Experience building a glossary/vocabulary for SEO?

Question

I've been playing with the idea to build some sort of glossary/vocabulary for everything docker related, basically explaining the different commands, options, names etc.

Has anyone done something similar for marketing purposes? How easy was it for you to rank with that many pages, even if the content is rather short?

Did you do anything special on the tech side? Programmatic SEO? Or just the usual blog post stack?

I'm a big SEO/Marketing noob, I basically want to hear about your experience to gather more information and make a decision :)

Cat Stickler · Accepted Answer

I've created SO many glossaries and guides for companies, including internal guides for agencies (but those didn't need SEO, obviously).

I haven't done anything super special for SEO. Just the basics:

- using hyper-specific long-tail keywords in headings (especially questions since that's what people are typically typing into Google and AI -- don't discount ranking on ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.)
- lots of social listening to see what real people are asking about (Twitter and Quora are good for this, as are really niche Facebook groups if that applies to you)
- really focus on the on-site SEO 
- create an SEO silo structure*

*This is controversial (maybe?), but I've found creating silo structures really help me break down the concepts included and know how to link them together to help Google know what each page is about.

Another tip: I like to think of the user journey -- how someone would use the guide/glossary.

Thinking about:

- the entry points (your basic concepts)
- what questions would they have next based on the process/procedure
- and repeat ad nauseum until you've created a little user path for them to learn increasingly more advanced concepts.

That way you can link pages together in a really logical way, and I liken it to a choose-your-own adventure path.

Like "if you want to do ____ next, click here. Or if you'd rather do ____, click here."

I've found it gamifies the process and keeps people on the website longer.

I also like to link to external resources to support other organizational goals. 

For example, let's say I'm tasked with creating a glossary for Ahref's (literal dream contract, but sure, let's pretend lol).

I'd first focus on all the SEO concepts to include, but then I'd make it actionable. I wouldn't just define "topical keyword research." I'd also include a link to a downloadable guide/workbook/research report that goes into more depth with this so people can PRACTICE as they learn. In that resource, I'd link to other articles or glossary entries, so it's feeding people back to the site, which will offer more resources on those pages.

This obviously builds a highly targeted email list (you can track where people come in from and know what they're interested in to know which offers to share) but also it keeps them engaged with your overall brand longer, which builds trust. I don't have to tell you how valuable that is. :) 

I'd HIGHLY recommend you think about this project as part of the overall brand ecosystem and find ways to feed other parts of your business with this project, which will only help more with visibility because people will naturally share your website since it's highly valuable.

If you've got more questions, let me know! (Or if you're looking for a strategist and writer, you know where to find me.)

Jonas Scholz · Answer

wowowowow! Awesome, thank you so much for the long answer :D
I think I see your vision - definitely bigger than what I thought of in the beginning, but also much cooler. Excited to get started now 👀

Cat Stickler · Answer

Sorry this is so long 😅 WIP veterans know I usually write ridiculously comprehensive answers.

But if you have more questions, let me know! I'm happy to answer them for you :)

Cat Stickler · Answer

More on the actionability (that's now a word) of the glossary:

Remember that people don't just want to know a definition. They want to know how to apply that to achieve a goal and get a favorable outcome. Most people building glossaries stop at the definition, but that's kind of useless because now the person has to go back to Google to figure out how it's relevant to what they're specifically doing.

You could be THE authority resource by considering:

1.) Why this definition matters to them and why they're looking it up? (AKA What problem are they trying to solve with this information?)

2.) What resource can you create or info you can give that'll help them solve this problem? (This keeps them on your site longer and tells Google your site is a highly valuable resource and should be ranked higher.)

- For the resource(s), you can focus on an overall problem to solve that has lots of moving parts/smaller goals (i.e. creating a content marketing strategy that leads to more sales) or a smaller problem that's more specific and focused (i.e. how to increase ranking on Google). Or both -- depending what people are looking for in the moment, which would be evident by social listening and a little bit of research.

Cat Stickler · Answer

I'm so delighted it got you excited to build!

PS There's nothing wrong with starting simple because starting is the most important part. Complexity can come later as you consider how you can expand it (with services, products, affiliate links, etc.). 

You don't need to figure out all the pieces of the puzzle before you put the edges together.

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Experience building a glossary/vocabulary for SEO?

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