Internet Basics

URL

The "Uniform Resource Locator" is the unique address of any web document. It is also called domain name or internet address. You enter it in the address bar in your browser.

Blog

A blog (short for "web log") is a type of web page that is usually updated daily, and focused on one subject or used as a personal diary by the author.

To Browse

Or to surf means to follow links in a page, to shop around in a page, just to discover websites and their content. Usually used like "I browse some sites" or "I'm surfing on the net".

Domain Name

A domain name is the initial part of an URL, down to the first /. In case of this website internet-starter-guide.com is the domain name. Every domain name has a suffix that indicates for what purpose this domain is used. The most widespread domain suffix is .com and even though it stands for commercial it is used by many non commercial websites as well. Every country has also a specific suffix.

• .com identifies a business (commercial)
• .us is intended for use by U.S. websites
• .de is intended for use by German websites
• .info is an informational Web site
• .name is a personal name site for individuals
• .org identifies an organization
• .edu identifies an educational organization
• .gov identifies a government agency

Downloads

A download is a file you have transfered from another computer to your computer over the internet.

Links

An element in an electronic document that links to another place in the same document or to an entirely different document. Also known as Hyperlink. Links are an essential part of the internet because they build connections between different documents on the internet.

More definitions and terms

During your discovery of the internet you will come across many more terms that might be unknown to you. I highly recommend to search the open encyclopedia Wikipedia for them.