Glossary | Build Your Dream Website in 2 Days

The technical terms in this guide, in plain words, with the section where each one first matters.

A record: A DNS record that points your domain to a numbered address, such as Netlify’s 75.2.60.5 (6.5).
Alt text: A short description of an image for people who can’t see it, read out by screen readers.
App icon: The icon that appears when someone saves your website to the home screen of their phone (6.2).
Astro: The free tool Claude Code uses to turn your pages into a fast website (5.1).

Browser pane: The browser inside Claude Code where you see your website while it is being built (5.1).

Call to action: A button or link that asks the visitor to do something, such as “Book now”.
Claude Code: The part of Claude that builds: it works on the files of your website in a folder on your computer.
Claude Design: The part of Claude that designs: it creates your website as a clickable prototype.
CLAUDE.md: A file with project notes in your website folder. Claude Code reads it every time, so it knows your website.
CNAME record: A DNS record that points one address, such as www, to another, such as your Netlify address (6.5).
Connector: A link between Claude and another service, such as Unsplash, so Claude can use it for you (4.5).
Cookie: A small file a website stores in a visitor’s browser. Some need the visitor’s permission first (6.3).
Cookie banner: The message that asks visitors for permission before a website uses cookies that aren’t strictly needed (6.3).
Credits: Units you spend on a service, such as images in Higgsfield or publishes on Netlify.

Design system: Your brand rules in one place: colors, fonts, buttons and spacing, so every page looks like it belongs together (3.3).
DKIM: An email record that adds a signature to every email you send, so receivers can check it came from you (6.1).
DMARC: An email record that tells receivers what to do with email that fails the checks. Optional for a small business (6.1).
DNS: The internet’s address book: it tells computers where to find your website and where to deliver your email (6.1).
Domain: Your address on the internet, such as yourbusiness.com (2.2).

Favicon: The small icon in a browser tab, in bookmarks and in Google’s results (6.2).

Git: A tool that saves versions of your website, so you can always go back. Claude Code uses it for you (5.1).

Hex code: The code websites use for a color, such as #2F5D8C (3.3).
Honeypot: A hidden field in a form. People don’t see it, but spam programs fill it in, so their messages are rejected (5.4).
Host: The service that keeps your website online. In this guide, Netlify.
HTTPS and the padlock: A secure connection between a visitor and your website, shown as a padlock in the browser. Netlify adds it by itself (6.5).

Impressum: A legal notice page required for businesses in Germany and Austria (6.3).
Index: Google’s catalogue of web pages. A page has to be in it before it can appear in results (7.1).

Live version: The version of your website visitors see. Publishing it uses Netlify credits, unlike a preview (5.2).
Logo kit: Your logo in all its versions and file types: main, stacked and icon, in color, black and white (3.3).

Mobile-first: Designing for the phone first, then adapting for the computer (4.1).
Mood board: One image that captures how your brand should look and feel (3.3).
MX record: The DNS record that delivers email sent to your address to your email service (6.1).

Netlify: The host that keeps your website online (5.2).
Node.js: A free tool Astro needs to run. Claude Code installs it for you (5.1).

Page plan: The list of your pages, the sections on each from top to bottom, and the main action on every page (4.1).
Permission mode: The setting in Claude Code that decides how often it asks before acting (5.1).
PNG and SVG: Two image file types. SVG stays sharp at any size; PNG works everywhere (3.3).
Preview: A private test link to your website on Netlify. Free and unlimited (5.2).
Primary domain: The version of your address that visitors end up on: with or without “www” (6.5).
Privacy policy: The page that explains what information your website collects, why, and what people can ask you to do with it (6.3).
Prompt: A message you send to an AI tool. The prompts in this guide are numbered P1, P2 and so on, and marked “Copy-paste prompt”.
Prototype: A clickable design of your website that looks and works like the real thing, but isn’t built yet (4.2).

Redirect: A rule that sends anyone who opens an old address to the right new page (6.4).
Robots.txt: A file that tells search engines which parts of your website they may visit (7.1).

Search Console: Google’s free tool for getting your website on Google and seeing how people find it (7.1).
Share image: The image that appears when someone shares a link to your website, also called an OG image (6.2).
Sitemap: A list of all your pages that search engines read (7.1).
SPF: An email record that lists who may send email from your domain (6.1).
Structured data: Hidden labels on your website that tell Google your business details, such as opening hours (7.1).

TTL: How long other computers remember a DNS record before checking it again. You can leave it as it is.
TXT record: A DNS record that holds text, used for SPF, DKIM, DMARC and proving you own your domain.

Usage limits: The cap on how much you can use Claude in a period. Limits reset every few hours, plus weekly (2.1).