We know that some of the terminology used in the web design business can be confusing and not very self-explanatory. The following list should help clear up any of that confusion and allow you to ‘hold your own’ while speaking with a web professional:
Domain Name, Domain Name Registration and IP addresses
Your domain name is your website’s literal identity and unique Internet address. An example of a domain name would be www.cooldomain.com (it would also work without the ‘www’). In order to have exclusive use of this web identity or address it needs to be registered to you by a domain registrar. Usually a domain name is registered on an annual basis and can automatically renew depending on how you have your account set up with your registrar.
IP addresses are just a numerical version of your literal domain name. The domain name, www.cooldomain.com, would translate or map to an IP address that would look similar to this example: 123.229.939.100.
Website Hosting
When a website is completed and ready to ‘go live’, it needs to be hosted. Hosting is a term that is used to describe the storage of your website’s pages on a hosting server. A hosting server is a specific type of computer that doesn’t just store your web pages, but also serves them out when a request comes in from your website’s visitors. If you’re wondering how the Internet knows how to find the server where your website is being stored; it uses that IP address mentioned in the section above.
Responsive Design or Mobile Responsive
Mobile responsive websites are sites that auto resize to fit any screen size. If your site is mobile responsive, it means it will adapt and look great on screen whether you are viewing the site from a large monitor, laptop, ipad, or mobile device. Non mobile responsive sites often require the user to scroll left and right when viewing on smaller screen sizes. If your site is not mobile responsive, popular search engines like Google will hurt your search engine positioning so having a mobile responsive site really is important!
Hosting
Our customers often feel overwhelmed and a bit confused when we ask them about things like hosting. Hosting is a term that is used to describe the storage of your website’s data on a server so it is accessible on the internet. Putting a website online requires storage space, or hosting to keep it live on the internet. The bigger the website you have, the more storage it will require so you may need a more powerful hosting plan than smaller sites.
Body Copy & Lorem Ipsum
Often times we ask our customers for copy. Body copy is simply the text on your site. This paragraph is an example of some body copy. When building a website, we will often place filler text in areas that we know will need copy. This filler text is always composed of lorem ipsum, a fake language used by designers as dummy text until we can replace it with real body copy. Lorem ipsum is helpful because we always know what text is real, and what will need to be replaced.
PNG (Portable Networks Graphic)
PNG stands for portable networks graphic. .png files are often used in web design as they are compressed files optimal for web display and can support transparent backgrounds unlike .jpg files. We always ask our clients to send us their logos as .png files if they do not have the original photoshop or illustrator files.
CMS (Content Management System)
CMS stands for content management system and is a term often used by web designers. Content management systems are used to control and edit the content on your website. For example, our website was built using WordPress, a popular content management system because of its versatility and user friendliness.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO stands for search engine optimization and describes the tools and methods used to help search engines find and list your site on organic search results. There are SEO techniques to “boost your SEO” so that your site will rank higher on popular search engines.
Alpharetta Web Design prides itself on being customer focused. Your satisfaction is our main goal because an unsatisfied client will not be a repeat customer, nor will they refer anyone to us. We seek to understand your business before beginning any project. We will research your competition to find out what works and what doesn’t work. We do not limit the number of design changes. A design is complete when you say it is. We include the metrics that will allow you to monitor website traffic to determine what the best Search Engine Optimization strategies should be for your website. All of our websites are built on the WordPress platform allowing you to easily make your own updates, if you so desire.