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There’s a lot that goes into creating a website. From design and development to SEO and maintenance, it can be overwhelming for business owners who are trying to do it all themselves. In this blog post, we’ll break down each part of a website and explain the common terms you’ll come across when working with a web developer or designer. We’ll also discuss the different aspects of website creation and maintenance, so you can have a better understanding of what goes into building and maintaining a website.
Website Hosting Terms
Domain Name: The web address of your website. It’s the URL that people type into their browser to visit your site. The domain name is purchased from a domain registrar and must be unique (no two websites can have the same domain name).
Domain Registrar: A company that you purchase your domain name from. They are responsible for registering and managing domain names. Not all domain registrars offer web hosting, so be sure to check if the one you choose also offers hosting services.
Web Hosting: Where your website lives. It’s a physical location on the internet where your website files are stored. When someone types in your website address, the web hosting company’s servers send the requested pages to their computer.
Web Hosting Provider: The company that provides you with web hosting services. They house your website files on their servers and give you a place to point your domain name. There are many different web hosting providers to choose from, so do your research before choosing one.
Website Design Terms
Breadcrumbs: Links that show the path a visitor took to get to the current page. They help visitors backtrack if they’ve gotten lost, and they help search engines understand the structure of your site.
Call to Action (CTA): A button or text link that encourages visitors to take action. It’s a great way to get your visitors to do what you want them to do, whether it’s signing up for your mailing list or making a purchase.
Footer: The bottom part of your website that typically contains copyright information, social media links, and other contact information.
Header: The top part of your website that contains the site’s logo, navigation bar, and other important information. It usually spans the entire width of the page.
Homepage: The main page of your website. It’s the first thing visitors see when they visit your site and typically contains a welcome message, along with links to the most important pages on your site.
Hover State: The appearance of an element when the mouse cursor is placed over it. It’s used to provide additional information or functionality to the user.
Landing Page: A standalone web page that’s designed to convert visitors into customers. It’s often used as the main page of a website or as the entry point for a marketing campaign.
Layout: The way its content is organized on the page. There are many different layouts to choose from, and it’s important to choose one that meets your needs and helps you achieve your goals.
Menu: A list of links that appear at the top or side of your website. It allows visitors to quickly navigate to the page they want to visit.
Search Bar: A form on your website where visitors can enter keywords to find the information they’re looking for. It’s a great way to help them find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.
Webpage: A webpage is any page that’s hosted on a website. It can be a homepage, article, product page, or any other type of page.
Website Designer: A website designer is a professional who creates the look and feel of your website. They work with you to come up with a design that meets your needs and matches your branding.
Widget: Small pieces of code that can be embedded in a webpage. They allow you to add dynamic content to your sites, such as a list of recent blog posts or a weather widget.
Web Developer Terms
Back-End Developer: A web developer who specializes in the back end of a website, which is everything that happens behind the scenes. They use PHP, Ruby on Rails, and other programming languages to add functionality to a site.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): A programming language used to style the look and feel of a website. It allows you to change the colors, font, layout, and other aspects of your design.
Favicon: A small icon that represents your website. It’s displayed in the browser tab, and it helps visitors identify your site quickly and easily.
Front-End Developer: A web developer who specializes in the front end of a website, which is everything that visitors see and interact with. They use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create the design and layout of a website.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language): a programming language that websites are built with. It’s used to create the structure of a page and add content to it.
JavaScript: a programming language that’s used to add interactivity to websites. It allows you to create things like drop-down menus, forms, and other dynamic content.
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor): a server-side scripting language that’s used to add functionality to websites. It can be used to create contact forms, login systems, and other features.
Ruby on Rails: a web application framework written in the Ruby programming language. It’s used to create complex websites with dynamic content.
SSL Certificate: A digital certificate that’s used to encrypt data on a website. It helps keep information safe from hackers and other online threats.
Sitemap: A list of all the pages on your website. It helps visitors find what they’re looking for, and it helps search engines index your site.
Web Developer: A professional who builds and maintains websites. They use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create the structure and design of a website, and they use PHP, Ruby on Rails, and other programming languages to add functionality.
SEO Terms
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): The process of optimizing a website for Google search. It involves adding keyword-rich content to a site, building backlinks, and other techniques to improve your ranking in Google’s search results.
Alt-Text: The text that’s used to describe an image. It helps Google index your images and understand what they’re about. This text is also used by screen readers for people with disabilities.
Backlink: A link from another website to yours. They help improve your SEO by telling Google that your site is popular and relevant.
Heading: A piece of text that’s used to introduce or break up sections of content. It helps Google understand the structure of your page and what it’s about.
Inbound Link: A link from another website to yours. They help improve your SEO by telling Google that your site is popular and relevant.
Keyword: A word or phrase that someone would use to search for your website. It helps Google match your site to relevant searches. For example, if you sell dog food, your keywords could be “dog food,” “pet food,” and “animal food.”
Meta Description: A short description of your website that’s used in Google’s search results. It should be keyword-rich and describe what your site is about.
Outbound Link: A link from your website to another. They help improve your SEO by telling Google that your site is popular and relevant.
Robots.txt: A file on your website that tells Google which pages to index and which to ignore. This file can be used to improve your SEO by excluding pages that are duplicate or low-quality.
Title Tag: The text that’s used in the browser tab for your website. It should be keyword-rich and describe what your site is about.
EYStudios Is Different
At EYStudios, we don’t expect you to memorize all of the above in order to work with us. We walk you through every step of the process no matter the project whether it’s a website creation, redesign, marketing goal, or SEO project. Reach out to learn more about our free consultations.