I’ve been asked a lot about websites and how they work exactly. So I thought I would write an article that would give a brief run of how to better understand your site so you can better understand the terminology.
Websites are a bit easy to follow or understand if you think of your site (or any site for that matter) as a house. Why a house you ask? It’s very simple and the following will help you better understand.
Domain = Address
Now when you want visitors they need an address to get there right? When you receive your mail you need an address right? Same rule applies to a domain. People need to know where you are located and where to send mail. Just like your house uses numbers and an address to locate you, domains use the same principal. The wording is linked to the DNS (Domain Name Servers) that your site resides in, thus, giving you an address to use and people are able to locate you.
Foundation = Hosting
Well now you got your address you need to have a place to build. Hosting is where your site begins the transformation from a space or lot into a house or site. Generally with your hosting you have various tools to use to build. Just like a contractor uses tools to build the house you use tools (programs and/or scripts) to build your site.
Site = House
Reason for this is because your site is your house. You have many pages or rooms. This is the whole house or site put together. You have décor, a front door, a back door, maybe even a side door, and other rooms in your house. Same applies to your website. More of this will follow which would make more sense and more of explanations for various areas.
Décor = Images
Now you do want to decorate your house nicely so why not decorate your site the same way? You want your visitors to feel welcomed. Your site should be a reflection of you (and your business if building a business site). It should not be the way anyone else wants it but you. You decorate your house to your liking so why not decorate your site to you?
Front Door = Entrance Page
This is where your visitors will come to when they visit you. They don’t always go to the back or side doors but they generally come to your front door. This is the page the visitor will see upon coming to your site. This is where you want to put out your “welcome mat” or just say welcome to your visitors. This is the page they first see to see what you have to offer and that it’s about you (and/or your business if it’s a business site).
Back Door = Admin Area(s)
The back door or admin area(s) is where you go to work on your site or your house. Not many people will have access to this but you (unless you authorize it). Not everyone comes knocking to the back door correct? Not everyone should have access to your back door or admin area(s). Keep this secure so that no can “steal” or “hack” your site.
Side Door = Authorized Visitors
This is the area(s) that you allow certain visitors to visit. These areas can be certain links you give out or maybe something you want to give them the “key” or password protect to gain entrance to certain areas of your site.
Other Rooms = Other Pages/Areas
The other rooms or other pages/areas of your site could be something like a blog, a forum, a photo gallery, etc. These areas are areas that you allow your guest to go and visit. Just like you generally allow your guest to go into the dining room or kitchen you want to welcome your guest to go to your blog, forum, or another area you have set up for them.
Nails = Links/Content
Now what holds your house all together? Nails right? Same thing applies to your site. The nails on your site would be the links/content on your site. This holds everything together so that your visitors can go from room to room. Without nails your house would not hold together, so without links/content you would have nothing on your site holding it together making people stay and visit.
