We believe knowledge is power. So we have put together a list of popular website design words and terms to help you navigate your web design journey. Our website glossary will evolve over time as we continue to add to this list.

Backend
Backlinks
Backlinks are websites that link to your website. For example website A writes website b’s domain name (and hyperlinks it) on their website this is classed as a backlink to Website B. Backlinks are currently GOLD in the SEO world.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the amount of data you are allowed to transfer to and from your web server, usually per month. It depends on the size of your website pages, the number of visitors and how many pages they visit.
Bounce rate
A bounce rate is the term used to measure visitors leaving your website before doing anything. It represents the percentage of visitors who enter the site and then leave before continuing on to other pages. Hint: a lower bounce rate is your aim.


Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the amount of data you are allowed to transfer to and from your web server, usually per month. It depends on the size of your website pages, the number of visitors and how many pages they visit.
Browser
Also known as a web browser or internet browser, a browser is a software program that allows its users to access the World Wide Web. Some popular browsers are Google Chrome, Apple Safari and Microsoft Edge.
Cache / Caching
A cache is a special storage process that holds temporary files which allows a website to load faster.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
A CSS is a website element that dictates how HTML files are to be viewed on various screens.
This means a CSS is used to style your website, including the design, layout and different displays per device and screen size.
Content Management System (CMS)
DNS (Domain Name Server or Domain Name System )
Domain name system is a system that connects nice user friendly domain names to computer friendly addresses, IP address. This computer address is where your website files are stored (hosted).
Domain
E-Commerce


Front End
HTML
HTTP
HTTPS
Hyperlink
Landing Page
Meta Data
Navigation


Page View
Permalink
A permalink (or permanent link) is a full URL that you see (and link too) for each website page, post, media and more. A permalink is your domain name (www.zel.design) plus the contents slug.
Plug in
Resolution
Resolution refers to the detail in a particular image or screen. The resolution of an image is typically measured in pixels per inch (PPI) or dot per inch (DPI). These two measurements determine the amount of information displayed within a certain area.
Higher resolutions mean that there are more pixels per inch (PPI), resulting in more pixel information and creating a high-quality, crisp image. Images with lower resolutions have fewer pixels.
As a rule of thumb, screens use graphics that are 72 dpi (which results in smaller file sizes and quicker load times) and printed materials use a higher dpi of 300.
Slug
A slug is the part after your domain name in a URL. It Identifies a particular page on a website. In other words, it’s the part of the URL that explains the page’s content. For example, the URL of this page could be https://zel.design/website-glossary-terms-you-need-to-know , and the slug is ‘website-glossary-terms-you-need-to-know’.
Theme
URL
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. It is a fancy way of saying an address to find your website files. Every valid URL points to a unique ‘resource’. Examples of resources are HTML page, a CSS file and images.
A URL is your domain name and the slug combined.
Web Server
A web server is where your website files are stored (hosted). In short, it is a computer that runs websites. It’s job is to store, process and deliver websites to users.

And that’s a wrap…. of our website glossary
We are continually adding to our website glossary.
Do you think we have missed a key term for web design in our website glossary? We would love to hear from you.