Tech Speak

1. When needed, draw attention to important alerts and link to more information.
2. Easily add, edit, remove alerts in the CMS.

1. Stands for Application Programming Interface.
2. A set of subroutine definitions, protocols, and tools for building application software.
3. Usually utilizing code from a third-party source.

The people / users who are intended to view or use your website content. A website can have multiple audiences, so it is ideal to have easy-to-find content customized for each audience.

Delivering online advertisements to users who will likely be the most interested in that message.

1. Feature brands you carry with customized fields that fit your business.
2. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS.

Other Names:

Designer Module

Creating a cohesive and recognizable statement that identifies a company or organization through imagery and messaging.

Important components to branding standards often include the development and implementation of: logo, icon, tagline, fonts, and use-case instructions.

The exact screen width where a website is designed to respond differently than it did at a larger or smaller size.

Standard Breakpoints

• Big Desktop Screens: 1801 px wide or wider
• Desktop Screens: 1201 - 1800 px wide
• Tablet Landscape Screens: 941 - 1200 px wide
• Tablet Portrait Screens: 641 - 940 px wide
• Phone Screens: 640 px wide or narrower

Programs on your computer that allow you to visit websites.

Similar Terms

• Internet Browser Window
• Web Browser
• The thing I click to get to the internet

Examples

• Microsoft IE 11 & Edge
• Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Safari Opera

1. A correction to an error that shouldn't have been there in the first place.
2. Something we never charge to correct.

Examples

• Clicking on a tag doesn't pull up the news posts associated with that tag.
• A date picker is acting wonky and resetting.
• Added a post, but got an error message when I clicked save.

Note: Because we create custom solutions, sometimes we have to investigate an issue before we can identify if it is a bug from something we didn't get right - or if it's a billable service.

1. Show off your upcoming (and potentially past) events with customized fields that fit your business.
2. Calendar views can utilize customized search fields and/or day, week, month layouts.
3. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS.

Similar to:

Events Module

A segment of a homepage, sidebar, footer, or custom layout addressing a specific audience, topic, feature, or service designed to elicit a click that will take the visitor to more information.

Other Names:

• Call to Action
• Call-Out Box

Common Elements:

• Customized Heading
• Short descriptive text
• May use icon or image
• Link to more details

1. Share job listings with customized fields that fit your business.
2. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS.

Other Names:

Jobs Module

1. Helping clients meet short- and long-term goals through customized web services.
2. Digging into what solutions can best benefit a client, then actively measuring and adjusting for best service along the way.
3. Understanding that digital marketing and "one size fits all" services do not combine for maximum benefit.

Text (words), pictures, downloadable files such as PDFs/PPT/DOCs, video links... Any words, pictures, or attachments included in a website.

A computer application that supports the creation and modification of digital content. It typically supports multiple users in a collaborative environment.

Our developers customize your site’s content management system (CMS) to your site’s specifications. This means that there is nothing in your CMS that you don’t need - speeding up your website’s load time and also making it more user-friendly and therefore easier to keep up-to-date.

Information moved or imported from one location to another - usually the end goal being a new content management system (CMS).

When a client already has a website, our team usually migrates the existing web content to a new location for collaboration and editing (we use tools like GatherContent and Google Docs). Once the content is approved to go on the new website, we migrate it into the new website.

When bidding on advertising, the amount  each click on your ad costs you.

Cost-per-thousand digital advertising impressions.

A call-to-action (CTA) elicits is a specific action, like a click, "like", submit an email address, etc.

The click-through-rate (CTR) measures the success of a digital advertising campaign.

You know your business inside & out, but word-smithing Google-loved language may not be your specialty.

Whether you just want a little bit of editing or you'd like us to do a complete industry-researched write-up for you, we can help find the right words to speak to your audiences.

A module is a collection of data fields and relational data for a specific type of content.

Example Modules

• News or Blog Module
• Staff Module
• Services Module
• Portfolio Module

Sample Fields

• Name/Title Field
• Featured Image
• Start Date
• Photo Gallery

Sample Relationships

• A news post may be connected to many categories.
• A project entry may highlight one featured service.

A customized page layout, different from the Internal Page Layout.

Photos shot and edited for a specific client and use.

Allow website visitors to log into the website for a customized experience.

Example Roles

• Organization Member
• Customer
• Bidder
• Sales Rep

Video shot and edited for a specific client and use.

Databites is an hour and a half luncheon, dedicated to getting you up to speed on your website and your Google Analytics.

The promised results of a project.

A site not indexed by search engines, therefore creating an easily accessed, yet private location on the web for the development & design team to collaborate on your new project.

Development sites are by definition under construction, so elements may appear strange or broken if the web team is actively working on it.

How we use this:

1. We establish your website's content management system (CMS) and design framework on a private URL.
2. Our developers build your custom modules to your specifications as well as routes to that content for the designer to access.
3. Our content team moves your approved website content into your new CMS, testing out the development features in the process.
4. Our design team pulls your website content into your custom design.
5. After your "first look", we share* that private URL with you - which you can then access at any time.
6. To launch the site, we point your preferred website address to these approved website files** and make the site public on the world wide web.

*We ask that clients not widely share links to development sites so not to risk unnecessary opinions disrupting the approved project scope.

**If you are replacing a website and we don't host the current one, please remember that your old website files are still being hosted somewhere -- so you will probably need to cancel any services related to it.

A meeting to discuss and identify the problems or issues our team can provide solutions for.

How we use this:

1. We establish your website's content management system (CMS) and design framework on a private URL.
2. Our developers build your custom modules to your specifications as well as routes to that content for the designer to access.
3. Our content team moves your approved website content into your new CMS, testing out the development features in the process.
4. Our design team pulls your website content into your custom design.
5. After your"first look," we share* that private URL with you - which you can then access at any time.
6. To launch the site, we point your preferred website address to these approved website files** and make the site public on the world wide web.

*We ask that clients not widely share links to development sites so not to risk unnecessary opinions disrupting the approved project scope.

**If you are replacing a website and we don't host the current one, please remember that your old website files are still being hosted somewhere -- so you will probably need to cancel any services related to it."

Ads on a display network which include many different formats such as: images, flash, video, and audio. Also commonly known as banner ads, these are the advertisements that are seen around the web on news sites, blogs, and social media.

Short for Domain Name System or DNS, it is the most recognized system for assigning addresses to the Internet web servers.

Your domain name is what you put on business cards and what you type in to get to your homepage.

A security certificate that includes basic encryption and verification of the ownership of the domain name registration. This type of certificate usually takes a few minutes to several hours to receive.

See also: SSL Certificate

Stands for Electronic Commerce, it is a classification for businesses that conduct business online. The most common form of e commerce business is an online retailer that sells products direct to the consumer.

A marketing system that uses software to automatically send emails based on defined triggers. Multiple automated emails in a sequence are used create user funnels and segment users based on behavior. For example, an automation funnel could be set to send email 1 when a person provides their email address, then either email 2a or 2b would be sent based on whether or not the person clicked on the first email.

The use of email with the goal of acquiring sales, customers, or any other type of conversion.

An Extended Validation (EV) security certificate provides the highest degree of security because of the thorough examination that is conducted before this certificate is issued (and as strictly specified in guidelines set by the SSL certification industry’s governing consortium).

In addition to ownership of the domain name registration and entity authentication, the legal, physical and operational existence of the entity is verified. This type of certificate usually takes a few days to several weeks to receive.

See also: SSL Certificate

1. Show off your upcoming (and potentially past) events with customized fields that fit your business.
2. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS.

Similar to:

Calendar Module

Facebook allows advertisers to reach its users through their ad network. A range of ad types can be created to reach various goals set by companies. Facebook advertising is unique in that audiences are set up based on vast demographic information that Facebook has about their users.

1. List frequently asked questions and their answers with customized fields that fit your business.
2. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS.

Other Names:

Common Questions Module

Establishing location parameters (guidelines) on digital marketing campaigns.

Google’s online advertising service. This system allows advertisers to reach customers based on what keywords they are searching for in real time.

A free software platform created by Google, which is used to analyze nearly every aspect of users accessing a website. Website traffic, conversions, user metrics, historical data comparisons, and effectiveness of each channel of marketing can all be managed using this tool.

Adding a map to a website that builds off of Google Maps API.

Stying Options:

• Custom Branding & Color Overlay
• Location Markers
• Selected States
• Customized Geographic Regions

Pages that do not show up in a public sitemap. Hidden pages are not indexed by search engines and can only be accessed by those who have the direct link.

Examples

• Landing pages for marketing campaigns are often set as hidden pages in order to measure the campaign's effectiveness.
• Contact form confirmation pages help folks feel confident that their form was submitted.
• CMS tutorials serve as reminders of how to use custom-built modules and add or remove users.
• An internal layout page is provided to allow website managers to preview how elements like headings, bullets, and numbered lists are styled.

A "lightweight" video clip that can be used to enhance a website design or ad.

Working on details that reveal more details to work on.

Similar Terms

• Peeling back the onion
• Going down the rabbit hole

1. Feature the industries you serve with customized fields that fit your business.
2. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS.
3. Can integrate relationships with other modules to streamline data entry & management.

Stands for Internet Protocol Address; a unique identifying number given to every single computer on the internet.

The destination webpage a user lands on after clicking on a link (either in an ad or anywhere else). Some landing pages are designed with the purpose of lead generation, and others are with the purpose of directing the flow of traffic throughout a site.

A specific arrangement of website content (text, images, graphics) on a screen.

Customized modules give website administrators the ability to keep content up-to-date and the designer control where and how elements of content (like a title, name, address, etc) are displayed on the screen.

Examples

• Homepage Layout
• Interior Page Layout
• News Feed Layout
• News Page Layout
• Portfolio Category Layout
• Portfolio Entry Layout
• Staff Page Layout

LinkedIn’s advertising platform. Through different ad formats, advertisers can bid on ad space and target unique audiences based on job title, years of experience, industry, and many other demographics.

Integrating a third-party service that allows website visitors to chat live with designated representatives from your company.

1. Feature multiple locations with customized fields that fit your business.
2. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS.

A security certificate that secures multiple domain names.

See also: SSL Certificate

1. Post company and/or industry news with customized fields that fit your business.
2. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS.

Other Names:

Blog Module

A multichannel approach to sales that seeks to provide the customer with a seamless experience whether the customer is visiting your website from a desktop or mobile device, interacting by telephone, or in a brick and mortar store or office.

A website design that is simply a single page website that uses only one HTML page. When clicking on navigation links, the user scrolls down the page or jumps to that particular content's section.

The software that supports a computer's basic functions, such as scheduling tasks, executing applications, and controlling peripherals.

In addition to basic encryption and verification of ownership of the domain name registration, an Organization Validation (OV) security certificate validates that certain details of the owner (e.g., name and address) are authenticated. This type of certificate usually takes a few hours to several days to receive.

See also: SSL Certificate

Customized pop-up feature that delivers information and/or offers a choice without leaving the web page.

Common Uses:

• Notification that the link clicked will take you to another website: offers choice to stay here or continue to new site.
• Fee or policy disclaimer: offers choice to confirm that you understand and want to continue or stay here.
• Image gallery: opens image to full screen view with ability to navigate between images; clicking "x" will return to page.

1. Showcase completed projects with customized fields that fit your business.
2. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS.

An ad where you are only charged when someone clicks on it. Stands for "pay per click."

1. Feature items you carry with customized fields that fit your business.
2. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS.

Other Names:

Designer Module

Using of software to purchase digital advertising.

1. Feature property listings with customized fields that fit your business.
2. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS.

Other Names:

Listings Module

A technical document outlining the scope of a project.

For our purposes, the requirements document includes descriptions of the features requested, how website visitors will interact with these elements, and how, when applicable, website administrators will manage them through the CMS.

An approach to web design which makes web pages render well on a variety of devices and screen sizes.

Web feed allowing users to access updates to online content in a standardized, computer-readable format.

How to use:

• Exporting Content: Provide an RSS feed of your news so that others may pull it into a news aggregator.
• Importing Content: Bring in one or more RSS feeds to your website to automatically populate your news feed with content applicable to your visitors.

A digital image of what is visible on a monitor or screen.

Search engine marketing (SEM) - Internet marketing that involves the promotion of your website by increasing their visibility on search engine results pages. This is accomplished by bidding on relevant keywords your target audience is searching for

Search engine optimization (SEO) - maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine.

Monthly service packages that allow you to contact us for phone and email support, CMS training, website maintenance, as well as design & development changes at a discounted rate.

Service over/outside of a monthly agreement is billed at our hourly rate. Cancel anytime with a 30-Day email notice.

1. A requested change to the design or functionality of a website.
2. An update to keep an older site working on newer technology.

1. Display the services you offer with customized fields that fit your business.
2. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS.
3. Can integrate relationships with other modules to streamline data entry & management.

Usually referring to a right-hand column of space on an internal web page when viewed on a desktop or laptop computer. (Either hidden or displayed under body content on mobile view.)

Purposes:

• Reducing the width of content areas on so that text is easier to read and is not spread out across the entire width of a wide display.
• Delivering relevant information, such as testimonials, recent news, guarantees, etc to a website visitor, sometimes for informational purposes while other times designed to prompt a click to another page on the website.

A security certificate that secures one fully-qualified domain name or subdomain name.

See also: SSL Certificate

Comprehensive website assessment that analyzes SEO and identifies issues such as non-optimized or broken links, database errors, duplicate content, error pages, broken images, missing tags, un-seized metadata opportunities, and more.

Also known as remarketing, a type of paid ad that allows advertisers to show ads to customers who have already visited their site. Once a user visits a site, a small piece of data called a “cookie” will be stored in the user’s browser. When the user then visits other sites, this cookie can allow remarketing ads to be shown. Remarketing allows advertisers to “follow” users around in attempts to get the user back to the original site.

The page structure in which web content is organized. Each website has a public sitemap and a private one.

The public sitemap is the structure of all publicly accessible pages - these pages, and the sitemap will be accessible to web visitors and search engines.

The private sitemap is what shows up in the CMS and also includes any draft or hidden pages.

1. Customize slides on the homepage of your website.
2. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS

Bring your Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn audiences to your website when we set up your news posts to automatically post to a social network.

A security certificate that a) meets global standards and b) enables encrypted communication between a web browser and a web server.

"SSL" is an acronym for Secure Sockets Layer.

Usually utilized to decrease the risk of sensitive information (credit card numbers, account names, passwords, etc) from being stolen or tampered with, SSL certificates also authenticate a website's identity while encrypting any data being transmitted.

Types of SSL Certificates:

• Single SSL
• Wildcard SSL
• Multi-Domain SSL

Levels of Validation:

• Domain Validation
• Organization Validation
• Extended Validation

1. Show off your team with customized fields that fit your business.
2. Easily add, edit, remove entries in the CMS.

Other Names:

Employee Module, Team Module

Photographs, illustrations, music, and video clips licensed for specific uses.

When continued support of a form of technology is being or has been phased out by its creators. When the "sunset" date is reached, the technology is no longer meant to be used.

Related Term

• Unsupported

TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media platforms, with users spending an average of 52 minutes per day on the app. For businesses, this presents a unique opportunity to reach a large and engaged audience.

Allows marketers to promote a tweet on users feeds without that user having to follow your brand for it to appear on their feed. These advertisements can be used to grow brand awareness, gain more followers, extend social media reach, and/or reach out to prospective customers about a product or service.

Any form of technology that was built, but is no longer maintained by its creators.

When a creator stops maintaining a technology (browser, program, plug-in, application, etc), it will no longer "keep up" with the technology that it needs to interact with and will eventually stop working altogether.

Related Term

• Sunset

1. Stands for Uniform Resource Locator
2. Is the detailed link that takes you to each individual page and/or file.
3. Is made up of the domain and the path to a specific page or file.

A tool used in estimates and requirement documents that explains, to both the web development team as well as the client, how each website feature should function by describing how the end-user will interact with it.

Examples:

"Once a visitor sets a preferred location, that location will be saved until s/he clears the browser cache and/or it will be connected with account creation/sign-in..."

"As a visitor is scrolling through the website, s/he will see a pop-up window in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen that will give her/him the opportunity to chat live with a customer service rep..."

"After a website visitor selects a school district and it's municipality, s/he will see a visual representation of the breakdown of her/his taxes using color blocks..."

Short for "User Experience", this design approach focuses on how website visitors feel when interacting with the design.

A few factors*:

• Who is/are the intended audience(s)?
• Why are they visiting the site?
• What do they want/need to do when they get there?
• How can we make that as easy as possible?
• How can we combine best practices with a unique and appealing look?

*These questions and more are initially discussed during discovery and constantly referred to throughout the entire process.

Videos have to be hosted on specialized platforms.

To upload a video to the internet, you must have an account with a video hosting site such as YouTube, Vimeo, or Wistia. These platforms can be free or charge for hosting in exchange for providing more control over the privacy level and/or look & feel of your video(s).

Once you upload the video and customize your preferences, you can embed that video on a page or post on your website by logging into and using your website's content management system (CMS).

Allow you to collect customized information from website visitors.

Depending on their complexity and the number of fields, web forms can be custom built or created using subscription platforms such as Wufoo, Typeform, or JotForm.

Common Uses:

• Contact Us / Lead Generation Form
• Job Application
• Nomination / Submission Form
• Customer Feedback
• Online Payments

Where your website files are stored.

Monitoring and auditing website content and design to correct errors that might prevent users with visual, hearing, cognitive, or physical disabilities from being able to interact with your site.

Creating a new design for your current website.

Once the new design is approved, we'll point your domain to the new website files - so your website visitors will see the old site one day, the new design the next, and your domain stays the same!

A security certificate that covers one domain name and an unlimited number of its subdomains.

See also: SSL Certificate

YouTube offers advertising in 6 different formats. Display ads, overlay ads, skippable video, non-skippable video ads, bumper ads, and sponsored cards.