Last reviewed 26 July 2026
Clear explanations of the terms that come up when planning websites, automation, AI and custom software, written for independent businesses and grounded in practical use.
Showing 70 of 70 terms.
AI
#Software that uses an AI model to choose and carry out steps towards a defined goal, often through tools or connected systems.
An agent can coordinate multi-step work, but every permission, failure path and consequential decision still needs a clear boundary.
A scripted workflow that follows fixed rules is automation, but it is not necessarily an AI agent.
AI
#An interface that uses an AI model to help a person complete a task, such as drafting, finding information or transforming content.
The useful question is the specific job it supports and what review remains necessary, not whether the product can carry an AI label.
AI
#An output that sounds plausible but is unsupported, incorrect or inconsistent with the information available to the model.
Any workflow using generated output needs proportionate checking, especially when it affects customers, money, records or legal claims.
Fluent wording is not evidence that an answer is true.
AI
#A search experience that uses AI models to interpret a query, retrieve information or generate a combined answer.
Clear, accurate, crawlable source content can make a business easier to understand, but crawler access does not guarantee inclusion or citation.
Websites
#Alt text
A text alternative that communicates the purpose or meaning of an image when the image cannot be seen.
Useful alternative text supports screen-reader users and situations where an image does not load. Decorative images normally need an empty alternative.
Websites
#Measurement that records how a website or product is used, usually as events, page views and aggregated reports.
Analytics can answer focused questions about use, but it needs a clear purpose, accurate configuration and an appropriate consent and privacy basis.
Automation
#Application programming interface
A defined way for one piece of software to request data or actions from another.
APIs often make dependable integrations possible, but access, rate limits, costs and provider changes affect what can be promised.
Automation
#Technology that carries out a repeatable task or moves information between steps with less manual effort.
Good automation removes avoidable repetition while keeping exceptions, ownership and important decisions visible.
Websites
#A visible trail that shows a page's place in a site hierarchy and links back through its parent sections.
Breadcrumbs help visitors understand context and can also describe the visible hierarchy to search engines through matching structured data.
Search
#The preferred address declared for a page when similar or duplicate addresses could show the same content.
A consistent canonical helps search engines understand which URL should represent the content, but it is a signal rather than an absolute instruction.
Websites
#Content management system
Software that lets authorised people create or update website content without editing the underlying code directly.
A CMS is useful when the business genuinely needs regular structured updates. It also adds permissions, maintenance and training responsibilities.
A website does not need a CMS merely because content might change occasionally.
Privacy and security
#A freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous choice agreeing to a defined use of personal information or optional storage.
Optional analytics should remain off before agreement, and withdrawing the choice should be as practical as giving it.
Websites
#A defined useful action completed by a visitor, such as sending an enquiry, booking through an existing platform or making a purchase.
A conversion should describe a real action and be measured without inventing business results or sending personal form values into analytics.
Privacy and security
#A small value stored by a browser and associated with a website, often used for preferences, sessions or measurement.
Cookies that are not strictly necessary normally require clear information and agreement before they are set in the UK.
Search
#Google's user-experience metrics for loading performance, interaction responsiveness and visual stability.
They provide useful evidence about page experience, but a score is not a guarantee of rankings, sales or every aspect of real performance.
Search
#The process of an automated crawler requesting pages and following links to discover web content.
A page generally needs to be accessible to the relevant crawler before it can be considered for indexing, but crawling does not guarantee inclusion.
Apps
#Software planned and built around a particular product, user group or business workflow rather than adopted as a standard off-the-shelf tool.
Custom work is most useful when the need is specific enough that existing software creates a material limitation.
Privacy and security
#The principle of collecting and retaining only the personal information that is adequate, relevant and necessary for a defined purpose.
A shorter form and a clear retention rule reduce risk as well as friction for the person making an enquiry.
Apps
#A structured system for storing, organising and retrieving information.
The database design affects reliability, permissions, privacy, reporting and how safely the application can change later.
Automation
#A process where the same defined input and rules produce the same output.
When the job can be expressed as dependable rules, ordinary software may be safer and easier to test than a generative AI step.
Websites
#Domain Name System
The system of records that connects a domain name to website, email and verification services.
A website launch must change only the records needed for the new service and preserve unrelated email and security records.
Websites
#Search
#The same or substantially similar content available at more than one URL.
Consistent internal links, direct redirects and canonicals help consolidate duplicate addresses around the preferred page.
Privacy and security
#Websites
#Google Analytics 4
Google's event-based website and application analytics service.
GA4 can measure consented page and enquiry events, but its tag, cookies, event contents and account settings all need a privacy-aware configuration.
AI
#AI that produces new output such as text, images, audio or code from patterns learned during training and the context supplied at use time.
Generated output can speed up useful work, but it needs review for accuracy, rights, safety and fit with the real task.
Websites
#A standard numeric response that tells a browser or crawler what happened to a web request.
Correct codes distinguish successful pages, redirects, client errors and server failures. A friendly missing-page design still needs a true 404 response.
AI
#A design where a person reviews, approves, corrects or intervenes in an automated or AI-supported process.
Human review is most valuable when it is placed before a consequential action and the reviewer has enough context to make a real decision.
Automation
#A property that lets the same operation be repeated without creating an unintended duplicate effect.
Idempotency helps prevent double email delivery, duplicate charges or repeated records when a request is retried.
Search
#Whether a search engine is allowed and technically able to consider a page for inclusion in its index.
Indexability depends on status codes, directives, canonical signals and accessible content. It still does not guarantee a page will be indexed.
Search
#A link from one page on a website to another page on the same website.
Useful internal links help visitors and crawlers discover related content and understand the site's structure.
Search
#A word or phrase used to describe the language people may search for and the subject a page answers.
Keyword research can reveal real questions, but repeating a phrase is not a substitute for a useful page that satisfies the searcher's need.
AI
#LLM
A model trained on large collections of language data to predict and generate sequences of text or other tokenised information.
An LLM can transform or generate language, but it does not provide a built-in guarantee of truth, current knowledge or business suitability.
Search
#LCP
A Core Web Vital that measures when the largest visible content element in the initial viewport finishes rendering.
LCP is a practical signal for perceived loading speed and is affected by hosting, images, fonts, CSS and rendering decisions.
Apps
#Software designed so important data and core use remain available on the user's device, with network services added where useful.
A local-first design can support offline use and user control, but backup, synchronisation and multi-device conflict decisions still matter.
Privacy and security
#A time-ordered record of technical events used to operate, monitor, debug or protect a system.
Useful logs help investigate failures and abuse, but they should avoid unnecessary personal content and follow a retention rule.
Search
#Information that describes a page or resource, such as its title, search description, canonical address or social-preview details.
Accurate metadata helps browsers, search engines and sharing platforms present a page, but it does not replace the visible content.
Apps
#MVP
The smallest coherent product version that solves a defined problem well enough to be used and evaluated.
A worthwhile first version reduces speculative scope without becoming an incomplete demonstration that cannot test the real need.
Websites
#Planning the core layout and journeys for constrained mobile screens before adding space and enhancement for wider viewports.
Mobile-first work forces priorities to be clear, especially for local-business journeys such as menus, calling, booking and directions.
Search
#A directive asking search engines not to include a page in search results.
Noindex is appropriate for a public page that should not be discovered through general search, but the page still needs to be crawlable for the directive to be seen.
Websites
#404
The response returned when the requested resource does not exist at that address.
A useful 404 page helps visitors recover while the true status prevents unknown URLs from being treated as successful pages.
Websites
#Metadata used by many social and messaging platforms to create a preview when a page is shared.
Accurate titles, descriptions and images make shared links understandable without inventing a different claim from the page itself.
Websites
#The practical loading and interaction performance experienced when a visitor uses a page.
Fast, stable pages reduce friction, but one laboratory score cannot guarantee every device, connection, ranking or business outcome.
Privacy and security
#Information relating to an identified or identifiable living person.
Names, email addresses, online identifiers and enquiry details need a defined purpose, lawful basis, protection and retention rule.
Privacy and security
#Giving a person or system only the access needed for its current job and no broader permission by default.
Smaller permissions reduce the effect of mistakes, misuse and compromised accounts or tokens.
Privacy and security
#Considering privacy, necessity and risk throughout the design and operation of a product rather than adding a notice at the end.
Data choices in forms, logs, analytics, permissions and retention are implementation decisions, not just legal-page wording.
Websites
#Building a dependable core experience first, then adding richer behaviour where the browser and device support it.
Content, navigation and forms remain more resilient when optional scripts enhance rather than own the entire experience.
AI
#The instruction and context supplied to an AI model for a particular request.
A clear prompt can improve relevance, but it cannot guarantee truth or compensate for missing source information and evaluation.
Privacy and security
#Restricting how many requests a client can make during a period of time.
Rate limiting helps protect forms and APIs from abuse, but the threshold and identifier should avoid blocking ordinary use or collecting unnecessary data.
Search
#A response that sends a browser or crawler from one URL to another.
A direct permanent redirect preserves a useful path when content moves and avoids leaving visitors at a missing page.
Websites
#A layout approach that adapts content and controls to different viewport sizes, zoom levels and device capabilities.
Responsive work keeps reading, navigation and actions usable across phones, tablets, laptops and wide screens rather than shrinking one desktop layout.
Privacy and security
#The time personal information or another record is kept before review or secure deletion.
A retention rule should follow the purpose, legal needs and genuine operational requirements rather than keeping information indefinitely.
AI
#RAG
A pattern that retrieves relevant source material and supplies it to a generative model as context for an answer.
Retrieval can ground an answer in selected material, but source quality, permissions, coverage and answer verification still matter.
Search
#Apps
#Software as a service
Software operated by a provider and accessed as an ongoing online service, commonly through a subscription or account.
A SaaS product creates continuing responsibilities for hosting, access, support, security, data and provider costs.
Search
#A shared vocabulary for describing entities and relationships in structured data on the web.
Choosing an accurate type and supported properties matters more than adding the largest possible amount of markup.
Search
#The underlying goal a person is trying to achieve with a search query.
Pages are more useful when they answer the real task behind a query instead of repeating a keyword without enough practical information.
Websites
#Using HTML elements according to the meaning and structure of their content, such as headings, navigation, buttons and lists.
Semantic structure gives browsers, assistive technology and search systems a more dependable understanding of the page.
Websites
#SSR
Generating page HTML on a server before sending it to the browser.
Server rendering can provide content quickly and make the initial page dependable without waiting for a large client script.
Search
#A machine-readable list of canonical site URLs intended to help search engines discover indexable pages.
A sitemap should contain real canonical pages, not redirects, missing pages, private previews or routes intentionally marked noindex.
Automation
#The agreed authoritative place for a particular item of information when several systems could contain a copy.
An automation needs to know which system owns the value and what should happen when copies disagree.
Search
#Machine-readable information embedded in a page using a recognised vocabulary such as Schema.org.
Structured data should match visible facts exactly. It can help systems understand a page but does not guarantee a rich result or citation.
Search
#The technical work that helps search engines crawl, render, understand and index a website correctly.
Technical SEO includes status codes, canonicals, metadata, internal links, structured data, performance and index controls, but it cannot guarantee rankings.
Websites
#Uniform Resource Locator
The address of a specific resource on the web, including its protocol, host and path.
Stable, descriptive URLs support navigation, sharing and migration. When a useful URL changes, it normally needs a direct redirect.
Apps
#The sequence of steps a person takes to complete a task in a website or application.
Designing around real flows keeps the interface focused on what users need to understand, decide and do.
AI
#A numerical representation of content designed so items with related meaning can be compared mathematically.
Embeddings can support semantic retrieval and clustering, but the model, source data, access rules and evaluation shape the result.
Apps
#A system that records changes to source files so work can be reviewed, compared and restored.
Version control supports safe collaboration and rollback, but it must not contain secret values and does not replace a production data backup.
Websites
#Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
The W3C guidelines organised around content being perceivable, operable, understandable and robust for people with disabilities.
WCAG 2.2 AA provides a practical accessibility target, while real usability also needs manual testing and a route for people to report barriers.
Automation
#An HTTP message one service sends to another when a defined event happens.
A dependable webhook handler verifies the sender, validates the event, handles retries and prevents duplicate effects.
Automation
#Automation that moves a piece of work through connected steps, systems, decisions and exception paths.
Mapping the current workflow first exposes ownership, failure handling and human decisions before technology is chosen.