the
faster the connection.
Bit (Binary Digit)
The smallest unit of data stored in a
computer. A bit can have the value of 0
or 1. A computer uses 8 bits to store one
text character.
BMP (Bitmap)
A format for storing images.
Blog
A type of Web site, usually maintained
by an individual with regular entries of
commentary, descriptions of events,
or other material such as graphics or
video. Entries are commonly displayed in
reverse-chronological order.
Bookmark
In web terms: A link to a particular web
site, stored (bookmarked) by a web user
for future use and easy access.
Browse
Term to describe a user’s movement
across the web, moving from page
to page via hyperlinks, using a web
browser. (See Web Browser)
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
BPS (Bits Per Second)
Term to describe the transmission speed
for data over the web.
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
CGI (Common Gateway Interface)
A set of rules that describes how a CGI
program communicates with a web
server.
Compression
A method of reducing the size
(compress) of web documents or
graphics for faster delivery via the web.
C
CGI Program
A small program that handles input and
output from a web server. Often CGI
programs are used for handling forms
input or database queries.
Computer Virus
A computer program that can harm
a computer by displaying messages,
deleting files, or even destroying the
computer’s operating system.
C
An advanced programming language
used for programming advanced
computer applications.
Client/Server
In web terms: The communication and
separation of workload between a web
client and a web server.
C++ (C Plus Plus)
The same as C with added objectoriented functions.
Click
In web terms: A mouse click on a
hyperlink element (such as text or
picture) on a web page which creates an
event such as taking a visitor to another
web page or another part of the same
page.
Content Management
A process for managing updates of site
content (images, text, etc.). Depending
on how a Web site is coded, it may be
done “manually” by an experienced
developer or through a “dashboard”
style interface for those who want
instant and complete control without
learning code.
Byte (Binary Term)
A computer storage unit containing
8 bits. Each byte can store one text
character.
Call To Action
Words that urge the reader, listener, or
viewer of a sales promotion message to
take an immediate action, such as “Call
Now,” or “Click Here.”
C# (C Sharp)
A Microsoft version of C++ with added
Java-like functions.
Case Sensitive
A term used to describe if it is of
importance to use upper or lower case
letters.
CAN-SPAN
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 established
the first United States standards
for senders of commercial e-mail.
It designates the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) as the enforcement
body for this legislation.
Cache
In web terms: A web browser or web
server feature which stores copies of
web pages on a computer’s hard disk.
Chat
An on-line text-based communication
between Internet users.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
Clickthrough Rate
The number of times visitors click on a
hyperlink (or advertisement) on a page,
as a percentage of the number of times
the page has been displayed.
Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing is a style of computing
in which dynamically scalable and often
virtualized resources are provided
as a service over the Internet. Users
need not have knowledge of, expertise
in, or control over the technology
infrastructure in the “cloud” that
supports them.
Cookie
Information from a web server, stored
on your computer by your web browser.
The purpose of a cookie is to provide
information about your visit to the Web
site for use by the server during a later
visit.
ColdFusion
Web development software for most
platforms such as Linux, Unix, Solaris
and Windows.
Cross Media
Advertising in all media including radio,
TV, direct mail, magazines, newspapers
and the Web.
Codec (Compressor / Decompressor)
Common term for the technology used
for compressing and decompressing
data.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
A recommended language for defining
style (such as font, size, color, spacing,
etc.) for web documents.
Communication Protocol
A standard (language and a set of rules)
to allow computers to interact in a
standard way. Examples are IP, FTP, and
HTTP.
D
24
Database
Data stored in a computer in such a way
that a computer program can easily
retrieve and manipulate the data.
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Database System
A computer program (like MS Access,
Oracle, and MySQL) for manipulating
data in a database.
DBA (Data Base Administrator)
The person (or the software) who
administers a database. Typical
task are: backup, maintenance and
implementation.
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol)
An Internet standard protocol that
assigns new IP addresses to users as
need.
DHTML (Dynamic HTML)
A term commonly to describe HTML
content that can change dynamically.
Dial-up Connection
In web terms: A connection to Internet
via telephone and modem.
DNS (Domain Name Service)
A computer program running on a web
server, translating domain names into IP
addresses.
DNS Server
A web server running DNS.
Domain Name
The name that identifies a web site such
as www.avaya.com.
Download
To transfer a file from a remote computer
to a local computer. In web terms: to
transfer a file from a web server to a web
client. (See also Upload)
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)
An Internet connection over regular
telephone lines, but much faster. Speed
may vary from 128 kilobit per second, up
to 9 megabit per second.
Dynamic IP
An IP address that changes each time
you connect to the Internet. (See DHCP
and Static IP)
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
Consider
Analyze
Engage
E
E-mail (Electronic Mail)
Messages sent from one person to
another via the Internet.
E-mail Address
The address used for sending e-mails
to a person or an organization. Typical
format is username@hostname.
E-mail Server
A web server dedicated to the task of
serving e-mail.
Encryption
To convert data from its original
form to a form that can only be read
by someone that can reverse the
encryption. The purpose of encryption is
to prevent unauthorized reading of the
data.
Ethernet
A type of local area network. (See LAN)
F
Facebook
Facebook is a free-access social
networking Web site. Users can join
networks organized by city, workplace,
school, and region to connect and
interact with other people. People
can also add friends and send them
messages, and update their personal
profiles to notify friends about
themselves.
Firewall
Software that acts as a security filter
that can restrict types of network
communication. Most often used
between an individual computer (or a
LAN) and the Internet.
Flash
A vector-based multimedia format
developed by Macromedia for use on the
web.
25
Get Started
Glossary
Flex
Adobe Flex is a software development
kit released by Adobe Systems for the
development and deployment of crossplatform rich Internet applications based
on the Adobe Flash platform.
Frame
In web terms: A part of the browser
screen displaying a particular content.
Frames are often used to display content
from different web pages.
FrontPage
Web development software for the
Windows platform. Developed by
Microsoft.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
One of the most common methods for
sending files between two computers.
FTP Server
A web server you can logon to, and
download files from (or upload files
to). Anonymous FTP is a method for
downloading files from an FTP server
without using a logon account.
G
Gateway
A computer program for transferring
(and reformatting) data between
incompatible applications or networks.
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
A compressed format for storing images
developed by CompuServe. One of the
most common image formats on the
Internet.
GB
Same as Gigabyte. 10GB is ten gigabytes.
Gigabyte
1024 megabytes. Commonly rounded
down to one billion bytes.
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
H
Helper application
In web terms: A program helping the
browser to display, view, or work with
files that the browser cannot handle
itself. (See Plug-In)
Hits
The number of times a web object
(page or picture) has been viewed or
downloaded. (See also Page Hits)
Home Page
The top-level (main) page of a web site.
The default page displayed when you
visit a web site.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
HTML is the language of the web. HTML
is a set of tags that are used to define
the content, layout and the formatting of
the web document. Web browsers use
the HTML tags to define how to display
the text.
HTML DOM (HTML Document Object
Model)
A programming interface for HTML
documents.
HTML Editor
A software program for editing HTML
pages. With an HTML editor you can add
elements like lists, tables, layout, font
size, and colors to a HTML document
like using a word processor. An HTML
editor will display the page being edited
exactly the same way it will be displayed
on the web. (See WYSIWYG)
HTML Form
A form that passes user input back to
the server.
HTML Tags
Code to identify the different parts of
a document so that a web browser will
know how to display it.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
Consider
Analyze
Engage
HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol)
The standard set of rules for sending
text files across the Internet. It requires
an HTTP client program at one end, and
an HTTP server program at the other
end.
HTTP Client
A computer program that requests a
service from a web server.
HTTP Server
A computer program providing services
from a web server.
HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
Secure)
Same as HTTP but provides secure
Internet communication using SSL. (See
also SSL)
Hyperlink
A pointer to another document. Most
often a pointer to another web page. A
hyperlink is a synonym for a hotlink or a
link, and sometimes called a hypertext
connection to another document or web
page.
I
IIS (Internet Information Server)
A web server for Windows operating
systems. Developed by Microsoft.
IMAP (Internet Message Access
Protocol)
A standard communication protocol
for retrieving e-mails from an e-mail
server. IMAP is much like POP but more
advanced.
Interaction Design
The practice of designing how a user
and a digital application or interface will
interact with one another. This design
practice emphasizes user goals (how
to simply and effectively accomplish a
desired task) and draws from industry
standards of user behavior and
application of technology.
26
Get Started
Glossary
Internet
A world wide network connecting
millions of computers also known as the
World Wide Web.
Internet Explorer
A browser by Microsoft. The most
commonly used browser today.
Intranet
A private (closed) Internet, running
inside a LAN (Local Area Network)
IP Address (Internet Protocol Address)
A unique number identifying every
computer on the Internet such as
“197.123.22.240.”
IP Number (Internet Protocol Number)
Same as an IP address.
ISP (Internet Service Provider)
Someone that provides access to the
Internet and web hosting.
J
Java
A programming language developed
by SUN. Mostly for programming web
servers and web applets.
JavaScript
The most popular scripting language on
the internet, developed by Netscape.
JPEG and JPG
Graphic formats for storing compressed
images.
JSP (Java Server Pages)
A Java based technology allowing the
insertion of server executable scripts in
web pages. Mostly used on Linux, Unix
and Solaris platforms.
K
K
Same as kilobyte 10K is ten kilobytes.
KB
Same as kilobyte 10KB is ten kilobytes.
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Keyword
In web terms: A word used by a search
engine to search for relevant web
information.
In database terms: A word (or index)
used to identify a database record.
Kilobyte
1024 bytes. Often called 1K, and rounded
down to 1000 bytes.
KPI
KPIs or key performance indicators help
organizations achieve organizational
goals through the definition and
measurement of progress. The key
indicators are agreed upon by an
organization and are indicators which
can be measured that will reflect success
factors.
L
LAN (Local Area Network)
A network between computers in a
local area (like inside a building), usually
connected via local cables. (See WAN)
Linux
Open source computer operating system
based on Unix. Mostly used on servers
and web servers.
M
MB
Same as Megabyte. 10MB is ten
megabytes.
Megabyte
1024 kilobytes. Commonly rounded
down to one million bytes.
Meta Data
Data that describes other data. (See also
Meta Tags)
Meta Search
The method of searching for meta data
in documents.
Meta Tags
Tags inserted into documents to
describe the document.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Microsoft Access
Access is a relational database
management system from Microsoft
which uses a graphical user interface for
easy access by everyday users.
Microsoft .NET
The Microsoft .NET Framework is
a software framework that can be
installed on computers running Microsoft
Windows operating systems. It includes
a large library of coded solutions to
common programming problems
and a virtual machine that manages
the execution of programs written
specifically for the framework. The .NET
Framework is a key Microsoft offering
and is intended to be used by most new
applications created for the Windows
platform.
Modem
Hardware equipment to connect a
computer to a telephone network.
Typically used to connect to the Internet
via a telephone line.
MOV
A codec for computer video developed
by Apple. Common file extension for
QuickTime multimedia files.
MP3 File
A file containing audio compressed with
MP3. Most often a music track.
MPEG (Moving Picture Expert Group)
An ISO standard codec for computer
audio and video.
Multimedia
In web terms: A presentation combining
text with pictures, video, or sound.
MySpace
The name of a social networking site
(SNS) that consists of a network of
member’s profiles, Web logs, photos,
e-mail, forums, group, and more.
MySQL
Free open source database software
often used on the web.
27
Get Started
Glossary
N
Newsgroup
An on-line discussion group (a section
on a news server) dedicated to a
particular subject of interest.
News Reader
A computer program that enables you
to read (and post messages) from an
Internet newsgroup.
News Server
An Internet server dedicated to the task
of serving Internet newsgroups.
Node
In web terms: A computer connected to
the Internet, most often used to describe
a web server.
O
Open Source
Open source code is typically created
as a collaborative effort in which
programmers
improve upon the code and share the
changes within the community. Open
source sprouted in the technological
community as a response to proprietary
software owned by corporations.
Opt-In
A term that refers to promotional
e-mails that have been requested by the
individual receiving them.
Opt-Out
A term that refers to the choice an
individual has to request not to receive
promotional e-mails.
Organic Search
An organic search is one where results
are returned based on the natural
indexing of the Web site, as opposed to
those that are returned based on paid
advertising and editorial changes made
by the search engine itself. The field of
SEO is largely based on making a Web
site appear more prominently in organic
search results for specific keywords.
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
OS (Operating System)
The software that manages the basic
operating of a computer.
P
Page Hits
The number of times a web page has
been visited by a user.
PDF (Portable Document Format)
A document file format developed
by Adobe. Most often used for text
documents.
PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor)
A technology allowing the insertion
of server executable scripts in web
pages. Mostly for Unix, Linux and Solaris
platforms.
Ping
A method used to check the
communication between two computers.
A “ping” is sent to a remote computer to
see if it responds.
Platform
In web terms: The computer’s operating
system like Windows, Linux, or OS X.
Plug-In
An application built into another
application. In web terms: A program
built in (or added) to a web browser to
handle a special type of data like e-mail,
sound, or movie files. (See also ActiveX)
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Redirect
In web terms: The action when a web
page automatically forwards (redirects)
the user to another web page.
Proxy Server
An Internet server dedicated to improve
Internet performance.
RGB (Red Green Blue)
The combination of the three primary
colors that can represent a full color
spectrum.
PURL
An Short for persistent URL, a type of
URL that acts as an intermediary for a
real URL of a Web resource. When you
enter a PURL in a browser, the browser
sends the page request to a PURL server
which then returns the real URL of the
page. PURLs are persistent because
once a PURL is established, it never
needs to change.
Q
Quality Assurance (QA)
The process that tests a Web site and its
included functionality across different
browsers and under different usage
conditions for proper and satisfactory
performance.
QuickTime
A multimedia file format created by
Apple.
R
PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
A format for encoding a picture pixel
by pixel and sending it over the web. A
W3C recommendation for replacing GIF.
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital computer
files, usually either digital audio or video,
that is released periodically and made
available for download by means of web
syndication.
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent
Disks)
A standard for connecting multiple disks
to the same server for higher security,
speed and performance. Often used on
web servers.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
Glossary
PPP (Point to Point Protocol)
A communication protocol used
for direct connection between two
computers.
Rapid Application Development
A RAD (rapid application development)
is a concept that products can be
developed faster and of higher quality
through: Gathering requirements
using workshops or focus groups,
prototyping and early, reiterative user
testing of designs, the re-use of software
components, rigidly paced schedule that
defers design improvements to the next
product version and less formality in
reviews and other team communication.
PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
A format for encoding a picture pixel
by pixel and sending it over the web. A
W3C recommendation for replacing GIF.
Get Started
28
Router
A hardware (or software) system that
directs (routes) data transfer to different
computers in a network.
Ruby on Rails
A Ruby on Rails, often shortened to
Rails or RoR, is an open source web
application framework for the Ruby
programming language. It is intended
to be used with an Agile development
methodology which is used by web
developers for rapid development.
S
Script
A collection of statements written in a
Scripting Language.
Scripting Language
In web terms: A simple programming
language that can be executed by a web
browser or a web server. See JavaScript
and VBScript.
Search Engine
Computer program used to search and
catalog (index) the millions of pages
of available information on the web.
Common search engines are Google and
AltaVista.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The process and practice of improving
a Web site’s ranking in search engine
results pages by adjusting Web site
content to better comply with relevant
search engine algorithms and known
user behavior.
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Shareware
Software that you can try free of charge,
and pay a fee to continue to use legally.
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
A standard communication protocol
for sending e-mail messages between
computers.
Social Media
Online properties and content that are
created, connected, and published by
the users themselves. There are many
forms of social media, including blogs,
social networks, video sharing, product
reviews, microblogging and more.
SPAM
In web terms: The action of sending
multiple unwelcome messages to a
newsgroup or mailing list.
Spyware
Computer software hidden in a
computer with the purpose of collecting
information about the use of the
computer.
SQL (Structured Query Language)
An ANSI standard computer language
for accessing and manipulating
databases.
SQL Server
A database system from Microsoft.
Mostly used on high traffic web sites
running on the Windows platform.
SSL (Secure Socket Layer)
Software to secure and protect web
site communication using encrypted
transmission of data.
Static IP (address)
An IP address that is the same each
time connect to the Internet. (See also
Dynamic IP)
Streaming
A method of sending audio and video
files over the Internet in such a way that
the user can view the file while it is being
transferred.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
Streaming Format
The format used for files being streamed
over the Internet. (See Windows Media,
Real Video and QuickTime)
User-Centric Design
An approach to visual and interaction
design that gives highest priority to the
needs, wants and limitations of the user.
T
V
Tag
In web terms: Notifications or commands
written into a web document. (See HTML
Tags)
Virus
Same as Computer Virus.
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol /
Internet Protocol)
A collection of Internet communication
protocols between two computers. The
TCP protocol is responsible for an error
free connection between two computers,
while the IP protocol is responsible for
the data packets sent over the network.
Twitter
Twitter is a free social networking and
micro-blogging service that enables
its users to send and read each others’
updates, known as tweets.
Tweets
Tweets are the name given to text-based
posts of up to 140 characters, displayed
on the author’s profile page and
delivered to other users on Twitter.
U
Unix
Computer operating system, developed
by Bell Laboratories. Mostly used for
servers and web servers.
Upload
To transfer a file from a local computer
to a remote computer. In web terms: to
transfer a file from a web client to a web
server. (See also Download)
URI (Uniform Resource Identifier)
Term used to identify resources on the
internet. URL is one type of an URI.
Visit
In web terms: A visit to a web site.
Commonly used to describe the activity
for one visitor of a web site.
Visitor
In web terms: A visitor of a web site.
Commonly used to describe a person
visiting (viewing) a web site.
Visual Basic
A programming language from
Microsoft.
Visual Design
In web design, visual design is the
practice of applying composition, color,
imagery, and in some cases motion to
the elements of a web page.
Virtualization
In computing, virtualization means
to create a virtual version of a device
or resource, such as a server, storage
device, network or even an operating
system where the framework divides
the resource into one or more execution
environments.
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
A private network between two remote
sites, over a secure encrypted virtual
Internet connection.
W
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
The organization responsible for
managing standards for the WWW.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
A web address. The standard way to
address web documents (pages) on the
Internet.
29
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
WAN (Wide Area Network)
Computers connected together in a
wide network, larger than a LAN, usually
connected via phone lines. (See also
LAN)
Web Server
A server is a computer that delivers
services or information to other
computers. In web terms: A server that
delivers web content to web browsers.
WAP (Wireless Application Protocol)
A leading standard for information
services on wireless terminals like digital
mobile phones.
Web Server Error
A message from a web server indicating
an error. The most common web server
error is “404 File Not Found”.
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 refers to what is perceived as a
second generation of web development
and web design. It is characterized as
facilitating communication, information
sharing, interoperability, user-centered
designand collaboration on the
World Wide Web. It has led to the
development and evolution of webbased communities, hosted services,
and web applications. Examples include
social-networking sites, video-sharing
sites, wikis, blogs, mashups etc.
Web Services
Software components and applications
running on web servers. The server
provides these services to other
computers, browsers or individuals,
using standard communication
protocols.
Web Address
The same as an URL or URI. (See URL)
Web Client
A software program used to access web
pages. Sometimes the same as a Web
Browser, but often used as a broader
term.
Web Browser
A software program used to display web
pages.
Web Document
A document formatted for distribution
over the web. Most often a web
document is formatted in a markup
language like HTML or XML.
Web Host
A web server that “hosts” web services
like providing web site space to
companies or individuals.
Web Page
A document (normally an HTML file)
designed to be distributed over the Web.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
Web Site
A collection of related web pages
belonging to a company or an individual.
Webinar
A live meeting or presentation via the
Internet. In a webinar, each participant
sits at his or her own computer and
is connected to other participants
via the internet. This can be either a
downloaded application on each of the
attendees’ computers or a web-based
application where the attendees may
enter a URL (Web site address) to enter
the conference.
Widget
In computer programming, a widget
(or control) is an element of a graphical
user interface (GUI) that displays an
information arrangement changeable by
the user, such as a window or a text box.
Web Spider
A computer program that searches the
Internet for web pages. Common web
spiders are the one used by search
engines like Google and Yahoo to index
the web. Web spiders are also called
web robots or wanderers.
Get Started
Glossary
Wireframe
A wireframe is a skeleton version of
a Web site that depicts navigational
concepts and page content. It is a set
of cross-linked pages that acts like a
functional prototype of the final Web
site without the graphics. A wireframe
often has only text content.
Wiki
A wiki is a Web site that allows the easy
creation and editing of any number of
interlinked Web pages, using a simplified
markup language or a WYSIWYG text
editor, within the browser. Wikis are
often used to create collaborative Web
sites, to power community Web sites,
and for note taking. The collaborative
encyclopedia Wikipedia is one of the
best-known wikis.
WML (Wireless Markup Language)
A standard for information services on
wireless terminals like digital mobile
phones, inherited from HTML, but based
on XML, and much stricter than HTML.
Worm
A computer virus that can make copies
of itself and spread to other computers
over the Internet.
WWW (World Wide Web)
A global network of computers using the
Internet to exchange web documents.
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You
Get)
In Web terms: To display a web page
being edited exactly the same way it will
be displayed on the web.
Windows Media
Audio and video formats for the Internet,
developed by Microsoft. (See ASF, ASX,
WMA and WMF)
30
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.
Introduction
Understand
Consider
Analyze
Engage
Get Started
Glossary
X
XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup
Language)
HTML reformulated as XML. XHTML is
the latest version of HTML. Developed
by W3C.
XML (Extensible Markup Language)
A simplified version of SGML especially
designed for web documents, developed
by the W3C.
Y
YouTube
YouTube is a popular social media site
for video sharing, on which users can
upload and share videos, and view them
in MPEG-4 format.
Z
ZIP
A compressing format for computer files.
Commonly used for compressing files
before downloading over the Internet.
ZIP files can be compressed (ZIPPED)
and decompressed (UNZIPPED) using a
computer program like WINZIP.
Web Site Creation and Maintenance
31
© 2009 Avaya Inc. Proprietary, use pursuant to the terms of
your signed agreement or Avaya policy.