Website Terminology: Let’s Turn Lingo Into Language

When speaking to someone who creates websites every single day, they can often forget that many don’t know all the website terminology. When you live in that world, all the jargon starts to just blend in.

So, we’ve put together a list of terms you have probably heard, but might only have an idea what it actually means.

CTA

A call to action is any button on your website where you want a user to take an action and click on it. A “sign-up” button for a newsletter, an “add to cart” button, or even a “more services” button if you want the user to explore more of the things you offer.

Hero Image

This is essentially the billboard for your website. It is the first thing the user sees when they land on your website. It is extremely important for the design and copy to entice users to continue scrolling and explore the rest of the website.

This section may be in (or consist entirely of) a space we call “above the fold”, a term borrowed from newspapers to represent everything you see before you scroll.

Copy

Since we just mentioned it, we might as well define it, just in case. Simply put, copy is the text that appears on your website.

Hamburger Menu

Besides making us a little hungry, a hamburger menu (because they look like a little hamburger) is a toggle menu that compresses the navigation of the website into a single place.  They are mostly used on mobile versions of websites, but they can also be used for desktop websites as well.

Sticky Button/Header

If something is sticky on your website, it simply means it will follow the user as they scroll. So, the navigation bar might not disappear as you scroll, or an important CTA will stay with the user for the entire site experience.

Alt Text

This is the descriptive text in the backend of a website that helps the visually impaired, and also tells screen readers and search engines what the image is.

Backlinks

When another website references yours by sharing a blog post or product, that is called a backlink.

SSL Certificate

A “secure socket layer”, places encryption on all information being sent to and from your website. That’s what the “S” is in “HTTPS”!

You can read more about the importance of SSL in our other blog.

Hosting

Stores your website on a server, so it can be accessed over the internet. It’s basically renting space on the web!

Mockup

A visual representation of what your website will look like before it has actually been developed (all the coding and technical stuff).

UX

The user experience is how intuitive, accessible, straightforward, and fun your website is to actually use. The focus of your website should always be on how the end user feels when they actually use it.

For example, a 4K video in the hero section would look fantastic, but slow your site down to a crawl. Never implement anything that will sacrifice UX.

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(* based on advertised features)

EDITOR X
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EDITOR X
Dedicated Copywriter
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Dedicated Copywriter
Dedicated Project Manager
In-House Development
Limit Overuse of Individual Blueprints
Custom Blueprints
Multiple Payment Plans
SSL
SEO Optimizing Tool
Quick Turn Around Time
Optimized For Mobile
Hosting Included

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LAUNCH
WIX
Dedicated Copywriter
Dedicated Project Manager
In-House Development
Limit Overuse of Individual Blueprints
Custom Blueprints
Multiple Payment Plans
SSL
SEO Optimizing Tool
Quick Turn Around Time
Optimized For Mobile
Hosting Included

SQUARESPACE

LAUNCH
SQUARE
SPACE
Dedicated Copywriter
Dedicated Project Manager
In-House Development
Limit Overuse of Individual Blueprints
Custom Blueprints
Multiple Payment Plans
SSL
SEO Optimizing Tool
Quick Turn Around Time
Optimized For Mobile
Hosting Included

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