Wow (or confuse) your boss with our agency jargon debugger

Have you ever been left in limbo with the lingo?

According to the Oxford dictionary, Jargon is ‘special words or expressions used by a profession or group that are difficult for others to understand’.

For all you marketers, understanding agency jargon can be worse than stepping on Lego, can’t it? Our team TRY not to use it, but there are times we just have to.

So we built a glossary for you, so you can pop on and see what we’re talking about when you get stuck.

If we talk the talk, we need to walk the walk

We’re proud of the relationships we build with all our clients, and helping them out with everything they need across brand and website design, regardless of whether they know the lingo or not! Get in touch today, and find out how.

Ready to learn the lingo we love to hate with our ultimate guide? Let’s do this.

301 Redirects

A 301 status code means a page has been moved permanently to a new URL, whether that is on the same site or another domain. It’s a way to redirect people to a live URL if the one they were looking for has been taken down.

404 Error

You get a 404 error when you try to access a page that doesn’t exist anymore. The problem happens when pages are changed or removed, and no redirect is set up.

Above the Fold

The part of a web page that’s visible before scrolling.

Accessibility

Making your website available to as many people as possible. You can use different text sizes, fonts, and buttons to make it easier for people with disabilities.

Accordion

A section on a website that expands and collapses.

Acquisition

Where your website visitors originated from.

Ad Scheduling

The process of scheduling ads to automatically display at certain times of the day.

Address Bar

Address bars are text fields found in internet browsers used to input the web address/URL of a website. 

Aggregated Posting

The act of posting to several social media platforms from one location.

AI Design

Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) tools like Adobe’s Project Felix, Gator, Squarespace, and Wix have automated various time-consuming design tasks like creating colour schemes, selecting the right fonts, designing basic page layouts and creating 3D composites.

Algorithm Updates

Google updates its ranking algorithm pretty frequently, some are more focused on specific improvements, and others are more general. These things affect how a website ranks in search results.

ALT Tag

An image ALT tag (or more specifically, attribute) lets us tell Screen Readers or search engines like Google what the image depicts. This is essential for Accessibility.

Analogous Colours

Analogous colours are next to each other on the colour wheel and create a calming palette together.

Analytics

A way to understand your customers’ behaviour across several channels by collecting, measuring, and analysing data.

Analytics Tool

A software application or web application that can help businesses determine whether their activity is hitting their goals.

Anchor Text

A text link that takes you to another page of a website when clicked.

Angular

Angular is an application design framework and development platform for creating efficient and sophisticated single-page apps.

APACHE

Apache is the most widely used web server software. Developed and maintained by Apache Software Foundation 

API (Application Programming Interface)

Communication software between two systems. It functions as a type of messenger that relays your request to a system and then relays the response back to you. 

Application (App)

A collection of features available to users in an easy-to-use digital format. 

ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Application) 

A term used to describe technologies that connect a website or app with users, based on the concept that web apps get used by people of all ages and backgrounds, with different needs. 

Aspect Ratio

A mathematical ratio between the width and height of a rectangle (screen), with two numbers separated by a colon (width:height). For example, Widescreen TV is 16:9.

Asset Migration

The movement of logos, images, and other visual assets from one format or location to another, so that they’re all saved and used in their highest-quality, most suitable format.

Attribution Window

During this time frame, a conversion event can be claimed after an interaction with an ad. 

(Social Media) Audience 

How many people like or follow your social media account.

Average Order Value (AOV)

Retailers use this metric to analyse their customers’ buying habits. Every time a customer places an order through their site, it tracks the average amount spent. 

A/B Testing

The process of comparing two versions of a webpage, campaign or ad to find out which one works best. Sometimes called ‘split testing’. 

Backlink

A link created when one website links to another.

Banner Ads

Digital ads with a fixed or animated image that can be placed across different websites to get traffic.

Basecamp

An online collaboration app used by our team to manage their work together and communicate with each other and clients. It’s a place to keep track of all the tasks, deadlines, files, discussions, and announcements about projects.

Benchmarking

Evaluation of a campaign by setting targets against which results can be compared, such as efficiency, digital behaviour and feedback.

BERT

BERT is an enhanced search engine aid that affects how search engines process everyday language. With this feature, Google can read language the same way humans do, so it can better understand what a user is searching for.

Big Idea

Think of a big idea as a simple, overarching statement to express your brand.  It’s a concise way to sum up the relationship between a brand and consumers, and it’s something that anyone involved in the brand can get behind. 

Blog

A website or section of the website that’s regularly updated to connect with a relevant target audience.

Bounce Rate

The percentage of all sessions on your site in which users viewed only a single page.

Brand

You can use the term ‘brand in two different ways:

• An arm of a bigger corporation. 
• How people feel about a company or product line. In essence, a brand is what people believe about your business based on their own experiences, verbal reports, advertising, or other brand expressions (logo, colour scheme, writing style, etc.). Even though it’s not measurable, it’s one of the most important factors in running a business because it creates loyal customers and allows you to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Brand Affinity

When customers form an attachment and feel loyalty to a certain brand and its products, often sharing the same values as the brand.

Brand Asset

An asset a company can use to identify itself. It’s usually an image, logo, or phrase that’s directly tied to your business. 

Brand Core

This is the foundation for your brand. It includes your purpose or ‘why’, your vision or philosophy, and your values/reasons to believe. A brand’s core plays an important role in providing clarity to the brand.

Brand Equity

Equity is basically how much value a brand holds – the more positive associations a brand has, the higher its value. 

Brand Guidelines

An established set of rules that outline how your brand should be represented. Your brand strategy is usually in there, as well as a style guide for your logo and visual look and feel.

Branding

Actions you take to make your brand stand out. You can apply visual cues that demonstrate your brand’s identity to products, services, and other locations where people interact with it.

Brand Key

We use this process to figure out what a brand represents, the framework underpinning it, and its message. Brand development begins with a brand key which indicates the external conditions that influence how a brand is perceived and the DNA which outlines how a new brand will progress or how an existing brand can be reshaped. 

Brandmark

A logo or icon that generally doesn’t use a company’s name, and uses a symbol or mark instead.

Brand Persona

The brand persona is about creating a human connection with your audience. In EQ, it is determined by personality, voice and the Big Idea. You can think of it as how your brand would be if it were a person.

Brand Positioning

The way a brand positions itself within a given market in order to differentiate itself from its competition. 

Brand Poster

Overview of top-level brand guidelines in a bite-sized format.

Brand Signature

An integrated design system consisting of a logotype, brandmark/icon, and tagline. 

Brand Story

A narrative to articulate the facts and feelings your brand generates.

Brand Strategy

The systematic building of a brand to reach business goals. In essence, brand strategy is all about shaping perceptions of a brand’s audience.

Breadcrumbs

Those links at the top of a website let users know where they are by showing them which pages/categories they clicked to get there.

Buying Signal

Actions that indicate buyers are getting close to deciding to buy.

Cache

Websites and browsers load faster by storing temporary data here.

Call to Action (CTA)

Content that encourages people to take a specific action, for example ‘Buy Now’.

Canonical Tag

A way to tell search engines that a specific URL should be considered the “master”. This is often used when there are several pages that discuss a similar topic.

Captcha

A way to check if a person filling out an online form is real or a spam bot. One form of CAPTCHA displays distorted letters and numbers that users have to enter into a box before they can submit a form. Others ask you to select images or a certain type.

Carousel 

Using a carousel format, you can display multiple images or videos in a row. By swiping on their phone or using the arrows on their computer screen, users can scroll through the content.

Cart Abandonment Email

These emails are sent in response to potential customers who have added something to their cart on an online store, but do not proceed to the checkout. An effective method for recovering lost sales.

ccTLD (Country Code Top-Level Domain)

This tells search engines where your site is located and what country it’s targeting, like .uk or .fr.

Chatbot

A computer program that mimics human conversation. This tool has a chat interface so users can communicate like they’re in a real conversation. The chatbot interprets the user’s words and responds with a pre-programmed answer.

Click-Through-Attribution

When someone clicks on an ad and takes action. 

Click-Through-Rate

How many people clicked on your website link compared to how many people saw it. The percentage of people who clicked on at least one link in your email for example.  

Click to open rate (CTOR) 

An indicator of how well the email message, design, and content performed, and if the recipient was interested enough to act.

CMS (Content Management System)

Digital content management software. WordPress and Magento are popular CMS platforms.

CMYK

A colour model used for printing. CMYK colours are made up of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. CMYK colours start out white and then get darker as more colours are added.

Code

A language for building websites. HTML, CSS, JavaScript & PHP are the most popular languages.

Code Ignitor

An MVC Framework used by developers to build web applications.

Contrast

A contrast between two components of a page, which makes it easy to identify one from another. It could be a difference in colour between the text and the background, or it could be a contrast in darkness versus lightness.

Consultancy

The practice of giving expert advice within a certain field.

Conversion Event

Conversion events are triggered whenever a user takes some action on your website, such as filling out a contact form or making a purchase, creating a record for each action in a system like Google Analytics.

Colour palette

A brand’s colour scheme to make them stand out in their industry.

Colour Theory

Understanding how colours can communicate meaning, an important part of branding, design and marketing.

Colour Wheel

Design tool used to show how colours relate to each other. One aspect of colour theory.

Complementary Colours

Colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel (red and green, for example).

Comment Spam

An irrelevant or unrelated comment left on a blog/post by a spammer, only to link back to themselves.

Content Marketing

Marketing using online materials like videos, blogs, and social media to get people interested in a product or service.

Content Migration

The transfer of content, like text, images, and videos from one website to another as part of a website redesign.

Content Optimisation System (COS)

A tool that optimizes content so the user gets a fully personalised web experience.

Consumer Messaging

A framework for how a brand communicates with its customers and potential clients.

Conversion

It’s an action on your site that accomplishes a goal. Making a booking, getting a quote, or calling, for example.

Cookies

The browsing directory on your computer stores these little text files. Every time you visit a website, a cookie is embedded in your browser, and that website also stores cookies, so they can track your activity and store information about your movements. In a subsequent visit, a cookie can remember where you left off with your login, page selections, and preferences.

Cool Colours

Calming and soothing colours, like blue, green, and light purple, found on the green side of the colour wheel.

Core Web Vitals

The factors Google considers important in the user experience of a webpage. With page speed and user interaction measures, they’re basically a way to gauge the overall quality of your site. 

CPA (Cost Per Action)

CPA (Cost Per Action) is an online advertising model where advertisers pay only when a specific action is completed by a user, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or signing up.

Cost-per-Click (CPC)

The average cost each time someone clicks on your ad.

CPM (Cost Per Mille)

CPM (Cost Per Mille) is an online advertising model where advertisers pay for every 1,000 impressions of their ad. Impressions refer to the number of times the ad is shown to users, regardless of whether they click on it or not.

Crawling

The process of a search engine reading the pages of your site. This will result in your pages, images and media such as PDFs being catalogued and presented in the Google Search Results.

CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation)

Changes you make to a website to increase conversions.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)

A coding language used by developers to change the style of websites. You can use CSS for fonts, colours, layouts, etc. 

Data Analysis

Analysis of user databases and websites to find patterns in consumer behaviour.

Design Thinking

A creative approach to solving problems that takes into account empathizing, defining, gathering ideas, prototyping, and testing.

Development (Dev) Site

This is where developers make changes and updates to an existing copy of your website before making it live to the public.

Device

An item of tech designed for a specific purpose or function, such as a laptop, smartphone, or smartwatch.

Discovery

The steps taken at the beginning of a project with stakeholders, clients, and audiences in order to better understand what they need and why.

Digital Branding

The digital actions taken to build brand recognition and loyalty.

Digital branding can tell a brand story, engage with your audience, and create a subconscious association with your brand.

The impact of digital branding on your team is just as important as its effect on your audience because an engaged team works harder to articulate a brand.

Digital Cross-Selling

Digital tools and platforms that a seller uses to try and sell products and services that complement something the customer already bought, based on user history.

Digital Upselling

By determining the most relevant products and services for people, the use of digital tools and data encourages them to upgrade their products and services and therefore make the sale more profitable.

Directory

A place to store files on a device or server. Most computers call directories folders.

Direct Message (DM)

An email or inbox message sent directly to the consumer, like Facebook or Instagram Messenger.

Direct Marketing

Direct communication with consumers through email, SMS messages, interactive web pages, etc. You reach the target audience directly instead of relying on a third party.

Direct traffic

Visitors that came to your site by typing in your URL or via bookmarks.

Doctype (Document Type Declaration)

The elements that make up a web page, used to present information in different ways.

Domain Name

A unique name for your website. As soon as the address is typed into the browser, your computer looks up the IP address for that website. 

DNS (Domain Name Server)

DNS is what converts alphabetic domain names into IP addresses on the Internet. DNS servers give you the IP address of the web server associated with a web address (URL). Your domain name wouldn’t work without DNS, so you’d have to type in a series of numbers and dots.

Dots per Inch (DPI)

DPI measures dots per inch that can be printed on a page. 

Dropdown Menu

Options that appear when you hover over or click a menu item or field.

Duplicate Content

Copies of text from another page on your site, or from another website (it isn’t good, we shouldn’t do it).

Dwell Time

How long a user stays on your site before they go back to the search results.

Dynamic Content

Digital content that adapts and changes as a result of user data, preferences, and behaviours.

Dynamic Logo

Adaptable logo that can reflect current events, brand updates, etc.

Ecommerce

The buying and selling of goods or services online.

Email Service Provider (ESP)

Email marketing or bulk email services offered by a commercial email hosting company.

Emotional Selling Point (ESP)

The thing that makes people buy from or engage with your brand. This is very different from a USP (unique selling proposition), which is all about the logical reasons to buy instead.

Encryption

To protect sensitive information over the internet, encryption converts data to an unidentifiable format that is then decrypted once received.

Engagement

A measure of how much interaction there is on a brand’s social media. Commenting, liking, and retweeting are all forms of social media engagement.

Engagement Rate

Engagement rate is a metric that calculates the percentage of audience interaction with a social media post, measuring its effectiveness in driving engagement.

Entrances

How many users began their session with a specific website page. Could also be said to be a landing page.

EQ (Emotional Quotient)

A measure of emotional intelligence; the capability of perceiving, using, understanding, managing, and dealing with emotions. 

Eshot

Emails designed to attract new customers to your business. They are also a great tool for maintaining effective, regular communication with existing clients.

Event Tracking

Tracking the stuff that isn’t tracked as standard on a website. Google Analytics uses code on web pages to track and measure things like downloads, video views, and clicks etc.

Exit Page

A website user’s last page before their session ends or before they leave. 

External Links

Links that direct users to another website.

Favicon

In the web world, a favicon is a small (16 x 16 pixel) icon used on a browser to represent a website. You can find them in the top tabs of your web browser, and they can also be added to the browser’s history and bookmarks.

Field

Most commonly found on a contact form on a website, you would enter your name, email, etc. into fields that are then submitted to the company who owns the website.

Fixed Element

A scrolling technique where some elements are fixed in the browser while the rest scrolls. It’s so the user always sees the essential part of a page. A ‘Sticky Nav’ is a good example of this.

Flat Design

Minimalist design approach focusing on usability, simplicity, and simplicity (the opposite of skeuomorphism). 

Follower

A social media account subscriber who likes or followers a brand to get regular updates from businesses they’re interested in.

Font

A term used to describe the different sizes, weights, and styles within a typeface.

Footer

A website’s footer is at the bottom of every page, below the main content. Its purpose is to provide information and navigation options to users. This section normally repeats some appropriate elements of the header, displays social media links, and includes legal information.

Front End

A front end is the part of a site that users interact with. All the stuff you see on the internet is a combination of HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Front-end developers work on the layout, design, and content you see when you open a website or app. Front-end is all about responsiveness, look and feel, experience, brand and performance.

Gated Content

Content that you can only access by filling out an online form.

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations)

Introduced in 2018, this legal framework states which personal information can be collected, processed, and stored about users.

Geotargeting

A way to advertise to a specific market based on geography. Content varies by location, making it more relevant to certain audiences.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)

A file that can contain either static or animated images. GIFs that move are made by looping short pieces of silent animation in place of text.

Goal Conversion Rate

The percentage of users who convert vs. the number of users who have visited your website.

Google Ads

Known formerly as Google AdWords, this form of Pay per Click (PPC) is Google’s online advertising platform where you pay to show your ads to web users. As a result, you will pay for every click your advertisements receive.

Google Analytics

An analytics tool from Google that tracks and reports website traffic, giving you invaluable information about your website’s performance, demographics, user locations etc.

Google Data Studio

A free tool that helps you create reports from Google Analytics data. It’s a great way to monitor the performance of your website.

Google Optimize

Google Optimize is a free tool that allows you to perform A/B split testing on your website. 

Google Performance Planner

This tool makes it easy to plan your advertising budget. It helps forecast campaign performance and manage budgets.

Google Search Console

This free platform lets us monitor, manage, and troubleshoot website issues. It reports on mobile usability, coverage issues and core web vitals. 

Google Tag Manager

This free tool helps you set up tracking code that collects analytical information on your website. You can trigger events based on how your website is being used or install small snippets of code on your site without having to actually change it..

Golden Ratio

The golden ratio results from two objects divided by each other, which result in the number 1.6180 (or close to that). This happens a lot in image composition and website design.

Gradient

Colours gradually changing from one to another (e.g., black turning blue) or an opaque colour fading into transparency. 

Grid

Grids are rows and columns that are evenly spaced. A grid helps designers arrange elements consistently on a page. 

Hashtag

An open-ended link used on social networks to highlight a topic in a status update. Placing the hashtag symbol (#) with a word or phrase makes it easy for others to find posts or messages within a particular topic of interest.

Hash! (Hash Bang)

You’ll have seen this on many sites – #! It allows the front end code of the website to direct you to a specific area of the page without reloading it.

Header

The first thing a user sees on a website. It’s the top part of the page and it can be fixed or floating. An eye-catching header makes your brand instantly recognisable. 

Header Tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.)

The headers on your page help users and search engines understand what each section is about. There are a few different types of headers, which is important for information hierarchy too, so information is easy for the user to digest.

Heatmap

A colour-coded summary of the engagement level on a specific webpage. Using heatmaps to highlight areas of high activity web designers and marketers increase conversion rates.

Hex

An identifier used to represent colours in HTML, CSS, and design.

Hierarchy

A design principle used to show the relative importance of the content on each page.

Hosting

A service that allows companies to make space on servers available for people to store their websites so that they can appear on the Internet. This often provides an email service too.

Hotjar

An online tool that provides website owners with access to real-time screen recordings, surveys, and polls of site visitors. It can be used to monitor the effectiveness of changes made to the website, or to identify usability issues.

Hreflang Tags

This tag tells Google what language you are using on a specific page, so it can serve it to a user searching in that language.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

A set of codes, referred to as elements or tags, that tell the browser how to display a webpage. 

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

The way that a device (client) talks to a server in order to request a web page to view.

HTTPS traffic

The secure version of HTTP. When a device (client) requests a web page from a server, the request is encrypted for transfer across the internet and then decrypted to be displayed. HTTPS is a ranking factor for Google, so it should always be used.

Hummingbird

An important tool for SEO, Google’s parent algorithm is always evolving. This facilitates Google’s ability to understand the language used when searching online. In order to find relevant results, Hummingbird uses whole sentence structures rather than single keywords.

Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks are words or phrases, often blue and underlined, that you click on to jump directly to specific pages/documents, either within the original document or to another page entirely.

Icon

An image that represents something. A pen icon, for example, could represent writing.

iFrame (Inline Frame)

It is basically a frame within a frame, so you can incorporate content from another website onto your own. 

Image File Types

You see an image file every time you look at a picture online. Two of the most popular examples of image file types used in web design are JPEG and PNG. WebP is a new “next generation” file format that produces smaller image sizes.

Image Map

An online image which is broken up into clickable sections with links.

Impressions

Social impressions are the number of times a post or content is displayed on social media feeds or pages, indicating the potential reach or visibility of that content.

Impression

A website’s impressions tell you how many times it’s been viewed. In online marketing, it’s a count of the number of times your content is displayed, whether people click on it or not.

Indexed Pages

Google indexes a page after it has been crawled, analysed, and determined to contain sufficient relevant data to be shown in search results. 

Infinite scrolling

When the user scrolls down a page toward the bottom, a new section of content is loaded and displayed at the bottom, continuously updating until the user stops scrolling.

Information Architecture (IA)

This is the process by which web pages and content are grouped, displayed, and arranged. The goal of IA is to determine where certain pages and content go on a site, as well as how they relate to each other. 

Influencers

High profile people who influence buying habits through product placements and endorsements, mostly due to their social media presence.

Infographic

An easy-to-understand visual representation of facts and data.

Input Field

This HTML element lets you create interactive controls on web forms that allow users to input data or select options.

Insights Tool

A type of app which allows businesses to evaluate the impact of their activities on their goals.

Internal Linking

Links that lead from one page on your website to another.

IP Address (Internet Protocol Address)

Your network hardware identifier. All devices have a unique IP Address, which allows them to be recognised by other systems online.

IP Tracking

A method of following and observing users’ visits to a website. Using it, you can identify the server from which a visitor accessed your website and the owner of that server.

JavaScript

This is a programming language commonly used to create website features. Using it, developers can add interactive elements like buttons, sliders, pop-ups, and more.It can also be used server-side and is widely used in frameworks like nodeJS, React and Angular.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

An image file format that uses lossy compression, which reduces the quality of images by applying compression to the actual pixels.

JSON

JSON is an acronym for JavaScript Object Notation. JSON is a self-describing format for transferring data between web services. It is commonly used by RESTful API systems.

Kerning

An expression used to refer to a space between two letters. It’s also the name of the process of adjusting these spaces to improve legibility.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

A way to track and measure how well a business performs against set targets.

Keyword

The words or phrases users type into search engines to find relevant websites.

Keyword Density

The number of times a keyword appears on a page compared to the number of words on it.

Keyword Optimisation

Making changes to the content of a webpage to make it more visible to search engines for a certain phrase. Also known as SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

Keyword Rankings

The position your website is currently ranking for specific search terms. Each page is numbered in tens, so 1-10 corresponds to the first page, 11-20 to the second, etc.

Keyword research 

An analysis of search terms entered into search engines by users when searching for products, services, or general information that could be relevant to the website being optimised. 

Knolling

A method of photographing objects from above after placing them at 90-degree angles to each other. 

LAMP

A common form of this acronym is “LAMP Stack”. A server running LAMP is one that runs Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP.

Landing Page

The first page you arrive at after clicking an ad, link, search engine result, email, social media, etc. Sometimes, this is a standalone page specifically designed to receive and convert targeted traffic.

Laravel

Laravel is an MVC Framework that is used by developers to build web applications.

Last Interaction (Attribution)

A conversion model that considers the last click the customer made at the location where they came from.

Launch

Planned and coordinated steps to introduce or make available new brands, websites, mobile apps, etc., to the public. Launch marketing is the process of introducing a brand, app, website, service, etc. into the relevant market and at the right time and to the right target audience. 

Lazy Loading

When a section of a page is only loaded when required rather than everything loading at once. This is generally applied to images to ensure the page load time is as fast as possible. 

Lead Funnel / Conversion Timeline

A map of the moment a user finds you online, right through to the moment they complete a desired action or conversion.

Leading

The vertical spacing between lines of text. When a piece of content has more than one line of readable text, leading is used to ensure a comfortable spacing between the bottom of the words above and the top of the words below. Often referred to as Line Height in website development.

Lightbox

These types of pop-ups are typically used to promote content, such as surveys, new products, or significant announcements. This overlay blocks the page and dims the background, preventing use of the page until the action is taken, like clicking on a button. These should be used with caution, as users don’t like them very much as a rule!

Linear (Attribution)

An attribution model looks at multiple touchpoints along the customer’s journey, and not just the last click.

Link Building

A method of acquiring high-quality links to your website from other websites.

LINUX

An operating system, just like Windows, iOS, and Mac OS. Linux powers one of the world’s most popular platforms, Android. 

Local Listings

An online business directory profile that has info about your business like opening hours, address, website, etc. Google Business listings are an example.

Logo

Logos are made up of images and/or text to identify businesses and brands. Logos aren’t your brand, but rather one part of your branding.

Logotype

A type of (or a part of) a logo, this is a company’s name which is designed in a visually distinct way to allow it to be easily recognisable. 

Long-Tail Keywords

Multiple-word search terms like “Website development for small businesses”. These are more specific, so they get less searches, but they have more targeted results.

Lookalike Audience

Targeting an audience on Facebook based on an imported custom list. Facebook finds people who haven’t heard of your business but have similar attributes with your existing customer base.

Look and Feel

Things you see and feel that make you feel connected to a particular brand. Digital elements are just one strand of it. 

Lorem Ipsum

When copy isn’t ready, this piece of Latin-look text is commonly used as placeholder text in design. Since it has a roughly average distribution of letters, it resembles readable English.

Machine Learning

Computer systems can learn from patterns to make predictions based on previously stored data, for example, spam detection is a good example of how this works.

Magento

An eCommerce platform that allows businesses to customize their online store in terms of its appearance, content, and functionality.

Mail Merge

Automated process for sending emails to recipients in a contact list. The content of every message consists of similar information, but it will be tailored to the specific recipient.

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

Leads who have shown interest in a brand and then engage by taking action, such as submitting an enquiry form, downloading information from websites, or adding items to their shopping cart.

Marketing Mix

Components of a marketing strategy to increase the likelihood of a brand being noticed and products purchased by customers.

Measurement

Gathering data for the purpose of gaining insights and acting on these findings to improve future engagements.

Mega Menu

A wide, deep dropdown menu on a website that provides links to other parts of the website. It can also be used to show imagery and a short description to guide users to the content they are looking for. 

Meta Description

Similar to a meta title, this is a description which also shows in the SERPS’s (Search Engine Results Pages), and helps convey to users why they should choose your website over another.

Meta Language Tags

The code at the top of a website which tells search engines what country and language the page content is most relevant for.

Meta Title

The element of a page that appears in search engine results (SERPS) and in a browser’s pages tab. Keywords in this element tell search engines what a page is about. 

Metrics 

To measure the effectiveness and success of a digital campaign, metrics are used to capture key elements like lead quality, connections, and close times.

Mobile-Friendly

Sites that are mobile-friendly are developed so their content is easily readable through smartphones and tablets.

Modular Design

A grid-based design system which creates a neat, uncluttered appearance and provides flexibility for displaying content. 

Modules

The parts of a webpage that are not the Header, Footer, or Banner. A group of elements that are contained within an area or box and include more than one item, e.g. a box with text and a button.

Monochrome

In design or photography, a single colour or a few shades of that one colour is described as monochrome.

MVC Framework

Software that enables developers to build web applications. MVC is an acronym for Model, View, Controller and which is the structure of the system keeping complex code and front end templates separate to aid development. Examples of MVC frameworks are Laravel, Code Ignitor and Yii.

mySQL

A relational database management system (RDBMS) that is free to download and use. In addition to being free and open-source software, MySQL is also available with a variety of proprietary licenses.

Narrowing Statement

When you target a niche audience with your marketing. 

Native Ads

Ads on online platforms which are integrated into the site’s look and functionality.

Navigation

User interaction with websites, pages and apps, via the internet, in a way that allows users to navigate between pages quickly and easily. A well-designed navigation structure should allow your users to navigate to any page on your website without difficulty. 

Negative Keyword

Platforms such as Google Ads offer keyword targeting so you don’t display your ads for the wrong searches. 

Netiquette

Network etiquette. The standard of behaviour expected online.

Newsletter

A way to communicate with subscribers regularly. You can use it to promote news, articles, and content relevant to your audience, sometimes highlighting special offers or benefits.

NGINX

Pronounced “Engine X”. Open source software for web serving, caching, media streaming, etc. 

NoIndex Tag

An HTML meta tag value that can be added to the HTML source code of a webpage to suggest to search engines that they exclude that page from their results. 

No-code Design

No-code development is a type of web development that allows non-programmers and programmers to create software using a graphical user interface, instead of writing code. The no-code movement rests upon the fundamental belief that technology should enable and facilitate creation, not be a barrier to entry.

Off-Page SEO

The outside activities you engage in to increase a page’s search engine ranking outside of your website.

On-Page SEO

Various tasks that can be performed on a website to improve its ranking in search engines for specific keywords, in order to improve search visibility and traffic. 

Opacity

We can use opacity to make an element of a design transparent. The lower the opacity, the more transparent the element becomes. 

Open Source

Software provided with the original source code, which may be modified and redistributed.

Operating System

Software that manages the hardware resources on your device. An operating system is responsible for allowing your software and hardware to communicate. Software cannot function without an operating system.

Opt-In

Marketing based on user consent, where a company stores a user’s email address to provide ongoing communication and offers to their inbox. 

Organic Traffic

Website visitors who find you through a search results page.

Orphan

One or more short words or lines that appear at the end of a paragraph or the beginning of a column or a page, separated from the main body of the text.

Outreach

In outreach marketing, businesses are able to advertise to a larger audience of people who fit their target demographic.

Page Impression

Page impressions measure the number of times an individual views specific elements of a website.

Pages/Session 

The average number of pages viewed during a session, including repeated views of a single page.

Page Titles

Also known as a “title tag”. This is written in HTML and is displayed in the title bar. Page titles are displayed along with their search results so that search engines can identify the contents of a website.

Page Views

The number of times a page is viewed. Multiple views of a single page are counted.

Pantone

Pantone Matching System (PMS) is a design industry-standard for colour reproduction. A number is given to each hue so people can easily reference the same colour and reproduce it.

Parallax scrolling

The use of different background and foreground designs on the web creates the illusion of layers and depth. This can be used to add depth to site designs and move in response to the user’s scrolling.

Payment Gateway

When processing payments, a payment gateway enables secure communication between a website and a third party. The system ensures the funds are available so that the merchant can accept payment as well as validates a customer’s card details. 

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

This is a form of paid advertising that allows you to showcase your products or services to your customers and only pay when they click on your ad and visit your website.

Percentage of New Visits

Visits by new users versus visits by returning visitors.

Performance Monitoring 

Making sure your website is healthy and competitive. 

Permalink

Links that give the permanent address of a website section, and they are almost exclusively used in conjunction with blogs. A permalink on a blog allows a user to bookmark or link specific posts, even if those posts move from the home or main category pages.

Personal Brand

An individual’s personal brand is a unique image that identifies and differentiates them. A strong brand makes it easier for potential customers to respond to what you have to offer.

Pixel

This represents the smallest part of an image or graphic displayed on an electronic screen, such as a computer screen or TV. A higher number of pixels will allow an image to display more detail since it can represent an image better. Pixel count is often referred to as “resolution” of an image.

PHP

A scripting language for web development that is available free of charge and can be embedded in HTML pages.

Platform

This expression describes a computer system on which a software program runs. 

Playbook

A reference guide that details how a business plans to handle its marketing efforts for a specific channel or campaign.

Plugin

Plugins provide extra functionality to WordPress.

PNG 

This is a Portable Network Graphics file with “lossless” compression. This means that the image quality was the same before and after compression. PNG backgrounds are often transparent.

Post

Any text, video, or image posted to a social media platform by a user or left as a comment on someone else’s profile.

Pixels Per Inch (PPI) 

Pixels per inch is the number of pixels that make up an image. 

Prototype 

Software prototypes are created for the purpose of proving a concept. Once proved, the software will be reengineered to create the final product.

Python

High-level programming language with object-oriented features.

Quality Score

Google uses this metric to monitor the quality and significance of a website based on keywords, ads, and landing pages.

Query

In SQL, developers write queries that extract or update data in related databases.

Ranking(s)

In SEO terms, ranking refers to a website’s position on a search engine results page. SEO is used to optimise a website to improve rankings and help reach an optimum position.

Rank Tracking

Analysing the position of URLs on search engine results pages for selected keywords. 

Raster 

A raster graphic is an image whose colours and lines are represented by points on a rectangular grid. A raster graphic becomes “pixelated” when it is enlarged, which means you can see where the individual points are in the original image. Typically, raster graphics are saved in .jpg, .gif, or .png formats. 

Relational Database

A collection of tables with fields. Each table has relationships to every other table to form a real-life data structure. 

(Social Media) Reach

How many people your social media account has reached.

reCAPTCHA 

A system for distinguishing between humans and robots accessing websites. In the original version, users had to decipher and match difficult-to-read texts or images.

Reciprocal Link

A link that connects two sites. The purpose is to provide quick access to related sites or to show a partnership between them.

Redirect

When you change a URL on a website you’ll often see website managers setting up a ‘redirect’. As a result, if anyone visits an old link and it has been updated, they will be automatically directed to the new link. Redirects can be permanent or temporary, with the purpose of making search engines aware of whether they should update their indexes.

For the sake of search engines, there are a few types of redirects. 302, which stands for “This page is under construction; please look at this another page”, and a 301 which says “We have changed our mind, please look at this page again”.

Referral Traffic

Referral traffic is generated by a user clicking through from another website to your page. 

Remarketing (Google, FB & Others)

Targeted advertising is when you show ads to users who have visited your site before. It may give you another chance to convert those who “might have been” a customer.

Repurposing

The act of adapting and reformatting original content in order to strengthen a message. In addition to helping to improve SEO, this can save time because you don’t have to write something from scratch.

Resolution

The quality of an image is determined by its resolution. Generally speaking, higher resolution = higher quality. 

Responsive Design

An approach to web development in which a page automatically adjusts to the device you are using.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

A percentage that reflects how much revenue you generated through advertising. 

RESTful API (Representational State Transfer)

ReST (Representational State Transfer), commonly referred to as ReSTful, is a means of creating, reading, updating or deleting data in a remote system known as CRUD. The remote “client” system is entirely separate from the “Server” and the relationship between the two is said to be stateless. In order for your APIs to be RESTful, they need to follow a set of constraints to make them easier to use and also easier to discover.

Revenue Per User

A site’s total revenue per visitor. Ecommerce websites utilize it as it combines average order rates with conversion rates.

RGB

The RGB colour model combines red, green, and blue light in various ways to reproduce a broad range of colours. The RGB colour model is usually used on screens.

Robots.txt

An instruction file created by webmasters prohibiting search engine bots from visiting specific pages or directory paths of a website.

SAAS (Software As A Service)

A cloud-based service that may include an eCommerce shop, a CRM, or other functions.

Scale

When it comes to design, scale refers to the relationship between one object and another.

Sans-serif

A sans serif font doesn’t include anything extra at the ends of the letters. The word “sans” literally means “without”.

Saturation

Describes the intensity or purity of a colour. A saturated colour appears brighter or more vivid. Desaturated colours, on the other hand, appear duller.

Scheduling

Functionality which allows us to post activity on social media platforms at a pre-set date and time.

Schema Markup

This type of code is sometimes known as “structured data” or “rich snippets,” and it gives search engines more information about your business or website. If you’re lucky, search engines will display them in a cool way in the results.

You’ll have seen examples for things like:

Recipes: Events: Reviews:

Pretty cool right?

Screen Readers

An electronic device that visually impaired people can use to access the internet and use computers. 

Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)

Pages displayed by search engines in response to a user’s query. Such pages are a mix of organic search and paid results. Based on what the user searches for, their search history, their location, etc., search engines create a page that it thinks is relevant and useful to that particular user.

Search Query

Words or phrases a user type into a search engine when conducting a search.

Search Volume

The number of searches a particular phrase gets over a week, month or year in a selected location.

Segmentation

Market segmentation is the process of organising a target market into smaller, more manageable groups based on similar characteristics, in order to customise marketing and advertising campaigns.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

The use of digital marketing to improve the visibility of a website on search engine results pages.

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

Optimising a website to appear higher in the search results so it will attract more visitors.

SEO Migration

Updating your search engine information following an important change to your website, so that you don’t lose any of your search engine visibility.

Server

An internet server is a large computer used to host a website. Internet pages are stored, processed, and presented via the server. The browser requests a page from the server when the URL is entered, and that page is then displayed by the browser.

Serif

The extra strokes or curves that appear at the end of letters.

Session

A group of user interactions with your website that takes place within a given time frame. The session timeout typically occurs after 20 minutes if you haven’t interact with the website (e.g. loaded a page). This leaves resources available for other users.

Shopify

Online store solution for small and medium-sized businesses. It is a SaaS product with low upfront costs and payment is deducted each month.

Showcase Ads

Advertising that allows a brand to display a range of products when a broad search is conducted – for instance “microwaves”. Ad fees only apply when users click on an advertisement, expand it, then continue to the site.

Site Audit

A report that can highlight areas of your website/online marketing campaign that are doing well and areas for improvement.

Sitemap

In the context of search engines, the sitemap file lists all your website pages, images and videos and helps platforms like Google and Bing view them.

Skeuomorphism

A term used to describe when digital content is designed to resemble a physical item. The iPhone’s calculator is a good example of this.

SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)

A messaging protocol specification for exchanging structured information between web services. Data sent via SOAP will be in XML format. 

Social Media Marketing

Utilising social media websites and networks to promote a company’s products or services,

Social Networking

Creating, developing, and interacting within a virtual community and maintaining relationships online.

Social traffic 

Traffic coming to your website or app from social networks and social media platforms.

Spam

Unwanted, unsolicited, misleading and often harmful emails, data, links, or pop-ups. These messages are usually commercial and sent to a large number of recipients for financial gain.

Specification

The document that defines the project’s goals, objectives, and tactics, including constraints, such as a budget, milestones, and technical considerations and limitations. 

SQL (Structured Query Language)

SQL, sometimes pronounced “sequel”, is a language used by programmers to read and edit relational databases.

SSL Certificate

A digital certificate that lets users know that your website has additional security measures. The URL will display HTTPS and a green padlock will appear on the page when this is enabled.

Sticky Nav

A navigation bar that remains in the same place on a web page, even as the user scrolls down and navigates the page.

Stock Imagery

Stock images are images, illustrations, and icons that are not specifically created for a particular project. For a fee, these images are licensed to individuals or businesses who can then use them for creative or marketing purposes.

Style guide

Your brand’s design standards for anything with a connection to it, such as a website landing page, business card, or printed document. Styles guides form the visual part of your Brand Guidelines. 

Subdirectory

Part of a URL that specifies a specific section of your site’s content. You could compare it to a filing cabinet, where the folders in the cabinet are subdirectories.

Subdomain

Parts of a URL used for organising and navigating different pages of a website (www is a subdomain). For example, in portal.domain-name.com, ‘portal’ is the subdomain, ‘domain-name’ is the primary domain and ‘.com’ is the top level domain (TLD). A subdomain is part of the main domain, but allows you to have a separate section of your website.

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphic)

The term SVG is used to define vector-based graphics for the Web in XML format. They can be scaled without losing any quality.

Tagline

Taglines often sit as part of a Brand Signature and can play a crucial role in identifying a brand or business. These messages inform consumers of a particular feature or benefit, or serve as a unique identifier for them to remember your brand. 

Technical Updates

Maintaining the stability and functionality of your website or app through technical maintenance. 

Technical SEO 

The process of making sure a website meets the technical requirements of modern search engines to improve organic rankings. 

Testing

Apps and websites are tested for performance, functionality, security, compatibility, and bugs before going live and being publicly available.  

Third Party Integration

Integration of data which is obtained from outside sources.

Time Decay (Attribution)

The method of crediting the most recent marketing interactions closest to a conversion point in a digital campaign.

Title Tags

An element which specifies the title of a web page. On a search engine result page, they appear as the main headline hyperlink that takes you to the website. A title tag is used by both users and search engines to identify a page’s topic.

Toggles

These digital switches are used by developers to enable, hide, or disable features. 

Tone of Voice (TOV)

The way your words portray your brand, both written and spoken. It’s not about what you say, but how you say it, and how it connects emotionally with your audience when they read or listen to it.

Tracking Code

It is a snippet of code that can be inserted into a website or URL in order to track user activity. The system lets you track and analyse metrics such as visitors and user activity.

Triadic colours

In a triadic colour palette, colours are evenly spaced around the colour wheel.

Typeface

Describes a lettering design that may feature variations in size, weight, width, etc. Within one typeface, these variations are known as fonts.

Typography

Setting type and making it legible, readable, and engaging in a manner that appeals to the eye when displayed. 

UI (User Interface)

User interface design involves thinking about how an application or website looks, feels, and interacts. By balancing technical functionality with visual elements, UI design means creating a look and feel that is both functional and usable, and easily adaptable to user needs as they change. 

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

The text typed into the address bar of an internet browser when you want to visit a website. A URL begins with ”http:// or https://” followed by the website name. For example “https://thinkeq.co.uk”

Usability

A website’s usability is determined by how it performs in key areas such as ease of navigation, accessibility, and responsiveness.

User Experience (UX)

User experience (UX) design aims to provide users with meaningful and relevant experiences on websites and apps. The idea is to increase conversion or sales by optimising the entire website or app, from the usability to responsiveness.

User Generated Content (UGC)

Original content created by people who use brands rather than by brands themselves. Often, brands will share user-generated content on their own websites and social media accounts to help boost brand trust and perception.

User Persona

A fictional character designed to represent a type of person that might use a website, app or brand. User personas are derived from insights gleaned from audience discovery and are useful for determining goals and desires, and creating an emotional user journey.

Unique Selling Point (USP)

Also known as the unique selling proposition. Your USP is what sets you apart from others in the market. 

User Story

This short narrative explains basically what a website, app, or product needs to accomplish for its users. User stories are simply a way to state requirements that describe what users need to be able to do. 

Vector

A vector can be shrunk or enlarged indefinitely without losing its sharpness, unlike raster graphics. Vector files are usually saved as .ai or .pdf files.

Viewports

A user’s viewable area on the web page. Viewports adjust to the device being used and will be much larger on a computer screen than on a phone or tablet.

View-Through-Attribution

When someone sees your ad and doesn’t click it, but does something else within the attribution window.

Viral Content

Internet content that spreads like a virus. This could be achieved via social media shares or by sharing a link to a piece of content. 

Visual Identity

Your brand’s visual expression. The assets that make up your brand identity are what you call your visual identity. It is a way to create a coherent, identifiable look and feel.

Voice Search

Using voice commands, users can search an app, a website or the Internet.

Warm colours

Red, orange, yellow, and different combinations of these colours. They usually give off a friendly, happy feeling.

WAF (Web Application Firewall)

A WAF will filter, track, and block malicious HTTP/HTTPS traffic, as well as preventing any access to unauthorised data. It’s basically software that protects your website from attacks. 

Web Browser

An application that lets you view and access websites.

Web Developer

A person who builds and maintains the foundation of a website or app using coded programming languages. They test and debug and provide a range of after launch services too, such as fixing any hosting/server issues. Sometimes referred to as wizards at EQ.

Web Server

Web servers are both hardware and software. Whenever a browser requests a webpage, the request will be routed to the correct hardware and then software will serve that webpage to the client.

Website Usability

How easy it is for your website visitors to get the results they desire.

White Space

This space is between graphic elements, copy, and images. Despite its name, white space can be any colour. Also known as negative space.

Widow

An end-of-paragraph line that falls at the top of the next page or column, thus separating it from the rest of the text. It’s also the beginning of a new paragraph that starts at the bottom of a page.

Wireframe

A simple, skeletal visual representation of a web page’s layout that helps with content placement and spotting user experience issues early.

Wordmark

A wordmark (or logotype) is a logo made up of only words. 

WordPress

WordPress is the most popular open-source content management system! At the time of writing it is thought that approximately 40% of the world’s websites are powered by WordPress.

WYSIWYG

In back-end admin systems, this is an editor that allows you to see what the end result will look like while the content is being created. WYSIWYG is an acronym for “what you see is what you get”, and is pronounced “wiz-ee-wig”, 

XML (eXstensible Markup Language)

A software and hardware-independent tool for storing and transporting data. The XML format is commonly used for sitemaps and transferring data over SOAP APIs.

XSL

A language used for expressing stylesheets. Similar to CSS, an XSL style sheet describes how a given type of XML document should be displayed.

Yii

This is a high-performance PHP framework capable of developing large-scale Web applications rapidly. 

Yoast SEO

This WordPress plugin helps you to obtain better search engine rankings by specifying the relevant information that search engines need. 

Zone Out

What we did after putting this glossary together! 😉