The Big Colab Digital Jargon Buster

When Buzzwords Attack:
A Survival Guide

Let’s be honest – our industry loves jargon. We’ve elevated talking in acronyms and buzzwords to an art form. So, as a public service (and a bit of self-reflection), here’s our guide to decoding the nonsense we sometimes spout.

Marketing Speak

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) – The dark arts of making Google like you. Some agencies will promise page one rankings, cross their fingers, and blame algorithm updates when it doesn’t happen immediately.

CTA (Call To Action) – Those buttons we designers obsess over (we really do!). “Should it be orange or blue?” we’ll debate for a while, then it’ll be switched out as soon as the site goes live and we grant admin rights to the client.

Content is King – A phrase we use to justify why your website needs a blog that you’ll update twice and then forget about. But seriously, you need to write more posts!

Conversion Rate – The percentage of people who do what you want and ‘convert’ to a positive result, transaction or enquiry. This percentage is usually lower than you’d expect, however we’re here to improve all metrics as part of your project.

Design Jargon

Above The Fold – A term borrowed from newspapers that we refuse to let die (well why should we?), despite the fact everyone scrolls now. But seriously, put the important stuff at the top.

White Space – Empty space on a page that designers call “breathing room” and clients call “wasted space we’re paying for.” We promise it makes everything look more expensive and ‘classy’.

User Experience (UX) – How people feel using your website. The easier your website is to use, the more likely people will come back, it’s pretty straight forward really.

Responsive Design – Making your website work on phones. Something agencies should’ve been doing since 2010 but some are still catching up – embarrassingly so!

Development Speak

Backend/Frontend – The backend is the clever stuff you can’t see. The frontend is the pretty stuff you can. Developers will argue about which is harder. Spoiler: they both are.

API (Application Programming Interface) – How different systems talk to each other. Think of it as a waiter taking your order to the kitchen – you don’t need to know how the kitchen works, just that your food arrives.

Cache – Pronounce it “cash” and watch us developers cringe. It’s stored data that makes things faster, until you need to “clear the cache” which fixes approximately 40% of all website problems – true story!

Bug – A feature we haven’t documented yet. Just kidding. It’s a mistake. We’re human, we’ll fix it.

The Buzzword Hall of Fame

Synergy – What happens when agencies pretend to understand each other in meetings – but occasionally, when the stars align, it’s also when brilliant ideas actually happen.

Pivot – What we call it when the original plan isn’t working but we don’t want to admit defeat.

Circle Back – Translation: “I don’t have an answer right now, but I’m hoping you’ll forget you asked.” …You won’t hear us use this one *wink emoji*.

Low-Hanging Fruit – The easy wins. We love these because they build momentum and show quick results while we tackle the bigger challenges.

The Truth Behind The Jargon

Look, we know we’re guilty of this. We get excited about our work and sometimes forget that not everyone speaks fluent acronym. But here’s the thing – beneath all the jargon, we genuinely care about creating websites and campaigns that work for your business.

So next time we slip into buzzword territory, just stop us. Ask us to explain it, we won’t be offended – we’ll probably be relieved to talk like normal humans for a change.

After all, the best communication is the kind everyone actually understands. (There’s probably some jargon for that, but we’ll spare you.)