/ 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.
SEO
Alt Text
Description of an image — for screen readers and image SEO.
SEO
Backlink
A link from another website pointing to yours.
Design
Brand Identity
The visual + verbal system that makes a brand recognisable.
Web
CMS
Content Management System — lets you edit your site without touching code.
Marketing
Conversion Rate
% of visitors who take the action you want.
SEO
Core Web Vitals
Google's three page-speed metrics that affect SEO ranking.
Marketing
CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation)
The discipline of getting more visitors to convert.
Marketing
CTA (Call to Action)
The button or link asking the visitor to do something.
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.
SEO
Google Business Profile
The free Google listing that appears in Maps and 'near me' searches.
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 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.
Tech
Page Speed
How fast your pages load — affects SEO and conversion.
Design
Responsive Design
A site that adapts its layout to any screen size.
SEO
Schema Markup
Structured data that helps Google understand your page content.
SEO
SEO
Search Engine Optimisation — making your site rank on Google.
E-commerce
Shopify
Hosted e-commerce platform — fast to launch, monthly fee.
Tech
SSL Certificate
The 'padlock' next to a URL — encrypts traffic between visitor and site.
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.
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.