Confused by web jargon? This article’s for you! If you’re hiring a web designer or building a site yourself, it’s vital to know these common web tech terms.
Blog
Oh boy, well, blogs are basically the online version of a newspaper or magazine article. Sometimes the blog is the website, or, it’s a component of a website which is used for brand development and content/information marketing. For example, a wedding photographer may have a blog that features articles about the weddings she photographs, or, she may have a website, and the blog is just one part of that website. Blog articles can be as long as you like, and they can feature videos and images as well.
Browser
A browser is the vehicle you use to browse the World Wide Web (internet). You’re likely to be looking at this webpage either on the Firefox, Google Chrome or Internet Explorer browsers. You can download them for free and then make use of all their features.
Code
When you reduce it to its purest form, the online world comprises of code. The website you’re looking at now is created by code. To make a headline green, we need to input a code. The more complex the site, the more complex the code becomes and the more time-consuming and creative the task.
Content Management System (CMS)
As the name suggests, a CMS allows you to manage the content on your website. For example, if you’re a plumber who has created your own website, you can add new pages and articles, rather than hiring your web designer to do it for you.
Contact
This is a web-form that’s placed within a website so that people can input their details such as name, email address and phone number; and then send a message to you, the business owner.
Want more articles like this? Check out the business websites section.
Conversion Optimisation
The idea of a website is to either transform or convert a certain percentage of visitors/traffic into paying customers and/or, supporters, followers, readers and commenters. Conversion optimisation involves a great many things. For example, you may redesign your website so that it’s quick and easy to use, leading to a better user-experience. Or, you may write persuasive copy to convert more visitors into paying customers. The list goes on!
Copy
Copy refers to the words on your website. You can write copy yourself or you can hire a copywriter to do it.
Custom Theme
Every website has a theme, which refers to the design, colours and type of navigation it has. Rather than general, template-style themes, a custom theme is one that is created by a web designer and then coded into a website.
Domain Name/URL
A domain name is what you type into a web browser to get to a certain website, such as www.flyingsolo.com.au. It’s a slice of virtual real estate.
Forum
Many websites, such as this one, have a forum. A forum is a place/platform where people can chat using text-based posts. Users create threads within certain categories and then other people can comment on them in order to get a conversation going.
Flash
Designers these days can put together amazing websites that use moving graphics, animation or imagery, known as Flash. If you’re thinking of using Flash, the trick is to keep the overall size of the website (amount of code) on the lower end so it loads quickly and everything moves fluidly and smoothly.
Framework
This is the framework for your website, or building plans/blueprints.
More complex or dynamic websites and web applications are built upon Web Application Framework, or WAFs.
Knowing these web tech terms won’t make you an expert, but they’ll help you navigate your way through the website design process. Good luck with your website!
Common web design industry terms Part 2 is available here.
Do you need another term defined? Or would you like to add your own definition to a different tech term?
