Brand and website terms for B2B software and AI teams
Words like positioning, messaging hierarchy, design tokens and AEO turn up in proposals, calls and design reviews. They don’t always mean the same thing to everyone in the room.
This glossary defines 47 of them in plain words. Each entry says what the term means in practice, why it matters for B2B software and AI teams, and how we handle it at BrightStudios. Where we have a cleared example from our own work, we include it.
If a term on your own project needs more than a definition, book a call.
A
A/B testing
A/B testing compares two versions of a page, or one part of it, by splitting visitors between them and measuring which version gets more of the action you care about.
Above the fold
Above the fold is the part of a page a visitor sees before scrolling, on whatever screen they’re using.
AEO (answer engine optimization)
AEO (answer engine optimization) is the work of structuring content so search features and AI assistants can find it, understand it and use it in direct answers.
AI agent
An AI agent is software that uses a language model to work toward a goal. It plans steps, uses tools and acts with some independence.
B
Brand architecture
Brand architecture is how a company organizes its brands, products and sub-brands, and how they relate in name and design.
Brand guidelines
Brand guidelines are the documented rules for using a brand identity, with examples of the brand applied.
Brand identity
A brand identity is the set of visual and verbal tools a company uses to present itself, plus the rules that keep them consistent.
Brand strategy
Brand strategy is the plan for how a company wants to be understood and remembered, and the decisions that turn that plan into names, words and visuals.
Brand voice
Brand voice is the consistent personality in a company’s writing: the vocabulary, sentence style and attitude that make it recognizable on every channel.
C
Call to action (CTA)
A call to action (CTA) is the prompt that asks a visitor to take one specific next step, such as booking a call, starting a trial or requesting a demo.
Category design
Category design is deciding which market category a product belongs to, either by choosing an existing one or by naming and explaining a new one.
CMS (content management system)
A CMS (content management system) is the software that lets a team create, edit and publish website content without touching code.
Component library
A component library is a collection of reusable interface parts, such as buttons, cards, forms and navigation, designed once and used across many pages or screens.
Conversion rate optimization (CRO)
Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the work of increasing the share of visitors who take the action you want, such as booking a call, signing up or buying.
Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are three Google metrics that measure how fast a page loads, how quickly it responds and how stable its layout is, based on real visits.
Credibility
Credibility is how believable a company seems to a buyer, judged from its public surfaces before the buyer has any direct experience of it.
D
Design handoff
Design handoff is the point where finished design work passes to the people who will build, run or extend it, with the files and guidance they need.
Design system
A design system is a shared set of reusable components, patterns, tokens and guidelines that a team uses to design and build consistent interfaces and brand material.
Design tokens
Design tokens are named values for the basic decisions in a design system, like colors, type sizes, spacing and corner radii, stored so design tools and code can share them.
L
Landing page
A landing page is a web page built for one audience and one action, usually the destination of a campaign, ad, email or launch.
llms.txt
llms.txt is a proposed standard for a plain-text Markdown file at the root of a website that gives AI models a short guide to the site’s most useful content.
Logo system
A logo system is the family of logo versions a brand uses, with rules for which version appears where.
M
Messaging hierarchy
A messaging hierarchy is a ranked structure of what you say about your product, from one main message down to supporting points and the proof behind each.
Motion design
Motion design is the use of animation in brand and interface design to explain ideas, guide attention and give a product character.
P
Positioning
Positioning is the set of decisions about who your product is for, what buyers will compare it with and why it’s the better choice for them.
Pricing page
A pricing page shows what a product or service costs, what each option includes and how to buy or start.
Product demo
A product demo shows how a product works, live, recorded or interactive, so a buyer can understand its value quickly.
Prototype
A prototype is an interactive model of a website or product that people can click through to test flows and ideas before anything is built.
S
Schema markup
Schema markup is structured data added to a page’s code. It uses the shared Schema.org vocabulary to tell search engines and AI systems what the content describes.
Social proof
Social proof is evidence that other people or companies use and trust a product, such as customer logos, testimonials, case studies, reviews and usage numbers.
T
Tagline
A tagline is a short, memorable line that sits alongside a brand name and captures what the company does, promises or stands for.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the work that helps search engines crawl, render, understand and index a website. It covers the site’s structure, speed, code and settings.
U
V
Value proposition
A value proposition is a short statement of the specific result a buyer gets from your product, and why they should believe you can deliver it.
Vibe coding
Vibe coding is building software by describing what you want to an AI tool in plain language, then accepting or adjusting the code it writes, with little direct reading or writing of the code yourself.
Visual identity
Visual identity is the visible part of a brand: the logo, color, typography, graphic elements and imagery, plus the layout rules that tie them together.
W
Webflow
Webflow is a visual web development platform for designing, building, hosting and managing websites, with styling that stays close to how HTML and CSS work.
Website migration
A website migration is the move of a site from one platform, domain or structure to another, while keeping its content, search rankings and functionality intact.
Website redesign
A website redesign is a substantial rework of a site’s structure, message, design or build, usually because the current site no longer matches the company, product or buyer.
Wireframe
A wireframe is a simple, low-detail layout of a page that shows structure, content order and function before visual design begins.
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