Vocabulary: Findability Terminology
When writing about a subject simultaneously as vast in scope and as rigid in definition as findability, precise use of terminology is the key to effective communication. That is why, at findabilitynow, we have included definitions of the key terms you are bound to most commonly encounter here and other sites of the same ilk.
E-Mail Marketing: An electronic mail variation of the traditional method of marketing directly to consumers via bulk mail.
Folksonomy: An open-ended, user-controlled alternative to a taxonomy. Rather than locating data through rigidly structured and classified definition leafs, a folksonomy is searched by means of meta data (i.e. tags) that can be created and/or amended by the users.
Information Architecture: An important element of user experience design, "information architecture" refers to the deliberate arrangement and structuring of data, usually via a strict taxonomy, to suit a particular need (for instance, increasing accessibility of information on a web page).
Meta data: Generally, and most simply, described as "data about data", meta data is descriptive or adjunct information of whatever primary piece of data it supplements. For instance, the meta data of a family photograph might explain when and where it was taken, and who exactly the people in said photograph are.
Organic search results (also sometimes referred to as natural search results): Site views achieved by means of good SEO rather than artificial means, such as pay per click.
Per Per Click: Attempts by advertisers to increase search engine traffic to their sites by purchasing keywords related to their particular business, and to bring up sponsored ads whenever such keywords are entered by the user.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): a method of increasing search engine traffic, both of superior worth and volume, to a web page through use of organic search results.
Social Networks: A term originally coined by J.A. Barnes in 1954 to describe the social structures of various communities or organizations, it now describes the social communities of the web, who have been connected via networking applications such as MySpace or Dogster.
Taxonomy: Initially used to describe biological classifications, taxonomy now refers to any structured system of knowledge management. The Dewey Decimal system, for instance, is a taxonomic cataloguing technique. Taxonomy is essential for effective information architecture.
User Experience Design (UED): The careful and deliberate conception and fabrication of the experience a user undergoes while browsing a web page or utilizing a product or service.
Web Standards: A set of best practices for web coding and design advocated by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to increase accessibility and consistency of web sites across browsers.
