Digital terms, in plain English.
The words agencies use, explained in a sentence or two. No jargon needed to read it.
A
- A/B test
- Showing two versions of a page or advert to different visitors to see which one performs better.
- Accessibility
- Building websites so that everyone can use them, including people who use a screen reader, a keyboard or larger text.
- Alt text
- A short written description of an image. Screen readers read it aloud and search engines use it to understand the picture.
- Analytics
- Tools that record how people find and use your website, so decisions are based on evidence rather than guesses.
- API
- A way for two pieces of software to share information. For example, a booking system sending new bookings to your website.
B
- Backlink
- A link from another website to yours. Search engines treat good backlinks as a sign that your site can be trusted.
- Bounce rate
- The share of visitors who leave after viewing only one page.
- Brand guidelines
- A document that explains how to use your logo, colours, fonts, images and tone of voice consistently.
C
- Caching
- Saving a ready-made copy of a page or file so it loads faster the next time someone asks for it.
- Call to action
- The button or link that asks a visitor to take the next step, such as Book a call or Get a quote.
- CMS
- Content management system. Software that lets your team edit website pages without writing code.
- Conversion
- A visitor taking the action you want, such as sending an enquiry, booking or buying.
- Conversion rate
- The share of visitors who take the action you want. Ten enquiries from 500 visitors is a 2% conversion rate.
- CRM
- Customer relationship management. Software that keeps track of your contacts, enquiries and sales in one place.
D
- Domain name
- Your website address, such as example.com.
E
- E-commerce
- Selling products or services through a website, including the basket, checkout and payment.
H
- Hosting
- The service that keeps your website on a computer connected to the internet so people can visit it.
K
- Keyword
- A word or phrase people type into a search engine. Pages are written to answer the keywords your customers use.
L
- Landing page
- A page built for one purpose, usually for visitors arriving from an advert or campaign.
M
- Meta description
- The short summary of a page that search engines can show under its title in the results.
O
- Organic traffic
- Visitors who reach your website from unpaid search results.
P
- Page speed
- How quickly a page loads and becomes usable. Slow pages lose visitors and can rank lower in search.
- PPC
- Pay per click. Online advertising where you pay each time someone clicks your advert.
R
- Responsive design
- A website layout that adapts to the screen it is viewed on, from a phone to a large monitor.
- Retainer
- An ongoing monthly agreement for a set amount of work, rather than a one-off project.
- ROI
- Return on investment. What you gained from a piece of work compared with what it cost.
S
- SEO
- Search engine optimisation. Improving a website so it appears higher in unpaid search results.
- Sitemap
- A list of the pages on a website. It helps search engines find every page.
- SSL certificate
- The security that puts https and a padlock in the address bar and protects information sent to your website.
U
- UI
- User interface. The screens, buttons and forms that people see and use.
- UX
- User experience. How easy and pleasant a website or app is to use from start to finish.
W
- Wireframe
- A simple outline of a page that shows what goes where before any visual design is done.
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