Does website terminology confuse you? You’re certainly not alone! Luckily we’re here to explain what all of those abbreviations and terms mean.
Learning the Language
When you talk about websites, you may hear some unfamiliar abbreviations and terms. Do you find yourself walking away from the conversation and reaching for your phone to look them up?
At AndiSites we want our clients to feel empowered. But beyond that, we absolutely want you to feel like you can trust us and understand the work that we do for you.
So take a look at this brief list of website design terminology below. It will open up a whole new world of language!
Common Website Terminology
- 404 – This error message means that the page or post no longer exists on the site.
- Accessibility – The practice of making sure your site can be used by all people, with all abilities and impairments.
- Back End – This is the behind-the-scenes of your site that your users will never see.
- Caption – Text that appears below an image that either describes or gives additional information to that image.
- CMS – Stands for Content Management System. WordPress is the most popular CMS, and the one that we use here at AndiSites.
- CTA – Call To Action. A button, link, or similar that is often used to guide the user to the desired end result.
- Design Mockup – A prototype of a website made for evaluation, usually an image without functionality (that comes next!).
- Domain – This is your website address, typically something like “yourcompany.com” but there are many variations.
- Front End – What your users see when they browse your site.
- Hero Image – In website design terminology, this means the large image that appears at the top of a website, which can include text such as titles and headings, and even have buttons.
- Home Page – A home page is usually (but not always!) the first page a user will view of a site. It’s your site’s “front porch” and should serve to draw users in further.
- HTTPS – This is a prefix to some web URLs, sometimes with a little “lock” icon. It means that you have a secure connection to the site.
- Inside Page Template – This template is for designing a page that will continue to tell the story of the home page–usually for general information.
- Link – Also known as a hyperlink, it connects to data (such as another website or document) that the user can visit by clicking on it.
- Media Library – A virtual storage space for images, videos, and audio files.
- Page – A block of stored virtual memory on a website that does not expire and remains generally static.
- Plugin – Software that can installed to extend functionality and/or add new features to a WordPress website.
- Post – Content entries that are added over time, listed from newest to oldest to keep fresh information first. Usually used for news items and announcements.
- SEO – Search Engine Optimization. We have many blog posts on this important topic!
- Sidebar – A sidebar is a section of a site that may appear to the left or right of a main content area on a webpage.
- Sitemap – Check out our blog post comparing the differences between a visual sitemap and an XML sitemap.
- Slider – This is a slideshow of images that can be built into a web page.
- Theme – Files that work together to produce a uniform design, the theme dictates the way the front end of a site appears.
- URL – Uniform Resource Locator. This is the full path of the page that you wish to visit–the “web address.”
- UX – This means User Experience, and is all about whether the site is easy to use and intuitive. Read more about UX on our blog!
Did We Miss Anything You'd Like to Understand Better?
We hope that this guide to website terminology as shown above has helped you understand the discussions you may be having with your site designer and/or developer. But if we’ve left anything out, let us know!
Want to read more? Check out all our blog posts covering more aspects of creating and maintaining websites!
