There is almost nothing more frustrating than jargon, especially when you are trying to learn something new. This glossary will define common internet and web design terms you will hear or read about often.
Explore by Letter
If a letter is not linked, that means there is currently no glossary entries for that letter at this time.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J |K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Above the Fold
“Above the fold” is a phrase used to refer to what is seen on a screen when the page loads. “The fold” is the cutoff between what is seen on the screen, and what you have to scroll to see.
Accessibility
Web accessibility is the practice of designing and developing websites, apps, or other tech products so that all web users, specifically those with disabilities and those who use assistive technologies, can access information easily and equally.
Web accessibility aims to make the internet inclusive to all. It is not just a best practice, but in some cases, it is even legally required for a website to meet certain accessibility standards.
Affiliate
An affiliate, in the context of affiliate marketing, is someone who promotes or discusses another company’s service or product who may receive compensation if they drive new business to that company.
Analytics
Website analytics is the data you can use to measure the patterns and traffic of your website. Google Analytics is the industry-standard tool to measure your basic website analytics, but there are many different tools to capture all sorts of insights for your site.
It is important to monitor data so you can see what content is successful, where you may be losing visitors, identify new opportunities, and continue to refine your website.
B
Blog
Short for “web log,” blogs are a series of articles or journal entries published on a website. Blogs consist of “posts,” that show up in a blog feed, also called a “blog roll,” usually published in reverse chronological order.
Browser
Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorers are all examples of web browsers. Web browsers retrieve information from a web server (where the website is stored) and present it to the user.
Browser Compatibility
Websites can display differently depending on what browser you use. A website might look one way in Chrome, and another way in Internet Explorer. This is often why you might see recommendations such as “Don’t open this website in IE,” or some other warning of that nature.
Sometimes these can be small differences, and other times, the differences can be significant. It is always important when designing your website to check how your site looks in different browsers.
C
Cache
A cache stores information about you and the sites you visit in your browser in order for the information to be served to you quickly when you revisit a site. This could include webpages, cookies, and images.
Sometimes when you are troubleshooting an issue, you will want to “clear your cache” so you can refresh your page and get rid of files that were stored there.
Call to Action
A call to action is the main action you want a user to take, usually emphasized via visual design. Some examples of call to actions are “Learn More,” “Buy Now,” “Sign-up Today,” “Add to Cart,” “Subscribe Now,” and more.
Content
Content is a general term that can refer to the combination of words, files or multimedia present on a website.
Content Management System
A content management system is a tool that helps you manage web content. Within the tool, you can write, edit, upload, and compose content. Examples of content management systems include WordPress, Squarespace, and Shopify.
Cookies
Cookies are small bits of information stored by your web browser. Cookies can store information like your location settings, your preferred language, tracking information, and other personalization settings.
CSS
CSS refers to Cascading Style Sheets. CSS is code that controls the look and feel of a site. Think of HTML as the necessary, foundational building blocks of a site, and CSS as the paint, the style, and the pizzazz of a site.
D
Domain Name
A domain name is the name of your website. It should be concise, memorable, and unique. It covers your little spot on the internet, and all of your page URLs will include your domain name in it.
E
Evergreen
Evergreen is used to refer to content that will stay true over time. It is not breaking-news based and it does not cover passing trends. Evergreen content is like a fine wine – it gets better (by adding more value to your site) over time.
F
Favicon
A favicon is a small icon or logo that is located in the tab of your browser. Mine is a tiny champagne flute. Favicons help users to identify your site if they have a lot of tabs open. It is a subtle way to enhance your brand experience.
Footer
A footer is found at the bottom of a webpage. A footer on a website is usually the same on every page. Many websites will place important links in the footer for easy access, such as privacy policies, the about page, job opportunities, contact info and more.
Front-End
A front-end of a website is the part of the website a user interacts with.
H
Header
A header is the top part of your website. Like a footer, it is usually the same across all pages in your site. It will usually include your logo, your main navigation, and possibly a call to action.
Headings
Headings are one of the most important pieces of your webpage structure. Headings show the organization of the page and the importance of information.
In web design, you will have one H1 on each page, and from there, you will have H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6. You will rarely use H5s and H6s.
On this page, my H1 is “Basic Web Terms for Beginners Defined.” To organize the glossary, each letter is an H2, and then the glossary entries are H3s.
Headings are imperative for accessibility and can contribute positively to your SEO efforts.
Hero image/video
A hero image/video is the big image or video located at the top of a page. Hero image/video areas can take up the whole screen, or be smaller, and usually introduce or emphasize the narrative of the page.
Hosting
Web hosting is where your website physically lives. The files of your website are stored on computers called servers. Hosting companies own the physical servers, and you then pay a fee for your website’s files to be stored there.
Hover State
A hover state is how something on a webpage changes when the mouse moves over it.
HTML
HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. HTML is the basic code of websites, using tags to tell a browser how to display a web page. HTML provides structure, order, and functionality.
Hyperlink
A hyperlink is something that can be clicked to take you to a different destination. Links connect the World Wide Web! Links should always have a visual queue to show that they are clickable. Most often, links will be a different color than the body text and will be underlined.
K
Keyword
Keywords are words that are strategically chosen and placed throughout content to correlate with what a person might search for in order to find that content.
L
Landing Page
A landing page in digital marketing is a page where users are driven to via an ad with the hopes that they complete a singular action, such as sign up for something, buy a product, enroll in a course, etc.
Landing pages might live in a site, but will usually be standalone in that they will not have the site’s menu, header, or footer.
Lead Capture
A lead capture is a tool that is created to get “leads,” such as people’s email addresses, contact info, or just a mechanism for people to say they are interested in what your website is offering.
A common and successful lead capture strategy is to offer “freebies,” such as a downloadable PDF, in exchange for an email address.
Lorem Ipsum
Lorem Ipsum is placeholder text that is used by designers when working on a design. It is Latin text that has been used since the 1500s.
Example: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Praesent ut lobortis tellus. Nunc in ornare massa. Sed vel arcu est. Sed pulvinar augue neque, et sagittis ex ullamcorper at. Donec non tellus vestibulum urna tempor ullamcorper.
N
Navigation
The navigation of a website is how a user moves through a website. It can include menu structure, menu style, pagination, and information architecture.
O
Opt-in
An email opt-in is how someone signs up to be on your email list. It is important that everyone on your email list has opted-in on their own.
P
Page Builder
A page builder is a tool that can help you visually build a webpage without needing to know how to code.
Permalink
A permalink is the permanent link address, or full URL, of a webpage.
R
Responsive
Responsive design refers to how a webpage is designed to be displayed across different devices or screen sizes.
S
Self-Hosted
Self-hosted websites are when you pay a hosting company to host your website. This allows you to retain ownership of your site and gives you full control.
SEO
SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization.” Search engine optimization refers to how you optimize your website and your content to show up as high as possible in search results.
Server
A web server is the computer or software where your website actually “lives.” Servers respond to requests from web browsers to serve up a website when requested.
SSL Certificate
An SSL certificate protects the information that is being passed from a web browser to a web server. SSL certificates help your users trust your website and your business.
Stock Images
Stock images are professional images that can be licensed for you to use. Stock imagery can be free or purchased. It is always important to respect copyright and to fully understand and operate within the image’s license.
T
Top-level Domain
Top-level domain refers to the letters at the end of a web address that follow the period or “dot.” Examples of top-level domains include .com, .org, .biz, .edu.
U
URL
A URL is the web address of a website or web page.
User
A user is someone who uses or visits your website.
User Experience (UX)
User experience focuses on how a user interacts with and experiences your website. The goal of thinking with UX in mind is to create an easy, painless experience for all users.
User Interface (UI)
User interface refers to the actual components of your website that a user will interact with.
V
Vlog
A vlog, or a video log, is a series of video content.
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