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

K

Keylogger A keylogger is a hidden program that records every key someone types on a computer, including the password to the company bank account. Read the definition Keyword Research Keyword research means finding the exact words your customers type into Google, so your pages can use their words instead of the ones your company uses. Read the definition Kiosk Mode Kiosk mode is a setting that locks a phone or tablet onto one app, so whoever is holding it can do the job and nothing else. Read the definition Kitting Kitting is selling several separate items together as one product with one price, such as a gift box or a starter kit for a new barber. Read the definition Kotlin Kotlin is the language most new Android apps are written in today, because it says the same thing as Java in far fewer lines and with fewer crashes. Read the definition KPI Dashboard KPI A KPI dashboard is one screen holding the five or six numbers an owner checks each morning before deciding what to do that day. Read the definition Kubernetes K8s Kubernetes is the system that runs your containers across many machines and starts fresh copies whenever one fails or visitors arrive in a rush. Read the definition

L

Landing Page A landing page is a single page built to do one job, so the person who clicks your advert either takes that one action or leaves. Read the definition Laravel Laravel is the most used PHP framework, and it hands a team the pieces every web application needs so they can build your business rules instead of the plumbing. Read the definition Large Language Model LLM A large language model is the software behind assistants that write and summarise text, and it builds its answers by predicting the next word instead of looking anything up. Read the definition Least Privilege Least privilege means each person can open only the screens their own job needs, so a stolen account cannot reach the rest of the business. Read the definition Link Building Link building is the work of persuading other websites to link to yours, because search engines still count each good link as a vote for your page. Read the definition Local SEO Local SEO is the work that gets your business onto the small map at the top of Google when someone nearby searches for what you sell. Read the definition Loyalty Program A loyalty program is a scheme that pays customers for coming back, usually in points they can spend on a later purchase. Read the definition

M

Machine Learning ML Machine learning is a way of teaching software a rule by showing it thousands of solved examples, so it works out the pattern instead of being told it. Read the definition Malware Malware is any program written to damage your computer or to work quietly for someone else while you carry on using it. Read the definition Marketing Budget A marketing budget is the money a business decides in advance to spend each month on being noticed, plus the plan for how that money is split. Read the definition Marketplace Integration Marketplace integration runs your listings on Amazon, Noon and similar sites from the same system as your own shop, with one stock number behind them all. Read the definition Minimum Viable Product MVP A minimum viable product is the first real version of an app, built to do the one job that matters most so everything else can wait. Read the definition Mobile Device Management MDM Mobile device management is the software a company uses to control its staff phones and tablets from one screen, right down to erasing one that goes missing. Read the definition Mobile Website A mobile website is your ordinary website built to work properly on a phone, so visitors arrive at the same address and have nothing to download. Read the definition Mobile-First Indexing Mobile-first indexing means Google reads the phone version of your page and ranks you on what it finds there, so anything your mobile layout leaves out barely counts. Read the definition MongoDB MongoDB is a database that keeps each record as its own flexible document, so two products can carry completely different details without being forced into one fixed form. Read the definition Multi-Branch Management Multi-branch management is running two or more shops, clinics or gyms from a single system, so the owner can see every branch on one page. Read the definition 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. Read the definition

N

Native App A native app is built in the phone's own language, which makes it fast but means paying for an iPhone version and an Android version separately. Read the definition Net Promoter Score NPS The Net Promoter Score is one question, answered from nought to ten, that measures how many customers would recommend you rather than warn a friend away. Read the definition Next.js Next.js is a free toolkit built on React that prepares the whole page on the server first, so a React site opens quickly and search engines can read it. Read the definition Node.js Node.js is the tool that lets JavaScript run on a server, so one language can power both the screen the customer sees and the system behind it. Read the definition

O

Off-Page SEO Off-page SEO is the part of your search ranking that other people build for you, through the links, mentions and reviews they leave on sites you do not own. Read the definition Offboarding Offboarding is the security work a business does when someone leaves, closing every login and shared password they had so nothing stays open behind them. Read the definition Offline Mode Offline mode is what a system keeps doing when the internet drops in the middle of a sale, so the work carries on until the connection returns. Read the definition Offline Sync Offline sync is the way an app keeps working with no signal, because it saves the work on the phone and sends it up once the network comes back. Read the definition On-Page SEO On-page SEO is the work you do inside the page itself, from the title to the text on your photos, so readers and search engines both understand it. Read the definition Open Rate The open rate is the share of the people you emailed who look like they opened it, which phones now push up by loading the hidden tracking image themselves. Read the definition Order Tracking Order tracking is the running record of where an order has reached, from paid to delivered, which the customer reads in the same words your staff use. Read the definition Over-the-Air Update OTA An over-the-air update is a change you make on your own server that every phone picks up by itself, without anyone downloading a new version from the store. Read the definition Overselling Overselling is taking money for an item you cannot send, which happens when your counter, your website and your marketplace each count the same stock on their own. Read the definition OWASP Top 10 The OWASP Top 10 is a free list of the ten mistakes that most often let a stranger into a website or a web application. Read the definition

P

Page Speed Page speed is how long a real person waits on their phone before your page becomes useful to them. Read the definition Password Manager A password manager is a small program that remembers every password for you and keeps them locked away, leaving you just one to memorise. Read the definition Patch Management Patch management is the habit of updating every program and device you use on a set plan instead of whenever someone remembers. Read the definition Pay Per Click PPC Pay per click is advertising where you pay only when somebody actually clicks your advert, however many times it was shown. Read the definition PCI Compliance PCI DSS PCI compliance is the set of safety rules that the card companies make every business follow before it is allowed to take card payments. Read the definition Phishing Phishing is a message built to look like it came from someone you trust, so that you hand over a password, a code or a payment. Read the definition 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. Read the definition Point of Sale POS A point of sale is the counter or checkout page where a customer pays, and that same moment tells the shop what just left the shelf. Read the definition PostgreSQL PostgreSQL is a free database that refuses to store anything that does not make sense, which is why it is chosen when the numbers have to be right. Read the definition

Still not sure how this applies to your project?

Tell us what you are building and we will answer in plain language.

Start a project Contact us