Do you have issues understanding your website designer when he or she talks about your website? You are not alone. When one is professional in their field, they can forget that the person on the other end receiving the information may not be at all familiar with the terms they are speaking about. Here we will break down some of the most common jargon you might hear from your website designer or developer.
A domain name is a URL you type to get to a website, for example, www.londongreyco.com. It's what comes after “@” in an email address, or after “www.” in a web address. If someone asks how to find you online, what you tell them is usually your domain name. You can purchase your domain from several different websites, with one of the most popular being www.godaddy.com.
Web hosting makes the files that comprise a website (code, images, etc.) available for viewing online. Think of it like real estate. You want to build a new house, but you need to purchase land to put that house on. Your website is like that house and the land is like your hosting plan. You are purchasing server space to place your website on so that the world can view it.
SSL stands for secure sockets layer. Protocol for web browsers and servers that allows for the authentication, encryption, and decryption of data sent over the internet. You may have seen a little lock icon next to a website's domain name. That icon lets you know that the website has an SSL certificate. It is best practice to have your website on an SSL for security and safety reasons. You can learn more about SSL’s here.
You may have heard your web designer ask for a vector graphic of your logo or other images. Graphic designers use vector graphics to create graphics that need to be scaled. Vectors are graphics where each line, curve, shape, and color are mathematically defined. This lets designers create images that can be scaled down for a business card or up for a billboard without loss of image quality.
Wireframes are black and white layouts that outline placement areas of page elements such as feature sets, conversion areas, and navigation for your website or app. They do not have color, font options, logos, or any design elements. They are specifically used for focusing on a site's structure.
Mockups are a flattened or non-functional image of what your website or app will look like. Your designer will send you mockups of your project which you will review and ask for revisions if necessary. During the mockup process, you will decide on fonts, colors, graphic design, and content options.
White space, often referred to as negative space, is the portion of a page left unmarked: margins, gutters, and space between columns, lines of type, and graphics.
CTA’s is a marketing term that stands for “call to action”. As the name suggests, CTA refers to the next step (or action) a marketer wants its audience or user to take. Examples of CTA’s are “buy now”, “call today”, and “learn more”.
The 301 redirect means that a page has permanently moved to a new location. If you have a website currently that you are redesigning 301 redirects allow you to redirect certain pages or URLs to a new page, thus making the transition as seamless as possible. This is very important for SEO.
SEO is a popular buzz word that stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. It is the art of getting pages to rank higher in search engines such as Google.
PPC stands for Pay Per Click. You may have Googled something and noticed the first few website results have the term “ad” next to it - this is one of the many forms of PPC. PPC is a form of internet marketing in which companies pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. It's an effective way of buying visits to your website, rather than gain those clicks organically.
