Web Design Lingo For Non-Designers [And One Word I Made Up]

With every industry comes its lingo. Web design is no different. So I put together a collection of 9 abbreviations with concise definitions. It’s web design lingo for non-designers.

And for fun, I made up an abbreviation for use in web design. But it’s unlikely anyone will end up using it.

What web design lingo do you know? What terms do you want to learn more about?

CMS (Content Management System)

Web designers build websites with content management systems to manage data. WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal are some of the most well known examples. Developers might use them for client projects or create their own CMS with code. Established CMS software is generally easy to use for content updates and management.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)

Web designers use cascading style sheets to modify content on web pages. Color, font type, and spacing are some common attributes affected by CSS. It’s a coding language used in conjunction with HTML (see below) to create webpages.

CTA (Call To Action)

A call to action is a persuasive statement that influences a site visitor to act. Any web designer with marketing insight will know the value of a quality CTA. Two of the most familiar CTA statements are free download and start your free trial. The word free is helpful in these examples, but the action words are download and start.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)

HyperText Markup Language is the backbone of the world wide web. It’s also a coding language (like CSS) that displays web pages in your Internet browser. The origin of HTML came about from physicist Tim Berners-Lee.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

The Joint Photographic Experts Group formed the standards for JPEG (also JPG) files. This file format uses lossy compression to adjust image size and quality. It’s best to use JPEG with photographs. Doing so can reduce file sizes resulting in faster page loads.

PHP (HyperText PreProcessor)

The HyperText PreProcessor language is common in web development and software programming. PHP integrates with HTML. And it runs on servers instead of locally from your Internet browser. Web designers and developers use PHP in WordPress and other CMS.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

Portable Network Graphics is a raster graphics file format. Unlike the lossy nature of JPEG, PNG files use a form of lossless data compression. PNG and JPEG are two of the most common image file formats used by digital designers.

RGB (Red Green Blue)

Computer monitors everywhere use red, green, and blue to render all sorts of colors. RGB, also known as the RGB color model, relates to the human perception of colors. Digital designers use RGB in contrast with CYMK for print media.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Search Engine Optimization is a well know strategy for gaining more quality traffic to a website. It supports the discovery of a website via Google and other search engines. If you learn anything from this collection of web design lingo, know that SEO is a must-have for your website.

Go Forth And Speak The Lingo

So now you know some web design lingo. Way to go! It’s always helpful to add new words to your vocabulary. And if you own a website, it’s even more valuable as you make updates or work with a web designer.

And without further delay, I present my own web design lingo: SOCWD. It stands for Scott Ostrander Certified Web Design. I know I know, I’m only kidding. But if it catches on, you know who started it. If you do need SOCWD, you can contact me, view my portfolio, or learn about my services.

Note: I first posted this content on January 17, 2018 at my blog.

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Thanks for reading! For related content on LinkedIn, check out 9 Reasons Your Website Is Driving Customers Away. I also wrote a post entitled Must-Haves For Your Small Business Website [6 Essential Elements].

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