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I have heard many references to the “language” of car dealerships and how some terms used in the lanes and on the lots is unique to the automotive industry.  Listen to how we refer to money, for instance.  If you were to tell a car buyer you only needed, “a nickel down”, they might think they just found the deal of a life time.  “Red light” to you might raise caution in the lane, but to a buyer it might just make them stop.  With web guys like me, the same is true.  More than once I have asked someone for their URL and they just look at me funny.  Today, I want to share some industry knowledge with you so you know what your web provider is saying the next time you meet with him/her.

Terms:

URL: Uniform Resource Locator. It is commonly referred to as “web address”.

HTTP: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. It is how most web addresses start.  If it is a secure site, it will be https, where the s stands for Secure.

Responsive design: This refers to particular style of web design and is the newest buzz word in the industry.  When a website changes style or appearance when seen on a mobile phone, laptop or computer, it is considered Responsive.

Mobile Friendly: When a website can be seen on a phone or tablet without having to scroll left and right and without having to “magnify” it in order to read the text, it is considered Mobile Friendly.  If the opposite is true, then you could say that website is considered mobile unfriendly.

POP and IMAP: Both of these refer to email protocol.  POP(3) is most commonly found in use by computer email programs like Outlook or Thunderbird and stands for Post Office Protocol. IMAP is often found in use by mobile devices and it stands for Internet Mail Access Protocol. Generally, if you check your email from only one device you want to use POP.  If you check your email from a home computer, an office computer, and your phone, for instance, IMAP has its advantages.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol.  If you need to upload or download a large number of files, FTP is the most efficient way for moving files between computers or back and forth between computers and web servers.

Protocol: www.Webopedia.com defines this as, “An agreed-upon format for transmitting data between two devices”.  FTP, POP, IMAP, HTTP are all various protocol types.  Generally, the user needs to know very little about each type of protocol, as long as the computer and software you are using to access these protocols fully supports whichever protocol you are using to communicate with other computers.

SEO: Search Engine Optimization.  SEO is just one of many industries brought on by the Internet.  SEO is the practice of attracting more of the right kind of visitors to your site.  Everyone wants not just more traffic to their site, but instead, more buyers!

PCI DSS:  Personal Card Industry Digital Security Standards.  If you accept credit card payments, you might have seen an extra charge in your merchant account billing statement a couple of years ago.  You must fill out a lengthy questionnaire form annually and based on those answers it is determined whether you are in compliance with the PCI DSS and whether or not that fee is levied.  Soon, if you are not considered compliant, you will not be able to accept credit card payments until you become compliant.

Did you know: www.VIADA.org was recently redesigned as a Responsive design.  To see the various forms this website can have, try viewing it on your smart phone, then your tablet, then on that big screen on your desk.  The site changes in layout and appearance from one device to the next.

Did you know: On April 21, 2015, Google changed its algorithm for determining which sites get listed as search results based upon whether or not the site is considered Mobile Friendly?  This change in the site ranking algorithm was dubbed, “Mobilegeddon” in the SEO industry.  Statistics indicate there is little or no loss of search engine traffic for sites that are not mobile friendly since this change took place. However, sites that became mobile friendly after this date have seen double digit percentage increases in mobile traffic.

Did you know:  Storing customers’ credit card information is considered to be in violation of the PCI DSS.  If you are a BHPH dealer and you have automatic payments getting debited to your customers’ credit cards, do it the right way by consulting with your merchant account provider about Recurring Payment options.

When car buyers hear dealers talk, they are often intrigued by the lingo.  When car dealers listen to their web providers, they are sometimes mystified.  Knowing the language will often clear the fog.  The most important thing for car dealers to realize is that their web provider should often be considered their advertising consultant.  In order to get the most from your advertising consultant it is important you understand what they are saying. Even more important, it is necessary for you to have a good working relationship with them.  If you can’t call your web provider and get answers to your questions or bounce ideas off of them, start your search for the right partner, today.