How many people search for definitions on Google? Google will define a word if you type into the Search box a phrase like: “what is”, or “define” before the term you want defined.

I don’t have any research data on how many people search using the [define:] search query. Here is an example for the definition of Search Engine Marketing using the define: query.

When you ask Google a question using “What is”, the Web Definition appears above the Natural Search results. Sometimes Google includes Web Definitions just under the One Box. Although, the One Box has gone away and it’s now Google Universal Search.

As you can see, besides having the capacity to drive incremental website traffic, it is quite possible that a person looking for a definition can come to your website and convert into a buyer, subscriber, etc.

Here are a few SEO variables I’m testing:

- Colons vs hyphens.
- Spacing.
- Bold vs Italicize
- Not using “Glossary” in the URL.
- Whether it provides a lift in the SERP’s to mention the specific type of glossary, such as SEO Glossary in the URL string?
- Word Count between the body tags.
- The amount of definitions on a page.
- The importance of Link Popularity for Web Definitions.
- The usual elements like Title tag, Description, H1, etc.

I just created my Glossary and I’m still playing around with it testing what works (and what doesn’t work). I’ll blog about the results of my experimentation & traffic volume from web definitions in a future post.

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