If you don’t know your footers from your sliders, your page links from your CTAs, it might be helpful to have a quick rundown of the words digital web developers use to describe the different parts of a website.
Homepage
This is your welcome page and is usually at the main URL (website address) of your website. If your website was a book, your homepage is your title page. It tells people where they are, and what they are able to look at next. A good homepage tells visitors they’re in the right place and encourages them to explore further pages of your website.
URL
Since we can’t talk about websites without talking about URLs, we need to include the term here. As web developers we are guilty of saying ‘URL’ a lot. But even though URL is short for Unique Resource Locator, it’s actually just a fancy way of saying the website’s address!
Header
This is the top horizontal constant section of your website and, usually, just includes your logo, navigation menu and perhaps a contact number of CTA (call to action – see below).
Sometimes, static areas like headers are referred to as ‘stickies’ because they stay the same wherever you are in the website.
Navigation
This is sometimes called the menu, navigation bar, or page links of your website, which usually run across the top of your website in the header. It’s basically your website’s menu of page options for browsers to click on, and the means by which they’ll find their way around.
Sidebar
A sidebar is an alternative navigation menu that usually runs vertically down one side of a web page. A sidebar can offer a variety of alternative links and means of navigating around your website.
Options on a sidebar might be to direct browsers to customer reviews, certain blog posts you wish to feature, and contact details. They are usually used in web design to direct attention to areas you don’t want the browser to miss, while trying not to distract them from the main content.
Slider
Less popular than they used to be, sliders are slideshows of images and videos, sometimes with text, and can feature in any area of your website, to showcase products and reviews.
Call to action (CTA)
An attention-grabbing headline, a not-to-be-missed offer, something that makes the browser take action, with an easily clickable button that means they take action towards buying/engaging with you.
A CTA could be anything from ‘request a quote’ to ‘enquire now’ to ‘get in touch’ or ‘sign up for our newsletter’.
A CTA turns your browsers’ aimless browsing into a measurable level of enquiry, interest and potential sale.
Footer
Remember the header? The static content at the top of your website that stays as it is as you navigate the different pages within the website? The footer is like that, except it’s at the bottom; it’s static like the header, but usually contains the deeper information on your website.
The footer of a website usually contains navigation links to your contact details, office addresses, legal policy and other official information about your business or organisation.
Any other website term you’d like to know about?
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