Vol. 88: Oxford English Dictionary: Redefining relevance 🧠

Search, redefined

SEO is prevalent across marketing strategies far and wide. But for legacy content providers like encyclopedias, news archives, or digital libraries, SEO is a lifeline, not just a strategy. 

Sites like Merriam-Webster and Wikipedia dominate search rankings by feeding the algorithm fresh, structured content that aligns with user intent. And in a world where dictionary lookups often begin with a Google query, even the most iconic reference brands have to rethink their visibility.

This week, Case Studied explores how Oxford English Dictionary increased organic traffic by 100x by redefining its SEO strategy and freemium model.

The Brief:

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is one of the most authoritative resources on the English language, with origins dating back to 1857. But in today’s modern digital age, the brand was facing a discoverability problem.

Despite having an unrivaled database of over 600,000 words and phrases, much of OED’s potential traffic was being lost to competitors and generalist platforms. It wasn’t ranking well on key word definition queries. Its subscription model locked most of its content behind a paywall that locked out casual, curious users. And the site’s outdated architecture meant it wasn’t showing up meaningfully on search engine results pages.

So the team set out to do three things:

1. Rebuild their website with search in mind.

2. Create a freemium model that opened up access while preserving premium value.

3. Optimize key pages to rank in Google’s People Also Ask (PAA) boxes.

The Offer:

Did you know… that as a Case Studied subscriber, you can leverage our agency matchmaking service for free and put your next agency search on autopilot?!

With over 4,000 marketing, development and design agency partners in our network, our team of marketing experts will help you gather proposals for your next RFP, saving you 20+ hours in the process.

Join Estee Lauder, Dr. Squatch, F1, Shopify and 1000’s of brands that use Vendry to hire agencies for free + receive an $100 Amazon Gift card.

The Execution:

The OED partnered with AIOSEO to lead its SEO overhaul. This project was by no means a quick tune-up, it was a foundational revamp. Here’s how they approached it:

1. A website redesign

OED transitioned to a new software program in 2023, with the goal of improving the user experience through clearer navigation, elevated functionality, and enhanced discoverability by search engines. 

The new site showed major differences, both technically and visually. First and foremost, OED added SEO-friendly URLs. Their previous URL structure had nondescript URLs that simply listed the word “Entry” followed by a sequence of numbers. 

With the upgraded structure, the word being searched appears within the URL slug and there’s also a classification system that specifies whether it’s a noun, verb, or adjective. 

2. The freemium content model

The next big change for OED was shifting away from the premium model where users had to have a subscription to access any content. OED moved away from this to a freemium model that’s accessible to all users, while still offering a variety of subscriptions. 

With this new model, users can access the most essential information via OED’s ‘Factsheet’ tab on the website. A user only hits a paywall if they want to take it a step further and see content in other tabs regarding deeper analysis or historical context (i.e. entomology or compounds and derived words).

3. Targeting Google’s People Also Ask (PAA) boxes

As part of the format of OED’s Factsheet tab, the brand included headings with popular questions. So if you search ‘felicity’, you’ll see headings like “Where does the word felicity come from?” or “How common is the word felicity?” 

This doesn’t just help create a stronger user experience. It’s also a powerful way to make your mark on search engine results pages (SERP) and earn a place in Google’s People Also Ask (PAA) boxes. These boxes, shown in an accordion style, show questions related to a Google user’s original query near the top of the SERP. And it’s very valuable real estate to show up there. 

PAA boxes tend to have a high clickthrough rate, plus they support organic traffic, brand awareness, and online visibility.

The Results:

OED saw staggering results from its redesign. The brand saw a 1,041% increase in monthly organic traffic within the first 3 months of implementation. It went from 491,000 organic monthly visits from January to September in 2023 to a whopping 2.4 million visits in October. By November, that figure surged further to 3.8 million visits. 

Also in November, OED ranked for 759,000 keywords, compared to less than 500k the month prior. Their factsheets tab accounts for 99% of all site pages and generates the majority of OED’s organic traffic.

The Takeaways

1. Make sure your basics are covered.

OED’s traffic problem wasn’t due to a lack of content, it was due to the infrastructure surrounding it. Their site had outdated architecture and URLs that weren’t optimized for search. Once those basics were fixed, the results followed.

Don’t underestimate the fundamentals. SEO-friendly URLs and FAQ schema aren’t glamorous but they can make a huge difference in how people find and engage with your brand. Whatever you’re investing your marketing dollars in, make sure you have a foundation that’s solid enough to support it.

2. Don’t set and forget your website.

Before this revamp, the OED hadn’t revisited their SEO structure in years and it showed. Their content was high-quality, but it wasn’t optimized for today’s search behaviors or SERP formats like PAA. By making strategic updates, they unlocked massive gains without (literally) rewriting the dictionary.

Your website isn’t a one-and-done project. Schedule regular audits to check technical performance, keyword rankings, and how your content appears in search. Look for opportunities to optimize pages for new formats that can help you land in high-value places like Google’s PAA boxes.

3. Consider what freebies you can offer.

Rather than keeping all content behind a paywall, OED made the shift to a freemium model that opened the door for casual users, while still keeping the door open for subscribers who want to go more in-depth. It helped them increase exposure and traffic, without cheapening the product.

What’s something valuable you can offer up front? Whether it’s a sample, a starter tier, or key insights, giving something away can build trust and encourage exploration. If done right, today’s freebie can become tomorrow’s long-term customer.

Optimize everything: Got a marketing channel that needs some hands-on support? Vendry matches you with top-tier agencies that can help with SEO, content strategy, or a full digital refresh. It’s free to get matched—start here.