Being a part of a marketing team means there is always something to do. There are times when you have to strategize or make a campaign at a short notice. On top of it, if you are working in a small team, you might have to be involved in web design projects or software integration tasks.
Now, things can easily go haywire, if you aren’t well-versed with the web development and web design concepts and lingo. If that’s the case most of your time will be spent on googling words the designer said than actually adding value to the campaign. If this sounds familiar to you, then you know how distressing it can be not to understand the web design and development jargon.
To save you the embarrassment and help you become a better marketer, we have prepared a list of the most common and useful web development terms.
Let’s take a look at those concepts.
1. User Experience (UX)
According to the Interaction Design Foundation, “User experience (UX) design is the process of creating products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users.” This involves the design of the entire process of acquiring and integrating the product, including aspects of branding, design, usability, and function.
The web design team has the responsibility to make the experience of the product more ‘usable’ or ‘functional’, thus it’s important to know what UX design means to give visitors a better experience.
2. Responsive design
A responsive design has been one of the hottest buzzwords from quite some time, so much so that customers have started asking for websites having a responsive design without even knowing what it actually means.
A design is said to be responsive if it responds and adapts to the user’s screen size, platform, and orientation without any effort. This web design concept is not only limited to just reformatting the content but also being able to display the content in the most accessible manner not just when viewed on a computer but on a smart phone as well.
3. SaaS
SaaS stands for software as a service. Now, explaining SaaS could be hard as it has no physical meaning as such. It is just any service that provides a software as a service either from or via the cloud that enables you to use the application without actually installing it, usually with a browser. Some popular examples of SaaS include the latest and running versions of Google Docs, Microsoft Office online, Slack among others.
4. Backend
Web development is vast and what we see is just the tip of an iceberg. Every now and then, you might hear the term backend used by developers and designers. So, let’s prick the bubble and clear the air for once and all.
The backend is the part you can’t see or which is hidden from you. It includes stuff like servers, the database, information structure, CMS controlling content on the website.
For example, the colors, design, fonts on a blog constitute the frontend and the content served by a server and fetched from a database is collectively called the backend.
5. First Meaningful Paint
Usually, the First Meaningful Paint is the time at which the browser displays webpage content onto the user’s screen.
However, one must bear in mind that the first meaningful paint is like setting the plot but isn’t actually the end story. Most of the times, the content such as titles or one-liners and images that appear on a website largely constitutes in forming the “paint” of a product on a website.
6. ARIA
ARIA is an acronym for Accessible Rich Internet Application that supports the need for an assistive and functional technology and robust layout for the app which is going to be used by hundreds of people.
ARIA defines a way to make web content and applications more accessible to people with disabilities by bridging the gap between the needs of users and a website.
7. Below the fold
It is important for a content marketer to know how the content is going to be displayed on a web page.
In the web design glossary, the term ‘below the fold’ refers to the portion of a webpage that a user must scroll to see the full part of it. With an understanding and knowledge of the fold, both the web designer and content marketer could promise an engaging experience for visitors on the website.
8. Visual hierarchy
Marketing is an act of communicating and establishing a relationship with your readers and visitors. Web design and development lets you communicate your vision through its design and layout. Visual hierarchy is one of the most important principles that help you build a good design.
Luke Wroblewski, author and Senior Principal of Product Design at Yahoo! said that visual hierarchy is the best way to create an emotional impact with your target audience through your design and content.
9. Parallax scrolling
If you are into web development, marketing, or both, then you might be aware of the concept and importance of pagination.
Oftentimes, when you are visiting a website or shopping online, you might have felt that the content of a page is giving you a 3D impression while scrolling. This happens due to parallax scrolling where foreground and background move separately from one another making way for a smooth scrolling experience for visitors.
Are there any other web design concepts every marketer should know in order to work smoothly with web development teams? If so, then send us a message to add your input to the list.