Web Design Glossary

SEO covers a range of technical and content practices — including keyword research, page titles and headings, site speed, mobile-friendliness, and earning links from other reputable sites. Search engines use automated programs to discover and rank web pages based on hundreds of factors. SEO is not a one-time task — it requires ongoing effort because search algorithms change, competitors adjust, and your audience's needs evolve.

As search engines evolve, they increasingly answer questions directly on the results page without requiring a click. AEO focuses on formatting content — using clear question-and-answer structures, concise definitions, and well-organized headings — so search engines can extract and display your answers. This overlaps with traditional SEO but places particular emphasis on being the source that gets quoted.

Note: AEO is a relatively newer industry term. The core advice — write clear, well-structured content that directly answers common questions — is sound regardless of the label.

With the rise of AI-generated search results — like Google's AI Overviews and ChatGPT with browsing — a new challenge has emerged: making sure AI systems represent your business accurately when they generate answers. GEO involves keeping your information consistent across the web, earning mentions from reputable sources, using structured data, and publishing substantive content that AI models are likely to reference.

Note: GEO is the newest of these terms and is still being actively defined by the industry. The foundational advice aligns with good SEO practices.

Local SEO focuses on your Google Business Profile, consistent name/address/phone across online directories, local reviews, location-specific content, and local keywords. Google uses a distinct local algorithm that weighs proximity to the searcher, relevance, and prominence (how well-known and well-reviewed you are). The “map pack” — the map with three listings that appears for local searches — is driven by these factors.

Keyword research involves finding the specific terms your audience uses, evaluating how many people search for each one, how difficult it is to rank, and what the searcher's intent is. The goal isn't to stuff keywords into your content artificially — Google understands synonyms and natural language. It's about understanding how your audience thinks so you can create content that meets their needs.

Search engines treat backlinks as editorial endorsements. Links from reputable, relevant sites carry far more weight than links from low-quality sources. Building backlinks ethically means creating content others naturally want to reference and building real relationships with other organizations. Buying links violates Google's guidelines and can result in penalties.

This encompasses web pages, blog posts, sermon archives, patient resources, videos, and social media. A good strategy is built on understanding your audience's questions, aligning with your goals, establishing a realistic publishing schedule, and measuring what works. It includes governance — who creates content, what the standards are, and how content stays current.

WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that powers a large portion of all websites. The self-hosted version (WordPress.org) gives you full control — install any design, add any feature, choose your own hosting. WordPress uses themes (which control design) and plugins (which add functionality like contact forms or event calendars). Staff can update content through a visual editor without touching code.

A custom theme is coded specifically for your organization — maximum control over design, speed, and code quality, but more development time. A page builder (like Elementor) adds drag-and-drop editing but can slow your site and create dependency. A template is a pre-made design from a marketplace — fastest and cheapest, but designed for everyone, often bloated with features you don't need. These approaches aren't always exclusive — a custom theme might use a lightweight builder for certain sections.

Responsive design uses flexible layouts that adapt based on screen size. Mobile-first development starts with the smallest screen and progressively enhances for larger ones. Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily uses the mobile version of your site for ranking. Good mobile design considers touch-friendly buttons, content priority, load speed on cellular connections, and thumb-friendly navigation.

The three metrics are: LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) — how long the biggest visible element takes to load (under 2.5 seconds is good); CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) — how much the page unexpectedly jumps around while loading (under 0.1 is good); INP (Interaction to Next Paint) — how quickly the page responds after you click or tap something (under 200 milliseconds is good). Google uses these as ranking signals and measures them from real user data.

A domain is registered through a registrar and renewed annually — you lease the right to use it. Hosting stores your files on a server connected to the internet. Quality varies widely: shared hosting (cheaper but slower) puts many sites on one server, while managed hosting offers better speed and support. Your domain's DNS settings connect it to your hosting provider.

SSL/TLS encrypts all data transmitted between your server and visitors' browsers — form submissions, login credentials, and browsing activity. An SSL certificate is installed on your server to enable HTTPS. Most hosting providers include free certificates through Let's Encrypt. Google has used HTTPS as a ranking signal since 2014, and browsers show “Not Secure” warnings without it.

An XML sitemap (usually at yoursite.com/sitemap.xml) provides search engines with a structured list of your pages along with when each was last updated and how important it is. This helps crawlers discover and index your content efficiently, especially pages that might not be found through links alone. You can submit your sitemap to Google through Search Console.

This plain text file at your site's root provides directives to web crawlers about which areas to crawl or skip. Common uses include preventing access to admin areas or duplicate content. Important: robots.txt controls crawling, not indexing — a blocked page can still appear in search results if other pages link to it. A misconfigured robots.txt can accidentally hide your entire site from search engines.

Similar in concept to robots.txt but designed for AI language models, llms.txt (placed at yoursite.com/llms.txt) contains a markdown-formatted summary of your organization, services, and key content. As AI systems increasingly browse websites to answer questions, this file helps ensure they represent you accurately. The specification is still evolving but the cost of implementing it is minimal.

The title tag appears as the clickable headline in search results and in the browser tab (Google shows about 50–60 characters). The meta description is the summary text below the title (about 150–160 characters). Each page should have unique, descriptive versions of both. Google doesn't always use your meta description — it sometimes generates its own — but providing one gives Google a strong candidate to display.

Alt text serves three purposes: accessibility (screen readers read it aloud for visually impaired visitors), SEO (search engines can't see images, so alt text helps them understand your visual content), and fallback (if an image fails to load, the alt text displays instead). Good alt text is concise, descriptive, and contextually relevant — not a list of keywords.

Google Analytics (currently GA4) collects data using a tracking code on your site. It reports on visitor counts, traffic sources (search, social media, direct), device types, and how people move through your pages. The data helps you understand what's working and where to focus efforts. For healthcare sites, careful configuration is needed to avoid accidentally collecting patient health information.

Schema markup uses a standardized vocabulary (maintained at schema.org) to label your content in a way machines can read. It's typically added as JSON-LD code in your page's HTML. For example, a church can use the “Church” schema to explicitly label its name, denomination, address, and service times. A medical practice can use “MedicalBusiness” schema. Search engines use this data to generate enhanced search results and knowledge panels.

Rich results are visually enhanced search entries that Google generates when it finds valid structured data on a page. Examples include FAQ accordions, event listings with dates, review stars, and business listings with hours and contact info. These enhanced listings take up more visual space and typically earn higher click-through rates than standard results. Google's Rich Results Test tool lets you check whether your pages are eligible.

Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) lets you manage your name, address, phone, hours, website, photos, and service descriptions across Google Search and Maps. You can respond to reviews, post updates, add attributes like “wheelchair accessible,” and view data about how people find your listing. For organizations with a physical location, this is one of the most important factors in local search visibility.

HIPAA is a federal law establishing standards for protecting patient health information. Compliance requires administrative, physical, and technical safeguards, risk assessments, Business Associate Agreements with vendors, staff training, and documentation. A “HIPAA-aware” website has features like encrypted data transmission, secure forms, and proper data handling — but the website alone doesn't make an organization compliant. Compliance is an organizational responsibility covering policies, procedures, training, and vendor management. Violations carry penalties from $100 to over $50,000 per violation.

Monthly support plans typically cover software updates, security monitoring, backups, uptime monitoring, content changes, performance checks, and a set number of hours for design or development work. The scope and pricing vary by level. When evaluating a plan, understand what's included, how unused hours are handled, the response time for urgent issues, and who owns the website if you end the relationship.