The internet has pretty much made the paperback dictionary redundant, I mean who has the time to get up from their computer, grab a dictionary and flick through those annoyingly thin pages and small print to find a definition, certainly not me!
Which is why using search engine services for word definitions is so much more efficient. At one time I used dictionary.com, but then even that became long winded and I switched to simply typing my query into Google. Not one to complain (er-hem), I found having to type “define: word” or “word definition” long winded, I longed to just switch tabs, type in my word and hocus pocus my definition would appear.
Well my prayers have been answered. Google have recently added “implicit triggering” of the dictionary result, so for example, a search on the word “annoying” shows a dictionary result at the top of the page as follows:
In my opinion this is a marvellous little adjustment, and out of all the search engine services Google always seems to be striving hardest to respond to consumer needs. It won’t improve my search engine optimization, but, not only does it mean less typing, it means less arthritic pain in my fingers as I grow old. For those of you who weren’t aware of the Google dictionary in the first place this is what one would have previously had to type in for an instant word definition:
Or
It is indeed the small pleasures in life that bring us the most joy, and even though it won’t help your search engine optimization in any way I hope you find this little innovation as rewarding as I did. Just think, if I hadn’t of blogged this you may still have been typing in two words instead of the required one for a long time to come.
Yesterday I posted about the negative impact the Google Panda changes are having on all sorts of websites, and with each day that passes, more webmasters are realizing they have been affected by the black and white bear of search. I thought it might be useful to offer a few tips on how to fight back for those sites that have been affected. Please bear in mind (no pun intended), that these tips are based on general research and my experience of the changes.
