How will adding a glossary affect the seo of a website?

[andy91]

I am thinking about adding a glossary to my website that will list all terms relating to the subject in alphabetical order with each term having a definiton of about 1 to 2 paragraphs. But my site does not have that much content on it just now and I was thinking that adding a glossary will have a negative effect on the google rankings of the site. This is because each glossary entry can be clicked on and the definition will in effect be its own page with tite and meta description. Will this not make it look like to google that I have lots of thinly valied articels without much content in them and therefore lower my rankings?

The positive side of the glossery is that it is searchable and will automatically add links and tooltip definitions to the glossary terms found in my main content pages which would be handy for the user but I am not willing to implement it at the cost of seo.

[SEO Haven]

Google is all about user experience these days, so as long as it doesn't slow your site down significantly, it can't be a bad thing. Java does tend to slow down websites though, it is Java, right?

[andy91]

Its built on Joomla and does use JavaScript but Im not worried about that slowing down the site. Java is a programming language.

[andy91]

I was thinking rather than having the glossary component that will make the glossary entries all individal articles I would be better just to create 3 normal large articles and put the definitions in there each in their own paragraph.

[joshz]

I've done this with the term "Widget Meanings" and it currently ranks page 1 for said keyword. You're not doing any harm. You're helping your users, and that's what matters.

PS. Our site is Joomla, too - some great plugins for what you're trying to do.

[andy91]

Im not sure what you mean by done this with the term Widget Meanings? My site is to do with bodybuilding and weight training so the glossary would include all bodybuilding terminology. An example of a glossary definition could be :

Anabolic Drugs - Also called anabolic steroids, these are artificial male hormones that aid in nitrogen retention and thereby add to a male bodybuilder's muscle mass and strength. These drugs are not without hazardous side effects, however, and they are legally available only through a physician's prescription. Steroids are available in most gyms via the black market, but it is very danger-ous to use such unknown substances to increase muscle mass.

This would end up a single article on my site for example.

[joshz]

Im not sure what you mean by done this with the term Widget Meanings? My site is to do with bodybuilding and weight training so the glossary would include all bodybuilding terminology. An example of a glossary definition could be :

Anabolic Drugs - Also called anabolic steroids, these are artificial male hormones that aid in nitrogen retention and thereby add to a male bodybuilder's muscle mass and strength. These drugs are not without hazardous side effects, however, and they are legally available only through a physician's prescription. Steroids are available in most gyms via the black market, but it is very danger-ous to use such unknown substances to increase muscle mass.

This would end up a single article on my site for example.

What I mean was to include your keyword in the page, such as "Body Building Terms and Meanings"

[SEO_AM]

We have a large authority glossary structured as you described. Net effect is great. Use Adsense on your definition pages at the top, left tower ad, and along the bottom. If your glossary/dictionary is large and good, you may get some good backlinks and make some decent Adsense revenue at the same time.

[Glenn Kilpatric]

PS. Our site is Joomla, too - some great plugins for what you're trying to do.

Just wondering why a plugin would be favourable over writing it in html yourself ?

[AlexTampa]

Just wondering why a plugin would be favourable over writing it in html yourself ?

same as comparing html site vs cms

a plugin will always link to the "current" target. If you change the article page url, the plugin will allow you to not have to go back and change every single link back to the article page.

Or: in the case of joomla, if you use the editor browser & link to the "menu item", it will always be updated just like a plugin.

Of course, if the site is small, it really doesnt matter.

OP:
Just make sure you test the plugin for Joomla local first. I used one of these a long time ago, and it placed a hidden link in the html. I don't remember which one it was.

[Doodled]

Yep,

Glossaries are brilliant and you can even do a double flip on them as follows:

Write the meaning as you've done above and then display snippets from the other pages on the site where the term occurs and link back to those pages.

[seohuntanalytic]

I think a glossary will be useful and effective only in the case if there is enogh content on your site. Otherwise Google will consider it as search spam. And, of course, descriptions in the glossary must be rather unique.