/ Glossary
Web design, in plain English.
Every term we use, defined in one or two paragraphs. Built for small business owners who'd rather not pretend they know what 'schema markup' means.
Tech
.htaccess
Apache config file used for redirects, security and rewrites.
Tech
301 Redirect
A permanent redirect that passes SEO value to the new URL.
Tech
302 Redirect
A temporary redirect — search engines keep indexing the old URL.
Marketing
A/B Testing
Comparing two versions of a page to see which performs better.
SEO
Alt Text
Description of an image — for screen readers and image SEO.
SEO
Anchor Text
The clickable text of a hyperlink.
Tech
API (Application Programming Interface)
How two pieces of software talk to each other.
SEO
Backlink
A link from another website pointing to yours.
Design
Brand Identity
The visual + verbal system that makes a brand recognisable.
SEO
Canonical Tag
Tells Google which version of a duplicate page is the original.
Tech
CDN (Content Delivery Network)
A network of servers worldwide that serve your site from the closest one.
SEO
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The percentage of people who click your link after seeing it.
Web
CMS
Content Management System — lets you edit your site without touching code.
Marketing
Conversion Rate
% of visitors who take the action you want.
Marketing
Conversion Rate
The percentage of visitors who complete the goal you set.
SEO
Core Web Vitals
Google's three page-speed metrics that affect SEO ranking.
Marketing
Cost Per Click (CPC)
What you pay each time someone clicks your ad.
SEO
Crawl Budget
The number of pages Google bothers to crawl on your site per visit.
Marketing
CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation)
The discipline of getting more visitors to convert.
Marketing
CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation)
Improving the % of visitors who take action.
Marketing
CTA (Call to Action)
The button or link asking the visitor to do something.
Tech
DNS (Domain Name System)
The internet's phone book — turns domain names into server IPs.
SEO
Dofollow Link
A link that passes SEO authority.
Tech
Domain Name
Your website's address — like example.co.uk.
E-commerce
E-commerce
Selling products or services online.
Tech
Favicon
The small icon shown in browser tabs and bookmarks.
Web
Favicon
The small icon shown in browser tabs and bookmarks.
SEO
Featured Snippet
The answer box at the top of Google results.
Marketing
Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Google's current analytics platform — replaced Universal Analytics in 2023.
SEO
Google Business Profile
The free Google listing that appears in Maps and 'near me' searches.
SEO
Google Map Pack
The 3-business map result at the top of local searches.
SEO
Google Search Console
Google's free tool showing how your site appears in Search.
Web
Headless CMS
A CMS with no built-in front-end — content is delivered via API.
Tech
HTTPS
The secure version of HTTP — required for SEO and trust.
Marketing
Landing Page
A focused single page built around one offer or audience.
SEO
Local Citation
A mention of your business name, address and phone on another site.
SEO
Local SEO
Optimising to appear in 'near me' and Google Map searches.
Design
Logo
The mark or wordmark that visually represents a brand.
SEO
Meta Description
The 160-character snippet shown under your page in Google results.
Design
Mobile-First
Designing for phones first, then scaling up to desktop.
SEO
NAP (Name, Address, Phone)
Your business contact details — consistent across the web.
SEO
Nofollow Link
A link that doesn't (officially) pass SEO authority.
SEO
Open Graph Image
The preview image shown when your link is shared on social.
Tech
Page Speed
How fast your pages load — affects SEO and conversion.
Marketing
PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
Online advertising where you pay only when someone clicks.
Web
PWA (Progressive Web App)
A website that installs to the home screen like an app.
Design
Responsive Design
A site that adapts its layout to any screen size.
SEO
Rich Snippet
Enhanced Google result with stars, prices, FAQs, etc.
SEO
robots.txt
A file telling search engines which URLs to crawl or skip.
SEO
Schema Markup
Structured data that helps Google understand your page content.
SEO
SEO
Search Engine Optimisation — making your site rank on Google.
SEO
SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
The page Google shows after you search.
E-commerce
Shopify
Hosted e-commerce platform — fast to launch, monthly fee.
Tech
SPA (Single-Page App)
A site that loads once then swaps content via JavaScript.
Tech
SSG (Static Site Generation)
Build all HTML pages once at build time, serve them as static files.
Tech
SSL Certificate
The 'padlock' next to a URL — encrypts traffic between visitor and site.
Tech
SSR (Server-Side Rendering)
Generate the page HTML on the server for each request.
SEO
Technical SEO
The under-the-hood SEO basics — speed, indexing, schema, sitemaps.
Design
UI (User Interface)
The visual design — buttons, colours, type, layout.
Design
UX (User Experience)
How easy and pleasant a website is to use.
Tech
Web Hosting
The server that stores your website and delivers it to visitors.
Tech
Webhook
An API call sent from a service to your site when something happens.
Design
Wireframe
A low-fidelity sketch of a page before visual design.
Web
WordPress
The world's most-used CMS — powers 40%+ of websites.
SEO
XML Sitemap
A file listing every URL on your site — submitted to Google.