Technology is a giant part of everyday life. In ways that are both obvious and subtle, you cannot avoid the presence of tech in today’s world. However, that fact does not negate the truth, that many people feel less than confident when it comes to using, understanding, and talking about technology. Technology can feel like an adult a little bit how math may have felt as a young student, if you do not use it, you lose it. The modern tech world moves fast and if you are not making a consistent effort to pay attention regularly, then you may miss something in the blink of an eye.
As a member of a professional community, there are terms that relate to a business that you should have a working frame of reference for. But do not discount those that also apply to the other parts of your life. Especially for parents, keeping up with the tech advancements that kids are exposed to is essentially a full-time job. Below is a collection of tech terms to commit to memory for use in both your professional and personal life. These terms range from what some would consider being common sense, through more advanced examples. No matter where you fall on that spectrum rest assured that learning these terms and their applications is something that will not fail you in your attempt to become more in the know.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, which is more commonly referred to as simply SEO, is a marketing strategy that businesses use to increase traffic to their websites. This is an because here the habits of users are analyzed and translated into keywords that bloggers, business owners, and marketing professionals can use in their content creation to drive more traffic from main search engines to their own websites. Being able to find ways to bring an outsider’s search into your is a highly effective strategy for generating new leads.
An example of how you encounter this on a daily scale is your own Google searches. For example, if your toilet breaks and you need a plumber, what you type into the search bar of any common search engine is directly linked to the results that are generated. SEO helps companies that are of the ranking results page when these searches are conducted. You can review a guide on the best SEO toolbars for Chrome if you want to see from the other angle how these searches and keywords all work together.
Smart Everything
You probably already know about smartphones and for your home, these examples are not especially new. But as of late, people are throwing the word smart in front of almost everything. The real estate market has experienced a recent demand for smart homes from both buyers and sellers. While you may think you know what smart means, and even own a few smart products yourself, understand how great the reach is for this term is less common knowledge.
There are products on the market that you can purchase to convert older model gadgets into smart ones. You can even hook up your entire home with a smart security system that allows you to lock and unlock doors from hundreds of miles away. The biggest impact of smart technology is convenience. Being able to use a personal attendant to turn off your bedroom light from the comfort of your bed is technology’s new version of the clapper made popular in the 1990s.
Artificial Intelligence
Machine or software technology that mimics human intelligence is the basic definition of artificial intelligence or AI. This term is essential in today’s world because many businesses are moving towards AI-based models for parts of the brand like customer service and even recruitment. AI can learn, recognize, plan, and problem solve as a human would. Have you ever jumped on a company website and had a pop-up appear immediately when someone asking if they can help you? Odds are that was AI technology and not a real, live person.
Software as a Service
In the professional world, you have probably been unable to avoid the term SaaS, which is the acronym for software as a service. This is a form of cloud computing that allows users to access software houses on a server elsewhere, via the internet. Traditionally, the software would have had to be installed on the device to achieve this goal. If you get nothing else from you should at least retain that fact. This gives a level of freedom to users and makes the access and reach potential far greater than the traditional methods.
User Experience
This term is defined as the way a user interacts with a product. Within the tech sphere, user experience applies more specifically to focus on creating an easy and intuitive experience for users. Ways you may have encountered this concept and not even realize it includes fast loading times, simple pathways from one area to the next, pleasing aesthetics, and invisible design elements. The term user experience is also heavily related to productivity. If you are turning to technology, it is likely that you are doing so to create ease of the task, and when the user experience is efficient then the user themself can be more productive as a result.
Influencer
This is a term that pertains to social media and its ever presence in our daily lives. An influencer is an individual with a significant presence on social media platforms who use these platforms to affect group opinions and behaviors. This can be looked at from several angles. One would be from a business standpoint. Companies can pay influencers to create content focused on their product or service and why they recommend it over the competition. From a personal or social standpoint, influencers can use their reach to shed light on a cause or concern that they personally feel attached to, to bring awareness to the masses.