8 Web Design and Development Terms You Should Know

We throw a lot of web development and design terms around at Global Reach. While it is our job to know these terms, it is not our job to create confusion for the customer, who might not know what we're talking about. We realize that the lingo we use can seem like an entirely different language to those outside of the web industry. In an effort to minimize confusion and break down the communication barriers, we've compiled and defined eight terms that we think you should know.

SERP: SERP stands for 'Search Engine Results Page.' After you search for a keyword or phrase using a search engine like Google, you land on a page that includes a list of webpages that are relevant to your search. This page is called a SERP.

SEO: SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the practice of optimizing your website’s design and content so that it is friendly to search engines. By thoughtfully adding keywords to your website's content, you are optimizing it for search engines and increasing the likelihood that your website will appear more often, or higher up, in SERPs.

CMS: CMS stands for 'content management system.' A CMS is a system designed to manage the content of your website. Good content management systems, like Global Reach's SiteViz, should be easy to use even for those who do not have web development experience.

Meta Descriptions: Meta descriptions are very important even though they have no effect on your website’s rank in SERPs. The main purpose of meta descriptions is to earn clicks based on the information you enter into your CMS’s meta description field. The information should be a call to action and representative of the page’s content.

Frontend: When we talk about the 'frontend' of a website, we are referring to the pages and content the general public will see. Edits made in the CMS will show in the frontend of your website.

Backend: The ‘backend’ of a website is held within the content management system, but isn't seen by the general public. Here, website administrators can make updates and changes to the website’s content and layout. Once published/approved, changes will be visible on the frontend.

Dynamic vs. Static: You may have heard us refer to your website or sections of your website as "dynamic.” A dynamic website has a content management system and is easily updateable by the user. On the other hand, a “static” website does not have a content management system and can only be updated by a developer or someone with HTML experience. Global Reach builds dynamic websites that use our SiteViz content management system and allow our clients to easily update their websites anytime, anywhere and from any computer with internet access.

Sometimes we also use the words “dynamic” and "static" when referencing types of pages on your website. Our SiteViz content management system comes with a variety of modules that help you manage, organize and display content on your website in a neat and efficient way. For example, it’s likely that your ‘News’ and ‘Events’ pages use our News Module and Events Module. Content is entered into the modules and is automatically formatted to display neatly on the public facing side of your website. We refer to “static” pages, on the other hand, as the pages on your website that do not use one of our modules. Pages like ‘About Us’ or ‘Our Mission’ are usually static, meaning the user is responsible for formatting the page. With a static page, you can enter content directly to the page using our WYSIWYG editor. The term WYSIWYG means “What You See Is What You Get”. Using the editor is a lot like typing an email or Microsoft Word document. You can add text, bullet points, tables, videos, images and more.