When researching or seeking out web services you will likely come across terms and jargon you are not familiar with. This section is designed to help explain what some of the most common terms are and how it relates to the development of a web project.
Web Development is the coding (or programming) of the website. Web development is divided into two categories ‘front end’ and ‘back end’. Front end web development involves programming in HTML, CSS and Javascript. These 3 technologies allow a web page to display, perform animations (if needed) and perform other ‘behind the scenes’ tasks when a web page is loaded in your web browser. Typically a web developer will take the design ( a graphical image) and convert it into a webpage.
Back end web development is usually only relevant when you are working with a CMS. This involves configuring, coding (or programming) how the content writer will update pages, add new pages and add images to the website - in addition to many other related tasks. All of this has to be done in a way so that the content writer does not need any coding (or programming) knowledge to perform these tasks.
For very basic websites this term is sometimes merged with web design.
Web Design involves creating the visual design of the website. Font style, colours and the overall ‘look and feel’ are addressed by the web designer. The web designer usually works closely with the strategist and/or web marketer to make sure all of the desired features are present in the design.
User experience design is a mixture of web development and web design with some psychology mixed in (specifically cognitive with an emphasis on human-computer interaction). It analyzes how a user uses the site and makes it as ‘user friendly’ as possible.
For very large scale projects it is likely that the ‘back end’ web development can cross over into the software engineering realm. In fact, depending on who you talk to they may use those terms interchangeably. Software engineering is a complex flavour of coding (or programming) which the average web project does not call for. Similarly, not all web developers are able to properly perform software engineering because of it’s complexity and the specialized knowledge it requires. If you web project leans heavily (or entirely) on the software engineering side, you should make sure the people you are working with have a background in computer science or software engineering.
Information architecture refers to how the content of the website will be structured. A website usually has top level pages, sub pages, possibly even sub sub pages. You may also have a blog or news section on your websites which does not follow a hierarchical structure. Maybe you have small parts of content which do not have a page of their own. Information architecture takes on an increasingly important role as the size of a website increases.
A website has to ‘live’ somewhere in order for it to be visible. However, in the world of web almost every ‘living space’ is rented from a hosting company. Only extremely large websites like Google and Facebook actually own the ‘living space’ for their website.
Search Engine Optimization involves making your site show up as close to the number one spot, on the first page of search results as possible. Google is currently the most popular search engine. If someone types in ‘New York Restaurants’ in Google Search and you have a restaurant in New York, naturally you would like your website to be listed as the first website available. Since there are so many other websites who also want that number one spot this is usually not possible. However, search engine optimization can make your website rank as high as possible with respect to certain search terms. There are various tweaks (some are extremely important!) that can be done to the coding and content which can achieve this.
SEO should not be confused with the paid advertisements search engine provides also have. These ads are usually shown above the regular search results but look very similar. It does not cost any money to have your site displayed naturally in search results. If your site does not display at all then it is likely your site is very poorly optimized.
Wireframes are essentially blueprints for the web design. For highly complex information architecture and designs these are usually used. It is also usually used if there are different people doing the strategy, marketing and design. This additional step allows everyone to have one central understanding of how the website will look and function. Wireframes are usually only in black and white with a few shades of gray. This allows changes to be made easily while still communicating page layout.
When seeking services for a new web project, a client will create a list of possible candidates and send them a description of the project. The candidate will respond with their proposal and price.
This involves integrating, leveraging and optimizing the client’s social media presence on various social media platforms. This usually includes Facebook and Twitter among others. Some of these services also offer paid advertisements which are also usually utilized.
Web marketing is a broader term which includes social media marketing. This expands to include SEO as well as paid advertisements on search engine results pages.
Sometimes called a Web Content Management System, this is the modern way of creating websites. Many web professionals automatically assume that all web projects will be built with a CMS component. When using the phrase ‘building a website’ they really mean ‘buildinga CMS website’.
A CMS allows you to add new pages to your site with a click of a few buttons, changes images, change page content, etc. All of this in an easy to use graphical interface. No programming knowledge is needed for the client.
A static website is a website in which all of the various pages are not managed through a centralized administration area. These types of websites are far less technically challenging to implement than a CMS based website. That is why these types of websites are still popular with some web developers without advanced programming knowledge. These types of websites are more difficult to update and maintain, as well as integrate advanced features.
The first step to building a successful web project (or any major project in any industry for that matter) is to understand what your business or organization is about and define the objectives of the project and what the overall goals are. If you own an electronics store what will your website be about? Will the goal be to sell products online through a store? Will it be to educate visitors about why your products are better? Will it be to make it as easy as possible for visitors to find your ‘brick and mortar’ store? Will it be to educate visitors about the history of electronics? Maybe it is a combination of these objectives? It is important to define these objectives at the start of a project or you may very well end up with a website which does not benefit your business or organization at all.
You have likely seen those square black and white squares on various print materials. These are essentially square bar codes like we have seen on various product packages for many years. When scanned with a QR code reader (typically found on smart phones) it can bring you directly to a specific web page using the smart phone’s web browser. These are basically a time saving feature. Typing on a phone can be time consuming and erroneous. Scanning a QR code allow you to quickly access a webpage relating to the print material which may contain more information or related web functionality which pertains to the print material in question.
Wordpress is both an open source customizable CMS and an online blogging service. The customizable version is what professional web firms use to create websites. More information can be found at wordpress.org. To learn more about custom Wordpress development you can take a look at the codex: codex.wordpress.org. To learn more about the free Wordpress online blogging service check out wordpress.com
Drupal is an open source CMS that is well suited for larger scale websites. Even though an aircraft carrier and a ferry are both a type of boat, an aircraft carrier is structured and is run very differently than a ferry. Large scale web sites with very advanced functionality and high traffic levels need to be built on a CMS that can support it. Drupal is up for the task. More information can be found at drupal.org
Magento is a power e-commerce CMS. Magento is ideal for websites that are essentially online stores - or where the online store is the main focus of the website. This includes both tangible (clothes, books, etc) and virtual (music downloads, subscriptions, etc) products. While other CMS’s offer a wide range of functionality, Magento is focused on E-commerce and does it very well. More information is available at magentocommerce.com