Creating a glossary with WordPress is one of the fundamental needs of those who decide to invest in online content. Or rather, it’s not a forced choice, and you don’t necessarily have to create a list of definitions useful to the reader. But there is a point to underline for those involved in blogging and web marketing: it is often better to keep users on your website instead of letting them leave the site.
That’s right, try to see the matter from a strategic point of view. Maybe you work in a specialized sector. You have a series of terms to explain and deepen. It often happens if you work in the medical or technological field. And you can’t devote space to explanations every time: it’s better to use links to allow those who want to learn more about a topic to find new information. This means inserting outbound links.
These are useful when you want to complete the content and give extra information with quality resources. But my question is: why not respond personally to this need? Why not keep the public on your site by preparing web pages capable of giving simple and immediate definitions? In other words, why not create a glossary with WordPress? It can be done. Here is a small manual to follow carefully.
What Is A Web Glossary?
So, let’s start from the basics: what is a glossary? A larger or smaller document with a set of definitions that should cover an entire topic. For example, on this site, a web marketing glossary could contain all the definitions of the terms used in the posts. The difference between a glossary and a dictionary is precisely in its hyper-specific ability: the former is dedicated only to a topic. It is more in-depth, while the latter is generic.
Creating a glossary for the web, in this case on WordPress and other CMSs such as Joomla, means creating an index page with a series of internal links that lead to pages or sections in which the public can find an explanation dedicated to a topic or a topic.
Why Make An Online Glossary For Your Site?
One of the concrete advantages of those who build an online glossary is that you can keep the public on your blog or website, increase the number of pages per session and decrease the bounce rate. That is the bounce rate, the ratio that indicates the percentage of visits that stop at a page. The quality of visits is important and is also defined through these metrics. On the other hand, the presence of this resource on your site also brings benefits in terms of SEO: you increase the number of indexed content and increase the chances of positioning yourself for search keywords that could help your business.
Again from an SEO point of view, several entries in a glossary justify the inclusion of new internal links. This is true that they move the reader from one place to another, but they are also useful for positioning on search engines. Last interesting step: the zero result in the SERP. That featured snippet appears at the top of the results page and outranks all other links. This is an exclusive advantage that a glossary entry could gain since pages are often direct and immediate to receive these benefits: you have to give an immediate, simple, and dry definition to have a few more opportunities. Just like a well-crafted and organized board should be.
How To Create A Glossary With WordPress
Let’s get to the point, how to create a glossary for a WordPress blog? There are several solutions; among those I prefer, I can certainly list the manual one. There is a main page with all the items divided alphabetically, with links to other pages that lead to the various definitions. This way, you do a clean job without code-related interference. It takes more time. You have to organize your editorial work without outside help. It’s not difficult, just longer. An HTML glossary can be created in two ways. You can create a main page with all items in a single resource, divided by an internal menu like the one above.
In this way, you create a very long page, and it is not easy to manage. Last fix: The page only bundles links to your blog posts that give the definition. And this is the path I would follow, having all the resources necessary to create a quality WordPress glossary. But are these the only solutions? I suggest creating a search field, the classic form, with a search button if possible. Thus, besides having the various links that lead to the sections, you can allow the user to search for the term he needs. Remember that the glossary, first of all, must be easy to use and informative.
WordPress Plugin To Create An HTML Glossary
It’s not just publisher tasks that allow you to create a glossary with WordPress – you can automate the process with a WordPress plugin. Indeed, there are several: you can choose from several solutions to improve the path that leads you to the publication of the various definitions.
Codeat Glossary
I start with this simple and well-listed solution on the official WordPress site. With Codeat Glossary, you can improve blog internal linking by transforming blog pages into glossary elements that can become an integral part of your SEO strategy. The paid version also offers different tooltip templates, i.e., the windows that open with a preview of the text inserted in the landing page. It can be convenient to anticipate the content to the reader.
CM Tooltip Glossary
One of the most complete and downloaded glossary plugins on the web. CM Tooltip Glossary is the most complete and effective tool to have a page with explanations, in-depth articles, and more. This plugin is also essential for creating internal vocabularies, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. Furthermore, the plugin is particularly attentive to readability: you can create a responsive internal menu, and with the paid version, you can also define the inclusion or exclusion of some terms in the glossary.
WP Glossary
A simple alternative to make a glossary without many pretensions. The tooltip window shows a preview of the text added to the entry, and you can add your link with a simple shortcode job. This way, you decide what to put in your article and how to organize the links.
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