---
title: "Every term, A to Z"
description: "Every term in the Content Lexicon, A to Z: search the words, the definitions or the idea you can half remember, and filter by category."
canonical: "https://contentlexicon.com/a-z"
---

# Every term, A to Z

## A

- [A/B testing](https://contentlexicon.com/a-b-testing) (Research and evidence): A way to compare two or more live variants with users, useful when the question is specific and the measure actually matters.
- [Accessibility](https://contentlexicon.com/accessibility) (Editorial craft): Making content and services usable by as many people as possible, including disabled people.
- [Agentic AI](https://contentlexicon.com/agentic-ai) (AI and tooling): AI that takes actions and works through multi-step tasks towards a goal, rather than only answering a question.
- [Agile](https://contentlexicon.com/agile) (Operations): A way of working that delivers in small steps, learns from feedback and adapts its plans as understanding grows.
- [AI governance](https://contentlexicon.com/ai-governance) (Governance): How an organisation oversees the risks, responsibilities and performance of the AI systems it develops, buys or uses.
- [AI slop](https://contentlexicon.com/ai-slop) (AI and tooling): Low-value AI-generated material produced with little care, often at speed and in large quantities.
- [AI use policy](https://contentlexicon.com/ai-use-policy) (Governance): The rules for how people in an organisation may use AI, including approved tools, prohibited material, review and disclosure.
- [Alt text](https://contentlexicon.com/alt-text) (Editorial craft): A short description attached to an image so people and systems that cannot see it still get the meaning.
- [API](https://contentlexicon.com/api) (AI and tooling): Application programming interface: the agreed way one piece of software asks another for something, like a waiter between the diner and the kitchen.
- [Atomic content](https://contentlexicon.com/atomic-content) (Structure and systems): Content broken into small, structured, reusable pieces that get assembled into pages rather than copied between them.
- [Attention economy](https://contentlexicon.com/attention-economy) (Foundations): An economic system in which people's limited attention is competed for, captured and turned into commercial or social value.
- [Audience segmentation](https://contentlexicon.com/audience-segmentation) (Research and evidence): Dividing an audience into useful groups so content can meet different needs, behaviours or contexts.
- [Audio](https://contentlexicon.com/audio) (Editorial craft): Content people hear rather than read: podcasts, voice notes, interviews, narration, audio clips and spoken interfaces.
- [Author experience](https://contentlexicon.com/author-experience) (Operations): What it is like to create, edit, approve and maintain content inside an organisation’s systems.
- [Automated testing](https://contentlexicon.com/automated-testing) (AI and tooling): Repeatable checks that software runs automatically to flag defined problems in code or content.

## B

- [Backend](https://contentlexicon.com/backend) (Structure and systems): Everything behind the scenes that stores, shapes and supplies the content people meet in a website, app or other channel.
- [Branch](https://contentlexicon.com/branch) (Operations): A separate line of work for developing related changes before they're reviewed and brought into the main version or abandoned.
- [Business case](https://contentlexicon.com/business-case) (Foundations): The argument for why a piece of work is worth doing, including the value, cost, risk and expected outcome.

## C

- [Call to action](https://contentlexicon.com/call-to-action) (Editorial craft): The specific next step content invites the reader to take.
- [Card sorting](https://contentlexicon.com/card-sorting) (Research and evidence): A research method where people group and label items to reveal how they think about them.
- [Centralised governance](https://contentlexicon.com/centralised-governance) (Governance): A governance model in which one central team plans, creates, approves and publishes most of an organisation's content.
- [Channel strategy](https://contentlexicon.com/channel-strategy) (Foundations): A plan for where content should appear, what each channel is for and how the channels work together.
- [CMS](https://contentlexicon.com/cms) (Structure and systems): The software used to store, organise and publish content.
- [Competitor analysis](https://contentlexicon.com/competitor-analysis) (Research and evidence): A review of similar organisations and useful comparators to understand the field, find gaps and identify practices to emulate.
- [Component](https://contentlexicon.com/component) (Structure and systems): A reusable part – of content, design or code – made once and used in many places.
- [Content](https://contentlexicon.com/content) (Foundations): The words, images, numbers, sounds and interactions an organisation uses to communicate, in every format and on every channel, internal and external.
- [Content audit](https://contentlexicon.com/content-audit) (Operations): A structured review of what content exists, how good it is and what should happen to it next.
- [Content brief](https://contentlexicon.com/content-brief) (Operations): The document that tells a writer – human or machine – who a piece is for, what it's meant to do, what to draw on and how it should sound, before they start.
- [Content calendar](https://contentlexicon.com/content-calendar) (Operations): A schedule showing what content is planned, when it will be created or published and who is responsible.
- [Content costs](https://contentlexicon.com/content-costs) (Operations): The full cost of creating, reviewing, publishing, maintaining and retiring content over time.
- [Content debt](https://contentlexicon.com/content-debt) (Operations): The future work created by publishing content without planning to maintain, reuse or retire it.
- [Content decay](https://contentlexicon.com/content-decay) (Operations): The gradual loss of accuracy, relevance and usefulness as content ages.
- [Content design](https://contentlexicon.com/content-design) (Editorial craft): Designing content around user needs, tasks and evidence.
- [Content designer](https://contentlexicon.com/content-designer) (Roles): A role that uses evidence about people's needs to decide what content should exist and to design it so they can understand and act on it.
- [Content ecosystem map](https://contentlexicon.com/content-ecosystem-map) (Research and evidence): A picture of where content lives and how it travels between those places.
- [Content editor](https://contentlexicon.com/content-editor) (Roles): A role that edits, publishes and maintains an organisation's content so that each piece meets its standards and fits with the rest.
- [Content governance](https://contentlexicon.com/content-governance) (Governance): The ownership, rules and decision-making that keep content accurate, consistent and maintained over time.
- [Content health check](https://contentlexicon.com/content-health-check) (Research and evidence): A recurring, criteria-based assessment of how well content serves its purpose and what needs attention.
- [Content inventory](https://contentlexicon.com/content-inventory) (Research and evidence): A structured list of the content you have and the basic facts about each item.
- [Content lifecycle](https://contentlexicon.com/content-lifecycle) (Operations): The stages content passes through, from idea to retirement.
- [Content maintenance](https://contentlexicon.com/content-maintenance) (Operations): The ongoing work of keeping content accurate, relevant and healthy after publication.
- [Content manager](https://contentlexicon.com/content-manager) (Roles): A role responsible for the day-to-day running of an organisation's content, from planning and production to quality and upkeep.
- [Content marketing](https://contentlexicon.com/content-marketing) (Foundations): Creating and sharing content to build an audience relationship in support of marketing goals.
- [Content maturity](https://contentlexicon.com/content-maturity) (Foundations): How capable an organisation is at making, managing and improving content.
- [Content model](https://contentlexicon.com/content-model) (Structure and systems): A structured definition of the content types an organisation has and the fields, parts and rules that make each one work.
- [Content operating model](https://contentlexicon.com/content-operating-model) (Foundations): The whole system of people, processes, tools, rules and foundations that makes content work.
- [Content operations](https://contentlexicon.com/content-operations) (Operations): The day-to-day running of content work: how it is planned, produced, approved, published and maintained.
- [Content operations manager](https://contentlexicon.com/content-operations-manager) (Roles): A role responsible for running and improving how an organisation's content work happens: its workflows, tools, standards and routines.
- [Content owner](https://contentlexicon.com/content-owner) (Governance): The named person responsible for a piece of content being accurate, current and still worth having.
- [Content pattern](https://contentlexicon.com/content-pattern) (Structure and systems): A proven, recognisable approach to something content needs to do again and again, adapted each time it is used.
- [Content plan](https://contentlexicon.com/content-plan) (Operations): A working plan that shows what needs to happen to each piece of content, who owns it and what comes next.
- [Content policy](https://contentlexicon.com/content-policy) (Governance): The organisation's rules for what may be published, where, by whom and under what conditions.
- [Content principles](https://contentlexicon.com/content-principles) (Foundations): A short set of shared commitments that guide content decisions.
- [Content standards](https://contentlexicon.com/content-standards) (Governance): The requirements used to judge content quality before publication and throughout its life.
- [Content strategist](https://contentlexicon.com/content-strategist) (Roles): A role responsible for deciding what an organisation's content is for and designing how it is planned, structured, made and looked after.
- [Content strategy](https://contentlexicon.com/content-strategy) (Foundations): Deciding why content exists, whom it serves and how it’s made, organised and looked after.
- [Content team](https://contentlexicon.com/content-team) (Roles): The group of people and roles responsible for planning, creating, governing and maintaining content.
- [Content type](https://contentlexicon.com/content-type) (Structure and systems): A category of content with a defined purpose and structure, such as a case study or an event.
- [Context engineering](https://contentlexicon.com/context-engineering) (AI and tooling): Designing the instructions, examples, source material and surrounding information an AI system needs to do useful work.
- [Context window](https://contentlexicon.com/context-window) (AI and tooling): The amount of information an AI system can consider at once when generating a response.
- [Continuous integration](https://contentlexicon.com/continuous-integration) (AI and tooling): A practice where changes are regularly checked and merged so problems surface early.
- [Conversational design](https://contentlexicon.com/conversational-design) (Editorial craft): Designing how an interaction unfolds in language, especially in chat, voice and other back-and-forth interfaces.
- [Copy editing](https://contentlexicon.com/copy-editing) (Editorial craft): Editing a draft for clarity, consistency and correctness within an agreed scope.
- [Copyright and licensing](https://contentlexicon.com/copyright-and-licensing) (Governance): The rights that decide who owns content, what other people may do with it and the conditions attached to reuse.
- [Copywriting](https://contentlexicon.com/copywriting) (Editorial craft): Writing persuasive messages that help people understand an offer and decide whether to act.
- [Core content strategy](https://contentlexicon.com/core-content-strategy) (Foundations): A short statement of what content must do for the organisation and its users.
- [Create once, publish everywhere](https://contentlexicon.com/create-once-publish-everywhere) (Structure and systems): The idea that content should be created once in a structured form and reused across channels instead of rewritten each time.

## D

- [Database](https://contentlexicon.com/database) (Structure and systems): A structured place to store information so it can be queried, related and reused.
- [Decentralised governance](https://contentlexicon.com/decentralised-governance) (Governance): A governance model in which separate parts of an organisation plan, create and publish their own content, with little central control.
- [Decision models](https://contentlexicon.com/system-one-models) (AI and tooling): An AI model built to decide rather than write: it picks from answers you've defined and says how likely each one is.
- [Design system](https://contentlexicon.com/design-system) (Structure and systems): A shared, maintained collection of components, patterns and guidance that teams use to design and build digital products and services.
- [Design thinking](https://contentlexicon.com/design-thinking) (Research and evidence): A problem-solving approach that uses empathy, exploration, prototyping and testing to create better services, products or content.
- [Devops](https://contentlexicon.com/devops) (AI and tooling): Shared practices that bring software development and operations together to deliver and maintain systems reliably.
- [Domain model](https://contentlexicon.com/domain-model) (Structure and systems): A representation of the important concepts, relationships and rules in a defined area of knowledge or activity.
- [DRY](https://contentlexicon.com/dry) (Structure and systems): “Don’t repeat yourself”: keep one reliable source of truth instead of many drifting copies.

## E

- [Editing](https://contentlexicon.com/editing) (Editorial craft): Improving a draft or published piece so that it says what it needs to, clearly and correctly, for its intended reader.
- [Editorial board](https://contentlexicon.com/editorial-board) (Governance): A group drawn from across an organisation that shapes content ideas into priorities, upholds standards and settles decisions that cut across teams.
- [Email](https://contentlexicon.com/email) (Operations): A channel for correspondence, publications and service messages, delivered to a recipient's inbox.
- [Evergreen content](https://contentlexicon.com/evergreen-content) (Operations): Content whose core value remains useful over time, with review and maintenance when needed.

## F

- [Feature flag](https://contentlexicon.com/feature-flag) (AI and tooling): A software-controlled switch that determines whether a feature or content variant is available, and to whom.
- [Findability](https://contentlexicon.com/findability) (Structure and systems): The ease with which people and systems can locate content they know or suspect exists.
- [Front-loading](https://contentlexicon.com/front-loading) (Editorial craft): Putting the information readers need most at the start of a sentence, section or page.
- [Frontend](https://contentlexicon.com/frontend) (Structure and systems): The part of a website, app or other channel that people see, hear and interact with.

## G

- [Gap analysis](https://contentlexicon.com/gap-analysis) (Research and evidence): A comparison between what exists now and what should exist, so the missing parts can be found.
- [GEO](https://contentlexicon.com/geo) (AI and tooling): Improving the likelihood that content is selected, accurately represented and cited in AI-generated answers.
- [Git](https://contentlexicon.com/git) (AI and tooling): A version control system for managing change, collaboration, review and release across files over time.
- [Glossary](https://contentlexicon.com/glossary) (Editorial craft): A set of definitions for terms used in a particular subject, organisation or body of content.
- [Grammar](https://contentlexicon.com/grammar) (Editorial craft): The patterns and conventions that govern how words form meaningful sentences.
- [Graph engineering](https://contentlexicon.com/graph-engineering) (AI and tooling): Designing an AI system as an explicit map of steps and routes, so work moves between models, tools, agents and people in controlled ways.
- [Guardrails](https://contentlexicon.com/guardrails) (AI and tooling): Limits and checks intended to keep AI-assisted work within defined bounds.

## H

- [Hallucination](https://contentlexicon.com/hallucination) (AI and tooling): An AI-generated claim that is fabricated, factually wrong or unsupported by the source it purports to describe.
- [Head of content](https://contentlexicon.com/head-of-content) (Roles): A senior role responsible for all the content an organisation publishes, and for the people, standards and systems that produce and look after it.
- [Headless CMS](https://contentlexicon.com/headless-cms) (Structure and systems): A content management system that stores content separately from the places where that content is presented.
- [Hub and spoke](https://contentlexicon.com/hub-and-spoke) (Governance): A federated governance model in which a central content team sets shared standards while local teams create and manage content.
- [Human in the loop](https://contentlexicon.com/human-in-the-loop) (Operations): A workflow where a person reviews, decides or approves part of an AI-assisted process instead of leaving it fully automated.

## I

- [Inclusive language](https://contentlexicon.com/inclusive-language) (Editorial craft): Language that avoids exclusion, stereotype and unnecessary assumptions about the people being addressed.
- [Information architecture](https://contentlexicon.com/information-architecture) (Structure and systems): The way information is grouped, labelled and connected so that people can find it and make sense of it.

## J

- [Jargon](https://contentlexicon.com/jargon) (Editorial craft): Specialist language that can make communication efficient for insiders and difficult for other readers.

## K

- [Knowledge base](https://contentlexicon.com/knowledge-base) (Structure and systems): A structured collection of useful knowledge that people and systems can search, link, maintain and learn from.
- [Knowledge graph](https://contentlexicon.com/knowledge-graph) (AI and tooling): A network of connected concepts, entities and relationships.
- [KPIs](https://contentlexicon.com/kpis) (Research and evidence): Key performance indicators: the measures used to judge whether content is achieving what it needs to achieve.

## L

- [Linting](https://contentlexicon.com/linting) (AI and tooling): Checking text automatically against a set of written rules and flagging every place that breaks one.
- [LLM](https://contentlexicon.com/llm) (AI and tooling): Large language model: an AI system trained to predict and generate language, used for tasks such as drafting, summarising and answering questions.
- [Localisation](https://contentlexicon.com/localisation) (Operations): Adapting content and experience for another language, region or culture.
- [Longform](https://contentlexicon.com/longform) (Editorial craft): Content that takes as long as it needs to – essays, features, reports, deep dives – as opposed to the soundbite and the listicle.
- [Lorem ipsum](https://contentlexicon.com/lorem-ipsum) (Editorial craft): Scrambled Latin used as placeholder text, so that a layout can be judged before the real words exist.

## M

- [Machine-readable](https://contentlexicon.com/machine-readable) (AI and tooling): Represented in a form software can parse and process.
- [Markdown](https://contentlexicon.com/markdown) (AI and tooling): A lightweight way to write structured plain text using simple marks for headings, links, lists and emphasis.
- [MCP](https://contentlexicon.com/mcp) (AI and tooling): An open protocol for connecting AI applications to sources of information and tools.
- [Merge conflict](https://contentlexicon.com/merge-conflict) (AI and tooling): A clash between changes that the version-control system cannot combine automatically.
- [Message architecture](https://contentlexicon.com/message-architecture) (Foundations): A short, prioritised list of the qualities and ideas an organisation wants its content to convey.
- [Metadata](https://contentlexicon.com/metadata) (Structure and systems): Information about content that helps it be found, filtered, understood, reused and managed.
- [Microcopy](https://contentlexicon.com/microcopy) (Editorial craft): The short pieces of interface text, such as labels, hints and error messages, that help people complete tasks.
- [Microsite](https://contentlexicon.com/microsite) (Structure and systems): A small, focused website or section created for a campaign, product, audience or specific purpose.

## P

- [Paddle, swim, dive](https://contentlexicon.com/paddle-swim-dive) (Structure and systems): A way to organise one topic at different, useful depths, so people can get an overview, more detail or the full evidence without being sorted into fixed audience segments.
- [Pair writing](https://contentlexicon.com/pair-writing) (Editorial craft): Two people writing together, usually combining subject knowledge with content craft.
- [PDF](https://contentlexicon.com/pdf) (Structure and systems): A fixed-layout document format often used for reports, forms and downloads – useful sometimes, overused often.
- [Persona](https://contentlexicon.com/persona) (Research and evidence): A research-based representation of a group of people with shared goals, behaviour or needs.
- [Plain language](https://contentlexicon.com/plain-language) (Editorial craft): Writing that helps people understand what they need quickly and clearly, the first time they read it.
- [Prompt](https://contentlexicon.com/prompt) (AI and tooling): An instruction or request given to an AI system.
- [Proofreading](https://contentlexicon.com/proofreading) (Editorial craft): The final check for typos, formatting mistakes and small errors before publication.
- [Pull request](https://contentlexicon.com/pull-request) (AI and tooling): A proposal to merge changes, keeping the differences, discussion and checks together for review.
- [Punctuation](https://contentlexicon.com/punctuation) (Editorial craft): Marks that help show sentence structure, relationships and emphasis.

## R

- [RACI](https://contentlexicon.com/raci) (Governance): A responsibility matrix that identifies who is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed for each task or decision.
- [RAG](https://contentlexicon.com/rag) (AI and tooling): An approach in which an AI system retrieves relevant material and uses it as context when generating an answer.
- [Readability](https://contentlexicon.com/readability) (Editorial craft): How easy content is to read and process for its intended audience.
- [Refactoring](https://contentlexicon.com/refactoring) (AI and tooling): Restructuring something without changing what it does or says, so the next change is easier.
- [Retention and archiving](https://contentlexicon.com/retention-and-archiving) (Governance): The rules for how long content is kept and how material is preserved, retired from current use or deleted.
- [Review date](https://contentlexicon.com/review-date) (Governance): The point by which a named owner must check that a piece of content remains accurate, useful and fit to stay live.
- [Rollback](https://contentlexicon.com/rollback) (AI and tooling): Restoring a selected earlier state to recover from a harmful change.
- [ROT content](https://contentlexicon.com/rot-content) (Governance): Material that is redundant because it does not support the content strategy, out of date or too trivial to justify keeping.

## S

- [Schema](https://contentlexicon.com/schema) (Structure and systems): A definition of what information something contains and how it is structured.
- [Senior content editor](https://contentlexicon.com/senior-content-editor) (Roles): A senior editorial role accountable for what gets covered, how it is commissioned and the standard it meets.
- [Sentence case](https://contentlexicon.com/sentence-case) (Editorial craft): Capitalising only the first word and any proper nouns in a heading or label.
- [SEO](https://contentlexicon.com/seo) (Structure and systems): Improving how content is discovered and presented in search engines.
- [Separation of concerns](https://contentlexicon.com/separation-of-concerns) (AI and tooling): A design principle for dividing a system into parts that each deal with one kind of decision, so each can be understood and changed without disturbing the others.
- [Sign-off](https://contentlexicon.com/sign-off) (Governance): The formal approval required before content is published, changed or released to its audience.
- [Silo](https://contentlexicon.com/silo) (Operations): A team, system or channel that keeps its content to itself, so the same content gets made twice, disagrees with itself and can’t be found.
- [Single source of truth](https://contentlexicon.com/single-source-of-truth) (Governance): The one agreed place where a piece of information is maintained, which every other copy or use defers to.
- [Skill](https://contentlexicon.com/skill) (AI and tooling): A reusable AI capability or instruction set designed to help an assistant perform a specific kind of task consistently.
- [Slow content](https://contentlexicon.com/slow-content) (Foundations): Making digital content with care: quality over quantity, depth over breadth, the citizen over the consumer.
- [Social media](https://contentlexicon.com/social-media) (Operations): Digital platforms where individuals and organisations publish, respond, distribute content and take part in public or semi-public conversations.
- [Staging](https://contentlexicon.com/staging) (AI and tooling): A production-like environment for reviewing and testing changes before release.
- [Stakeholder mapping](https://contentlexicon.com/stakeholder-mapping) (Research and evidence): Identifying the people and groups who affect, approve, use or care about a piece of content work.
- [Storytelling](https://contentlexicon.com/storytelling) (Editorial craft): Conveying ideas or experience through an account of particular people and events unfolding over time, shaped so that an audience can follow, imagine and care about what happens.
- [Structured content](https://contentlexicon.com/structured-content) (Structure and systems): Content broken into meaningful parts so it can be managed, reused and presented in different ways.
- [Style guide](https://contentlexicon.com/style-guide) (Governance): A shared record of how an organisation writes: voice, tone, style rules and the practical guidance people need to make consistent choices.
- [Subject matter expert](https://contentlexicon.com/subject-matter-expert) (Governance): A person with deep topic knowledge who helps make content accurate and credible.
- [System prompt](https://contentlexicon.com/system-prompt) (AI and tooling): The standing instructions an AI system receives before the user's request, shaping how it behaves and responds.
- [Systems thinking](https://contentlexicon.com/systems-thinking) (Foundations): Looking at how parts connect and influence one another, rather than treating each content problem in isolation.

## T

- [Taxonomy](https://contentlexicon.com/taxonomy) (Structure and systems): A controlled set of categories or labels, usually arranged from broad to narrow, used to classify content consistently.
- [Technical debt](https://contentlexicon.com/technical-debt) (Operations): The future cost or risk created by shortcuts, structural weaknesses or deferred improvements.
- [Tone](https://contentlexicon.com/tone) (Editorial craft): How an organisation's voice adjusts to suit the audience, context and moment.
- [Typography](https://contentlexicon.com/typography) (Editorial craft): The design of text on a page: typeface, size, spacing, hierarchy and the other choices that shape how readable content feels.

## U

- [Ubiquitous language](https://contentlexicon.com/ubiquitous-language) (Structure and systems): A shared, precise vocabulary used across conversations, documentation and systems within a defined area of work.
- [User needs](https://contentlexicon.com/user-needs) (Research and evidence): What people need to know, do or understand, established through evidence and used to decide what content should exist.
- [User testing](https://contentlexicon.com/user-testing) (Research and evidence): Watching or listening to real users try to use content or a service, so the team can learn what works and what fails.
- [UX](https://contentlexicon.com/ux) (Foundations): User experience: how someone experiences using a service, product, website or piece of content.
- [UX writer](https://contentlexicon.com/ux-writer) (Roles): A writer specialising in clear interface words that help people complete tasks.

## V

- [Versioning](https://contentlexicon.com/versioning) (Structure and systems): Keeping track of different versions so changes can be compared, reviewed or restored.
- [Voice](https://contentlexicon.com/voice) (Editorial craft): An organisation's recognisable personality in words.

## W

- [WCAG](https://contentlexicon.com/wcag) (Editorial craft): The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: the main international standard for accessible digital content.
- [Website](https://contentlexicon.com/website) (Operations): The part of the web an organisation owns outright, where its content can inform, educate, persuade and support, and where anything said about it elsewhere can be checked.
- [Wireframe](https://contentlexicon.com/wireframe) (Structure and systems): A sketch of the structure of a page or screen before the final design is made.
- [Word list](https://contentlexicon.com/word-list) (Editorial craft): A record of an organisation's decisions on how to spell, capitalise, hyphenate and use particular words and terms.
- [Workflow](https://contentlexicon.com/workflow) (Operations): The route content takes from idea through drafting, review, publication and ongoing maintenance.
- [Writer](https://contentlexicon.com/writer) (Roles): A role that researches and writes content for an organisation, shaped by its audience, voice and purpose.