Every industry has its own terms, the secret language outsiders don’t understand. Building websites is no different. We’re not being sneaky—trying to keep things under wrap—we just need something to call the practices and elements of what we do.
So here it is, your first peek into the world of website building speak.
Site
It seems simple, but we’re not taking anything for granted. In our paradigm, “site” is shorthand for “website.”
Browser
Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox—all browsers. Simply put, it’s what you use to access the internet on your device. (Each of these browsers has specific requirements for websites. The websites we build are maximized for best performance with all of them.)
Calls to Action (or CTA’s)
What do you want your visitor to do? Visiting your business, signing up for your newsletter, calling you—all CTA’s. We identify five for each site. They are the anchors that determine all the other parts of the site and the strategy behind its implementation.
Site Map
Literally, what it sounds like. The map of your website. Laying out the map helps us know where things need to go and how they connect to one another.
Content
The words, photos, and elements—graphs, quizzes, email contact forms—on a website. These are often the biggest challenge when building a site. We take this into account from the very beginning and start talking content from our first meeting.
Design
After content, this is the second tier in creating a website. With calls to action and the site map in place, it’s time determine what the site looks like. The answer to this question is far more than “what looks pretty”—though aesthetics are important. Good design incorporates your branding, guides the user through the site, and communicates content clearly and effectively.
Development
The final stage of building a site. Short for “web development,” it’s the invisible structure a site is built upon. Also called “coding” and “programming,” it’s a written language telling computers how to display and execute the functions of the site.
Device
Phone/mobile, tablet, desktop—the three primary methods for accessing websites. Phone and mobile refer to your handheld device; tablets are things like iPads and Galaxy Tab; and desktop is the monitor and computer sitting on your desk. Each of these has a specific sized window for content … which brings us to our next word.
Responsive
It’s how we compensate all the different sizes a site needs to be. A responsive site recognizes the device it’s on and resizes itself to fit. This often changes the layout. A mobile site is very different from the one on your desktop, offering maximized functionalities for the device. The world of responsive sites is relatively new, with the technology being perfected as we speak. Armada Digital only builds responsive sites, guided by our lead developer who constantly updates to ensure rock-solid best performance.
These are the key terms, but we’ve only scratched the surface! Join me in my next post and we’ll delve deeper into the lingo.