01 / Knowledge hub
Glossary of digital terms
Plain definitions of terms that come up often in security, search, advertising and software conversations. Look up any word you get stuck on while reading a quote or a report.
- 01
Security
- Vulnerability
- A flaw in design, configuration or code that could let an unauthorised person gain access, change data or disrupt a service.
- CVE · Public vulnerability identifier
- A unique identifier in the form CVE-year-number given to a publicly disclosed vulnerability, so everyone knows they are talking about the same flaw.
- CVSS · Vulnerability severity score
- A widely used scale that rates a vulnerability's technical severity from 0 to 10; the impact on your particular business still has to be judged separately.
- Penetration test (pentest)
- A security assessment in which weaknesses are sought in a controlled way using a real attacker's methods, with the owner's written permission and a written scope, and reported with evidence.
- Vulnerability scan
- An automated check for known weakness signatures; it is quick and cheap, but it can raise false alarms and does not see flaws in business logic.
- Black-box and grey-box testing
- In black-box testing the tester knows only the target address; in grey-box testing test accounts are provided and what a signed-in user can reach is examined as well.
- Retest
- Trying the same finding again after fixes; a finding only counts as closed once a retest confirms it.
- SOC · Security operations centre
- The team and processes that continuously monitor logs and alerts from your systems, investigate suspicious events and notify the right people.
- WAF · Web application firewall
- A protective layer that inspects requests to a website and blocks those matching known attack patterns; it does not fix a weakness, it makes exploiting it harder.
- MFA · Multi-factor authentication
- A sign-in method that asks for a second proof, such as a code on your phone or a security key, in addition to the password, so a stolen password alone is not enough.
- SSL/TLS · Encrypted connection
- The protocol that encrypts traffic between the browser and the server; https in the address bar shows that the connection is encrypted, not that the site itself is secure.
- Phishing
- An attempt to trick someone into handing over a password, card details or a payment approval through a fake e-mail, message or page.
- Incident response
- The planned process followed when a security incident is detected: limiting the impact, preserving evidence, cleaning up and restoring systems, and finding the cause.
- KVKK · Turkish Personal Data Protection Law
- Law No. 6698, which governs the processing of personal data in Turkey and places notification and data security obligations on organisations that process it.
- 02
Site speed and experience
- Core Web Vitals · Google's page experience metrics
- The three measurements Google uses to assess page experience: loading (LCP), responsiveness (INP) and visual stability (CLS).
- LCP · Main content load time
- The time until the largest image or text block on the page appears on screen; Google counts 2.5 seconds or less as good.
- INP · Interaction response time
- The time from a click, tap or key press until the page visibly responds; Google counts 200 milliseconds or less as good.
- CLS · Layout shift
- A score for how much elements move unexpectedly while the page loads; Google counts 0.1 or less as good.
- 03
Search engines (SEO)
- Indexing
- A search engine storing a page it has crawled in its database; a page that is not indexed cannot appear in search results.
- Canonical URL
- A tag that tells search engines which address is the main one when the same content is available at more than one address.
- hreflang · Language version tag
- A tag that tells search engines about a page's other language and region versions, helping visitors see the page in their own language.
- Structured data
- Code that marks up information on the page, such as products, articles, businesses or questions and answers, in a standard format search engines understand; only information actually on the page should be marked up.
- Sitemap
- A file that gives search engines a list of the site's published pages; it makes pages easier to find, but does not on its own get them indexed.
- Search intent
- The purpose behind a search, such as finding information, comparing options or buying; the right page is the one that answers that purpose.
- CTR · Click-through rate
- The number of clicks a search result or ad receives divided by the number of times it is shown.
- 04
Advertising and measurement
- Conversion
- A visitor completing an action that matters to you, such as sending a form, calling, placing an order or booking an appointment.
- ROAS · Return on ad spend
- Revenue earned from advertising divided by ad spend; because it measures revenue rather than profit, it should be read alongside product costs.
- CPA · Cost per acquisition
- Total ad spend divided by the number of conversions, giving the average cost of winning a customer or a lead.
- CPC · Cost per click
- The average amount paid to the platform for one ad click; even a cheap click is expensive if it brings no conversions.
- Landing page
- The page a visitor from an ad or campaign lands on first, focused on a single goal; it should keep the promise the ad made, in the same words.
- Remarketing
- Showing ads again to people who have already visited your site, within the limits of the consent they gave.
- 05
Software and e-commerce
- E-commerce platform
- The software foundation that provides the product catalogue, basket, checkout, stock and order management; it can be a ready-made subscription service or a system built for you.
- Payment gateway
- A service that securely takes and processes payments by card or other methods; the contract and fees are usually between the business and the payment provider.
- Virtual POS
- A merchant account opened by a bank or payment institution so that you can take card payments online.
- CMS · Content management system
- A management panel that lets you add and update pages, text and images without writing code.
- API · Application programming interface
- The defined rules and addresses that let two pieces of software send and receive data; for example, your website talks to your accounting software through an API.
- SaaS · Software as a service
- A software model used in the browser without installation and usually paid for with a monthly or yearly subscription.
- Integration
- A connection that lets data flow automatically between your site and other systems such as payments, shipping, accounting or customer management.
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