Hosts
A host is a company that owns computers called servers (pictured below). You rent a password-protected space to store your website files.

Servers
Servers are a type of computer that store files and scripts. When visitors type your website address (URL), the files are sent to the visitors computer. The server can also run a small web statistics program to keep track of the visitors.

Domain names
A domain name is the same thing as a URL. You can buy a URL from the host, who registers it with an international organization to be sure no two people anywhere in the world have the same URL. The last few letters of the domain name are called the extension. You can only register country extensions like .ca in your own country. Other extensions like .com, .net, .org or .info can be bought from any company anywhere.

Websites
A website is a collection of files like html files, phP, style sheet files and images. The files are organized into folders and stored on the server until requested by visitors.

Website visitors
Your visitor does not actually visit your web pages – your files are sent to your visitor’s computer and assembled there.

Blog
A blog – even the smallest blog with only a few pages – begins with the installation of a large framework of phP files on the server. Blog designs are called “themes”. Some theme files may be easy to modify, while others are not. Read more about how WordPress works

Browsers
Browser progams like Internet Explorer, Safari and Firefox arrange your website files so they display properly on your visitor’s computer. Browsers make sure the menu is always in the same place and your text is wrapping properly around images, etc. Browsers are constantly developing new versions and your files need to display properly in each update. Your developer should be checking your site regularly to make sure. Read more about browsers

Directories
Directories are websites that organize other websites into categories. There are major directories like Google, Yahoo and Bing, and millions of smaller specialized directories. The Google Directory is one of the largest. Many directories are automated – they use software that constantly searches the web looking for new sites on their topic. Other require submissions. Some require payment to list you.

Search engines
Search engines are software programs run by directories like Google. There are millions of directories online. Your site may be visited each month by hundreds of “crawlers” or “bots”. Many, like the Google bot, visit only monthly. One of the reasons blogs are popular is that they generate something called “pingbacks”, which notify the search engines every time new content is added.

Hits
A hit is one file on one web page. A web page might have 3 files or it might have 50 files. Hits are not a good indication of how many visitors you have had. Unique visitors is your best indication of the number of visitors to your site.

Unique visitors
Unique visitors are the number of computers that request your website from a server. They are counted by programs called “web stats” or “web analytics”. If someone visits your site several times on the same day, their computer will only be counted as one unique visitor for that day. Unique visitors are a very good measure of your traffic.