Knowledge base

The glossary

Every term we use with clients, defined plainly. Browse a subject area, jump to a letter, or search.

Browse by subject

Each area collects the concepts that belong together.

Web Hosting Plain definitions of the web hosting words you meet when you put a website online: uptime, service level agreements, storage, SSL and the parts of a hosting plan that decide how fast and reliable a site is. 2 Servers What servers and the databases on them do, in plain words: VPS and dedicated machines, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis and the terms you need when you run your own server. 4 Domains Domain names made simple: registration, DNS, nameservers, renewals, transfers and the words you need to choose, connect and protect your website's address. 0 E-commerce The language of selling online: SKUs, product variants, abandoned carts, order tracking, payments, point of sale and the numbers that show how a store is really doing. 30 Cloud Computing Cloud computing and the tools that ship software to it: what the cloud is, how Docker and Kubernetes run applications, and how Git and CI/CD keep releases safe. 5 Social Media Social media terms for businesses: WhatsApp marketing, influencer campaigns, video ads and the words behind growing an audience and talking to customers where they already are. 3 Websites The building blocks of a website in plain words: HTML, CSS, responsive design, right-to-left layouts and how a website differs from a web application. 6 Web Applications Terms you meet when a company builds or buys a web application: APIs, dashboards, user roles, single sign-on, deployment, scalability and the cost of owning software. 29 Mobile Apps Mobile app words explained: native and hybrid apps, push notifications, in-app purchases, app store review, offline sync and what keeps an app updated and secure. 25 Cybersecurity Security terms every business should know: phishing, ransomware, encryption, two-factor authentication, zero trust, backups and the habits that keep data and accounts safe. 35 Digital Marketing Digital marketing terms explained: conversion rate, landing pages, sales funnels, email campaigns, pay per click, attribution and the numbers that show what really works. 26 Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence in plain words: machine learning, large language models, chatbots and how businesses use AI to answer customers and automate everyday work. 4 Internet of Things Internet of Things terms made simple: connected devices, sensors, gateways and the words behind smart buildings, tracking and machines that report their own status. 0 Programming Languages Short, clear definitions of the programming languages behind today's software: Python, PHP, JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, Go, Rust, Kotlin, Swift, SQL and more. 12 Frameworks The frameworks developers build on, defined plainly: Laravel, Django, React, Next.js, Node.js, Flutter and what each one brings to a web or mobile project. 6 Search Engines Search engine terms explained: SEO, indexing, sitemaps, canonical URLs, featured snippets, search intent and what helps a website appear in Google and AI answers. 30 User Interfaces User interface and experience terms: prototypes, user experience, dark mode and the design choices that make software and websites easy and pleasant to use. 3

Where people start.

Loyalty Program A loyalty program is a scheme that pays customers for coming back, usually in points they can spend on a later purchase. E-commerce Coupon Code A coupon code is a short word or number that a customer types at checkout so the shop takes an agreed amount off the order. E-commerce CSS CSS CSS is the language that decides how a web page looks, and because it sits in its own file, one change there restyles every page at once. Websites Chatbot A software assistant that talks with visitors by text or voice on a website or messaging app to answer questions, take orders, or book appointments at any hour. Basic versions follow fixed button menus, while AI versions understand everyday language. Artificial Intelligence PHP PHP is a programming language that builds a web page on the server before sending it to your screen, and much of the web still works that way. Programming Languages App Store Review App store review is the check that Apple and Google run on every app and every update before they let it into their store. Mobile Apps Two-Factor Authentication 2FA Two-factor authentication is a sign-in that asks for your password and then for something you are holding, so a stolen password alone is not enough to get in. Cybersecurity Rust Rust is a programming language that refuses to build your program at all if it contains the memory mistakes behind most serious security holes. Programming Languages JavaScript JavaScript is the language every web browser understands on its own, which is why anything that changes on a page without reloading it is written in it. Programming Languages Artificial Intelligence AI Artificial intelligence is software that works out useful answers from examples, instead of following rules that a person wrote out in advance. Artificial Intelligence MySQL MySQL is the most widely used free database in the world, and it is where a website keeps its customers, orders and prices in tidy tables. Servers TypeScript TypeScript is JavaScript with labels on the data, so a mistake is caught while the code is still being written instead of after it reaches customers. Programming Languages

All concepts, A to Z

D

Dropshipping Dropshipping is selling goods you never keep in stock, because the supplier packs each order and posts it straight to your customer. Read the definition Duplicate Content Duplicate content is the same text appearing at more than one web address, so a search engine picks one page to show and quietly ignores the rest. Read the definition

E

E-commerce SEO E-commerce SEO is the work of making a shop's category and product pages easy to find in search, because those are the pages that bring buyers. Read the definition E-E-A-T E-E-A-T E-E-A-T is Google's short name for the experience, expertise, authority and trust that its paid raters look for on every page they judge. Read the definition Ecommerce Platform An ecommerce platform is the software behind an online shop, and its real work starts after the payment, when the sale becomes an order somebody must pack. Read the definition Email Deliverability Email deliverability is whether your message reaches the inbox instead of the spam folder, which depends on three small domain settings and on how people treat your mail. Read the definition Email Marketing Email marketing is sending useful messages to people who handed you their address themselves, so you reach them directly instead of paying a platform to show your post. Read the definition Encryption Encryption is a way of scrambling your information into nonsense, so that only the person holding the right key can read it again. Read the definition End-of-Life Software EOL End-of-life software is a program its maker has stopped repairing, so any weakness someone finds in it from that day on stays open forever. Read the definition Enterprise App Distribution Enterprise app distribution is the way a company puts its own app straight onto staff phones, without ever listing it in the public App Store or Google Play. Read the definition Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) ERP A software system that links company departments like inventory, sales, accounting and human resources in a single database, helping you track daily operations and make clear decisions. Read the definition Ethical Hacking Ethical hacking is an attack on your own system that you asked for and paid for, so a trusted expert finds the holes before a criminal does. Read the definition

F

Fake Reviews Fake reviews are star ratings that were paid for or written by the seller, rather than left by a real customer who bought the product and used it. Read the definition Featured Snippet A featured snippet is the box Google puts above its normal results, where it shows a short answer copied straight from a page and links back to it. Read the definition Flutter Flutter is a toolkit from Google for building a single phone app that runs on both iPhone and Android instead of paying for two separate builds. Read the definition Forced Update A forced update is the screen that stops an app until the newest version is installed, because the older one can no longer work with your system. Read the definition Form Abandonment Form abandonment is what happens when someone starts filling in your quote or booking form and then closes the page before the enquiry ever reaches you. Read the definition

G

GDPR GDPR GDPR is the European law that sets out how a business may collect, keep and use the personal information of the people it serves. Read the definition Geotargeting Geotargeting is the setting that tells an ad platform to show your ads only to people inside the towns or the delivery area you can actually serve. Read the definition Git Git is the system that records every change made to a piece of software, along with who made it and why, so any change can be undone. Read the definition Go Go is a small programming language from Google, built so that one service can answer very many requests at the same time without falling over. Read the definition Google Search Console GSC Google Search Console is a free Google report that tells you which searches your site turned up in and how many people clicked through to it. Read the definition GPS Tracking GPS GPS tracking shows you where a vehicle or a member of staff is on a map, using the position their phone or tracker sends over the mobile network. Read the definition Guest Checkout Guest checkout lets a customer buy without making an account, so they pay in one step and the shop still gets the order and their contact details. Read the definition

H

Headless Commerce Headless commerce splits a shop into a selling engine and its screens, so one product list feeds the website, the phone app and the counter in the branch. Read the definition Heatmap A heatmap is a coloured picture laid over one page of your website, showing at a glance where visitors clicked and how far down they read. Read the definition How Long Does SEO Take How long SEO takes depends on your market, but in most cases the numbers start moving somewhere between the third and the sixth month. Read the definition Hreflang Hreflang is a short line of code that tells Google which language version of a page to show each visitor, so nobody lands on a page they cannot read. Read the definition HTML HTML HTML is the set of labels that tells a browser whether a piece of a page is a heading, a paragraph, a link or a field in a form. Read the definition HTTPS HTTPS is the protected version of a web address, and it scrambles everything sent between a visitor's browser and your site so nobody in between can read it. Read the definition Hybrid App A hybrid app is a phone app whose screens are mostly web pages, wrapped in a small shell so that it installs from the app store like any other. Read the definition

I

In-App Purchase IAP An in-app purchase is a payment made inside a phone app through the store's own billing, where Apple or Google keep 15 to 30 percent. Read the definition Indexing Indexing is the step where Google saves a copy of your page in the list it searches, so a page it skips can never appear in a result. Read the definition Influencer Marketing Influencer marketing is paying someone with an audience to talk about what you sell, which only works when that audience turns out to be real. Read the definition Interactive Prototype A clickable simulation that models how a website or mobile app looks, feels, and responds before developers write production code. It lets teams test user flows, uncover friction, and refine screens early with minimal rework. Read the definition Internal Linking Internal linking is the set of links running from one page of your site to another, which is how you tell Google which of your pages matters most. Read the definition Inventory Turnover Inventory turnover is the number of times a shop sells and replaces a product in a year, so a low number means money sitting on the shelf. Read the definition Invoice Fraud Invoice fraud is a fake or altered supplier bill that gets you to pay a real amount into a bank account the criminal controls. Read the definition

J

Jailbreak and Root Detection Jailbreak and root detection is a check an app runs when it opens, to see whether the phone has had the maker's safety limits removed. Read the definition Jailbroken Device A jailbroken device is a phone whose built-in protections have been removed on purpose, which lets one app read what another app keeps private. Read the definition Java Java is the programming language large organisations settled on long ago, because a program written in it keeps running even when the computers underneath it are replaced. Read the definition JavaScript JavaScript is the language every web browser understands on its own, which is why anything that changes on a page without reloading it is written in it. Read the definition JavaScript SEO JavaScript SEO is the work of making sure Google sees your real words on a site whose pages are put together inside the browser. Read the definition Job Queue A job queue is the waiting line where a system parks heavy work, like five hundred invoices, so the screens people are using stay fast. Read the definition Journey Mapping Journey mapping is a written list of every real step a customer takes with you, in order, so you can see which step keeps going wrong. Read the definition Just-in-Time Inventory JIT Just-in-time inventory is a way of buying stock in small, frequent orders, so goods reach your shelf only a few days before you sell them. Read the definition

K

Key Account Management KAM Key account management is the habit of naming the few clients who bring in most of your money, so each one has a person looking after them. Read the definition Key Performance Indicator KPI A key performance indicator is a single number you have chosen to watch because someone on your team can actually act on it. Read the definition

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