When first enlisting the services of a web developer you’re likely to hear many technical terms thrown about you are unfamiliar with (or just flat out don’t understand). Rather than just smiling politely with a puzzled look on your face we’ve decided to make things a little bit easier.
Here are the Top 20 web design terms and definitions you wanted to know but were afraid to ask….this time in English.
Alt Tags – An alt tag refers to the name you give any image within the code of your website. An alt tag is used to describe what a photo is to search engines or those who are visually impaired reading a website’s content.
Backlinks – A backlink is a link from another person’s website that links directly back to your website. A backlink coming from a higher ranking page (see domain authority and page authority) is considered more valuable from an SEO standpoint.
Browser – Your browser is an application installed on your computer (or mobile device) allowing you to surf the internet. The most well known browsers are Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari.
CMS (Content Management System) – A CMS is a program implemented into your website which allows you to update the content (such as pictures, text, design features ect.) without web development software. The most popular or well known content management systems are WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.
Domain Name: A domain name is the personalized website address for your website (in our case www.advancewebsolutions.ca) someone purchases for their business. The cost is typically a yearly fee and domain names are purchased from service providers such as GoDaddy, Namecheap or 1$1.
Domain Authority: The domain authority of your website in the score given to your website through Moz’s SEO ranking system. The score is considered a quality and popularity indicator based largely on how many other quality websites link to yours.
Favicon – A favicon refers to the little icon that appears in the browser tab of any website. It is used so website surfers can tell the difference between several pages that are open at once.
Google Analytics – Google analytics is a free service provided by Google Search Console that allows you to track the statistical data of your website. This includes number of page hits, page popularity, time spent on your website and other
ISP (Internet Service Provider) – Your ISP is the company that provides you with internet service such as Telus, Shaw or Bell.
Keywords – Keywords refer to the terms or phrases entered into a search engine (such as Google) to retrieve data on a particular subject or service. Keywords are also entered within the code of a website to let search engines know what the page is about and how it wants to be found.
Page Authority – A score given to a particular page on a website based on Moz’s SEO ranking system. A page with strong content, a good reputation and backlinks from websites (or social media) will have a higher page authority rating.
Ping – The ping is the reaction time of your connection or how fast you get a response after a request has been sent. A fast ping means a more responsive connection and is meadured in milliseconds (ms).
Responsive Website – A responsive website has a layout that adjusts to whatever screen size or device it is being viewed on. A responsive design will usually look different on a computer or laptop then it will on cell phone or tablet. This is done to make a website more readable and user friendly to all website users.
(PPC) Pay-Per-Click Advertising – Pay per click advertising is the purchase of advertising space through the internet. This could include spots on search engines, social media, or other company’s websites. You only pay when and if someone clicks on your ad and visits your webpage. Google Adwords, Facebook Ads and Twitter Ads are all examples of PPC.
Search Engine – A program that searches for information on the internet based on the keywords or phrases entered. The most popular search engines are Google, Bing and Yahoo.
SERP – Stands for search engine results page or the information that is displayed when somebody does a search in Google or other search engines. Typically 10 search engines results are displayed per page along with ads and other information such as location details or reviews.
Social Bookmarking – Social bookmarking is the process of storing or organizing various pages (bookmarks) on the web through one organized system. This usually involves someone’s favourite topics of interest whether it be personal or professional. Examples of social bookmarking sites include del.icio.us and digg.com.
Social Media – Social media is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration. The most popular social media platforms include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instragramand Google+.
Server – A server is a computer program or device that helps provide functionality for other programs (referred to as clients). As it relates to a website your web hosting space comes from that companies server which then in turn connects to the internet.
Spam – The technical definition of spam is flooding the internet with many copies of the same message to people who did not ask to receive it. Web spam is usually done in the form of email messages sent to people’s inbox or through their website blogs or content forms.
URL – Stands for Uniform Resource Locator which identifies a particular page or file on the internet. A URL will typically have the domain name first followed by the page or file extension.
Jeff Moyer – Professional Web Developer & Blogger
Jeff is the owner of Advance Web Solutions a calgary web design & internet marketing agency based in Calgary, Canada. To contact Jeff regarding any of his services visit us online or call (403) 374-2727 for more information.
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