The words we use, explained plainly.

40 terms from branding, web design, marketing and PR, each defined in a sentence or two and then put in context. Use it when a proposal, a brief or a report uses a word you want to be sure of.

Brand and identity

How a business decides what it stands for and shows it.

  • Brand architecture

    Brand architecture is the structure that shows how a company's brands, products and services relate to each other.

  • Brand audit

    A brand audit is a structured review of how a brand currently shows up: its positioning, visual identity, messaging, website, social presence and customer perception.

  • Brand guidelines

    Brand guidelines are a written set of rules for using a brand's identity: logo versions, colours, typography, imagery, layout and tone of voice.

  • Brand strategy

    Brand strategy is the long-term plan for how a business wants to be perceived and chosen.

  • Colour palette

    A colour palette is the defined set of colours a brand uses, usually one or two primary colours, a few supporting ones and neutrals.

  • Lockup

    A lockup is a fixed arrangement of logo elements, such as a symbol with a wordmark, or a logo with a tagline or partner name.

  • Logo suite

    A logo suite is the set of logo versions a brand needs for different uses: a primary version, a stacked or horizontal alternative, a small icon or mark, and one-colour and reversed versions.

  • Positioning

    Positioning is the place a brand holds in a buyer's mind compared with the alternatives.

  • Rebrand vs refresh

    A rebrand changes what a brand stands for and how it looks, often including its name, position and identity.

  • Tone of voice

    Tone of voice is how a brand sounds in writing and speech: its vocabulary, rhythm, level of formality and attitude.

  • Typography system

    A typography system is the chosen set of typefaces and the rules for using them: which font is for headlines and which for text, the sizes, weights, line spacing and alignment.

  • Wordmark

    A wordmark is a logo made from the brand's name set in distinctive lettering, with no separate symbol.

Web and UX

How a site is planned, built and measured.

  • 301 redirect

    A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect that sends visitors and search engines from one web address to another.

  • CMS (content management system)

    A content management system, or CMS, is software that lets people create and edit website content without writing code.

  • Conversion rate

    Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who complete a chosen goal, such as sending an enquiry, booking a call or buying a product.

  • Core Web Vitals

    Core Web Vitals are three measurements Google uses to describe real-world page experience: loading speed (Largest Contentful Paint), responsiveness (Interaction to Next Paint) and visual stability (Cumulative Layout Shift).

  • Design system

    A design system is a shared library of reusable components, patterns and rules, along with the design tokens behind them: colours, type scale, spacing and states.

  • Landing page

    A landing page is a standalone web page built for one goal and one audience, usually reached from an advertisement, an email or a search result.

  • LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)

    Largest Contentful Paint, or LCP, measures how long it takes for the largest visible element, usually a hero image or a main heading block, to appear after a page begins loading.

  • Responsive design

    Responsive design is building a website so its layout, images and type adapt to the screen it is viewed on, from a small phone to a wide desktop.

  • Schema markup

    Schema markup is structured data added to a page, using the shared Schema.org vocabulary, that describes what the page is about in a form search engines can read.

  • Technical SEO

    Technical SEO is the work of making a website easy for search engines to crawl, understand and index, and fast and stable for visitors.

  • UX vs UI

    UX, or user experience, is how easy and useful a product is to use from start to finish.

  • Wireframe

    A wireframe is a simple, low-detail layout of a page or screen that shows structure, content order and key actions without colours, images or final type.

Marketing

How paid and owned channels are run and judged.

  • Attribution

    Attribution is the method of assigning credit for a sale or enquiry to the marketing touchpoints that led to it.

  • CAC (customer acquisition cost)

    Customer acquisition cost, or CAC, is what a business spends on average to win one new customer.

  • Lead magnet

    A lead magnet is something useful offered free in exchange for a person's contact details, such as a checklist, a short audit, a calculator result or a guide.

  • Marketing funnel

    A marketing funnel is a model of the steps a person takes from first hearing about a business to becoming a customer.

  • Performance marketing

    Performance marketing is paid promotion where results are tracked and judged against measurable outcomes, such as enquiries, sign-ups or sales, not impressions.

  • Retargeting

    Retargeting, also called remarketing, is showing ads to people who have already visited a website or interacted with a brand.

  • ROAS (return on ad spend)

    Return on ad spend, or ROAS, is the revenue generated for every unit of currency spent on advertising.

  • UTM parameters

    UTM parameters are short tags added to the end of a web address, such as utm_source and utm_campaign, that tell analytics tools where a visit came from.

Creative and PR

How content is directed and reputation is earned.

  • Art direction

    Art direction is the practice of deciding the visual style and mood of a project, from photography and layout to colour, props and typography, so everything looks like one idea.

  • Content calendar

    A content calendar is a planned schedule of what will be published, where and when, across social media, email, blog and other channels.

  • Crisis communication

    Crisis communication is how an organisation speaks and acts when something goes wrong, such as an accident, a complaint going viral or a damaging rumour.

  • Earned media

    Earned media is publicity gained through merit, such as news coverage, features, interviews and mentions, not through paid placement.

  • Founder branding

    Founder branding is building a public reputation for the person behind a business through consistent writing, speaking and presence on platforms such as LinkedIn.

  • Media kit

    A media kit, or press kit, is a ready pack of information for journalists: a short company profile, leadership bios, key facts, logos, approved photographs and contact details.

  • Press release

    A press release is a short, factual announcement written for journalists, covering who is doing what, when, where and why it matters.

  • Shot list

    A shot list is a written list of the images or video shots to capture during a shoot, each tied to a specific use such as a hero image, a product detail or a vertical clip.

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