Glossary
CMS & website terms, defined.
Reference definitions for the platforms, performance metrics, and infrastructure concepts that come up when running or moving a website.
Comparing platforms? See alternatives to popular CMS platforms.
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- Canonical URL The preferred URL of a web page when multiple URLs serve the same or similar content, signaled to search engines via a rel='canonical' link tag.
- Client-side rendering (CSR) An architecture in which the server sends a minimal HTML shell and a JavaScript bundle, and the browser builds the page in place by executing JavaScript.
- CMS lock-in The degree to which a website's content, design, and functionality are difficult to move off a particular content management system without significant rebuilding.
- Code-based website A website built directly from source code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, optionally a framework or static site generator) rather than constructed through a CMS's visual editor.
- Content delivery network (CDN) A geographically distributed network of servers that caches and serves website assets from locations near the user, reducing load time and origin server load.
- Content management system (CMS) Software that allows users to create, edit, and publish digital content, typically through a web interface, without writing code.
- Core Web Vitals A set of three Google-defined metrics, LCP, INP, and CLS, that measure how a page actually performs for real users and contribute to search rankings.
- CSS Cascading Style Sheets, the language used to describe the visual presentation of HTML documents, including layout, color, typography, and responsive behavior.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) A Core Web Vitals metric measuring how much visible content shifts position unexpectedly during page load, indicating visual stability.
- Custom domain A domain name owned and configured by the user (such as yourbusiness.com), as opposed to a subdomain provided by a hosting platform (such as yourbusiness.platform.com).
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- Data portability The ability to move data, content, accounts, settings, structured information, from one system to another in a usable form.
- DNS The Domain Name System, the internet's directory service that translates human-readable domain names into the IP addresses computers use to connect to one another.
- Domain name A human-readable address used to identify a website or service on the internet, such as example.com, registered through a domain registrar.
- Domain registrar An ICANN-accredited company that sells and manages domain name registrations on behalf of registrants.
- Dynamic site A website where pages are assembled on the server in response to each request, typically by combining a database query with a template.
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- Headless CMS A content management system that stores and structures content but does not render the front-end; content is delivered through an API to be displayed by a separate application.
- HTML HyperText Markup Language, the standard markup language for creating web pages, defining structure and meaning of content through elements and attributes.
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- JAMstack An architecture for building websites using JavaScript, APIs, and pre-built Markup, with content served from a CDN rather than a traditional web server.
- JavaScript A programming language that runs in web browsers and on servers, used to create interactive web pages, applications, and many kinds of software.
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- Managed hosting A web hosting service in which the provider handles server administration, software updates, security, backups, and performance optimization on the customer's behalf.
- Markdown A lightweight plain-text format for writing structured content using simple syntax that converts to HTML.
- Meta description A short summary of a web page's content placed in an HTML meta tag, often displayed by search engines beneath the page's title in search results.
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- Nameservers The DNS servers responsible for answering authoritative queries about a domain's records, controlling where the domain points for web, email, and other services.
- No-code / low-code Software platforms that allow users to build applications, websites, or workflows with minimal or no traditional programming, typically through visual interfaces.
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- Page builder A tool, typically a plugin or built-in feature within a CMS, that lets users construct page layouts visually by dragging, dropping, and configuring blocks.
- Page speed How quickly a web page loads and becomes usable, measured by metrics like Largest Contentful Paint, Time to First Byte, and overall load time.
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- Schema markup Structured data added to a web page (typically as JSON-LD) that helps search engines understand the content's meaning and context.
- Search engine optimization (SEO) The practice of structuring a website's content, technical setup, and authority signals to rank well in search engine results for relevant queries.
- Server-side rendering (SSR) An architecture in which HTML is generated on the server in response to each request, then sent to the browser fully assembled.
- Serverless A cloud computing model in which the provider runs code on demand in response to events, abstracting server management away from the developer.
- Site builder A type of content management system focused on visual, drag-and-drop website creation, typically hosted by the vendor and aimed at non-technical users.
- Site export The process of extracting a website's content, structure, or data from a platform into a portable format that can be moved or archived elsewhere.
- Site migration The process of moving a website from one platform, host, technology, or domain to another while preserving content, traffic, and search rankings.
- Sitemap An XML or HTML file listing the pages of a website, used to help search engines discover and index content efficiently.
- SSL / HTTPS Cryptographic protocols (TLS, formerly SSL) that encrypt traffic between a browser and a web server, and the HTTPS scheme that uses them.
- Static site A website built from pre-generated HTML files served directly, without a database or server-side processing per request.
- Static site generator (SSG) A program that builds a static website from source files (templates, content, data, configuration) at build time, producing a folder of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript ready to deploy.
- Subdomain A prefix to a domain name (such as 'blog' in 'blog.example.com') that identifies a separate section of a website or a distinct service.
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- Theme / template A theme is a packaged set of design and code files that controls the visual appearance and structure of a website. A template is a layout for a specific page type within a theme.
- Total cost of ownership (TCO) The full cost of operating a system, product, or service over its lifetime, including initial purchase, ongoing fees, maintenance, training, and eventual replacement.
- Traditional CMS A content management system that handles both content storage and front-end rendering in a single integrated system, sometimes called a monolithic or coupled CMS.
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- Web hosting The service that provides the infrastructure (server, storage, network connectivity) to make a website accessible on the internet.
- WYSIWYG editor An editor that displays content as it will appear when published, 'What You See Is What You Get', letting users format text and layout visually rather than through markup.