How does a search engine work?
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How does a search engine work?
Search engines allow users to search the internet for content using keywords. Although the market is dominated by a few, there are many search engines that people can use. When a user enters a query into a search engine, a search engine results page (SERP) is returned, ranking the found pages in order of their relevance. How this ranking is done differs across search engines.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyril30
Search engines often change their algorithms (the programs that rank the results) to improve user experience. They aim to understand how users search and give them the best answer to their query. This means giving priority to the highest quality and most relevant pages.
How do search engines work?
There are three key steps to how most search engines work:
Crawling - search engines use programs, called spiders, bots or crawlers, to scour the internet. They may do this every few days, so it is possible for content to be out-of-date until they crawl your website again.
Indexing - the search engine will try to understand and categorise the content on a web page through 'keywords'. Following SEO best practice will help the search engine understand your content so you can rank for the right search queries.
Ranking - search results are ranked based on a number of factors. These may include keyword density, speed and links. The search engine's aim is to provide the user with the most relevant result.
Although most search engines will provide tips on how to improve your page ranking, the exact algorithms used are well guarded and change frequently to avoid misuse. But by following search engine optimisation (SEO) best practice you can ensure that:
Search engines can easily crawl your website. You can also prompt them to crawl new content.
Your content is indexed for the right keywords so it can appear for relevant searches.
Your content can rank highly on the SERP.
When a search query is entered into a search engine by a user, all of the pages which are deemed to be relevant are identified from the index and an algorithm is used to hierarchically rank the relevant pages into a set of results.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyril30
The algorithms used to rank the most relevant results differ for each search engine. For example, a page that ranks highly for a search query in Google may not rank highly for the same query in Bing.
In addition to the search query, search engines use other relevant data to return results, including:
Location – Some search queries are location-dependent e.g. ‘cafes near me’ or ‘movie times’.
Language detected – Search engines will return results in the language of the user, if it can be detected.
Previous search history – Search engines will return different results for a query dependent on what user has previously searched for.
Device – A different set of results may be returned based on the device from which the query was made.
Search engines work through three primary functions:Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyril30
Crawling: Scour the Internet for content, looking over the code/content for each URL they find.
Indexing: Store and organize the content found during the crawling process. Once a page is in the index, it’s in the running to be displayed as a result to relevant queries.
Ranking: Provide the pieces of content that will best answer a searcher's query, which means that results are ordered by most relevant to least relevant.
Google is a fully-automated search engine that uses software known as web crawlers that explore the web on a regular basis to find sites to add to our index. In fact, the vast majority of sites listed in our results aren't manually submitted for inclusion, but are found and added automatically when our web crawlers crawl the web.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyril30
Google Search works in essentially three stages:
Crawling: Google searches the web with automated programs called crawlers, looking for pages that are new or updated. Google stores those page addresses (or page URLs) in a big list to look at later. We find pages by many different methods, but the main method is following links from pages that we already know about.
Indexing: Google visits the pages that it has learned about by crawling, and tries to analyze what each page is about. Google analyzes the content, images, and video files in the page, trying to understand what the page is about. This information is stored in the Google index, a huge database that is stored on many computers.
Serving search results: When a user searches on Google, Google tries to determine the highest quality results. The "best" results have many factors, including things such as the user's location, language, device (desktop or phone), and previous queries. For example, searching for "bicycle repair shops" would show different answers to a user in Paris than it would to a user in Hong Kong. Google doesn't accept payment to rank pages higher, and ranking is done algorithmically.
Most search engines build an index based on crawling, which is the process through which engines like Google, Yahoo and others find new pages to index. Mechanisms known as bots or spiders crawl the Web looking for new pages (1). The bots typically start with a list of website URLs determined from previous crawls. When they detects new links on these pages, through tags like HREF and SRC, they add these to the list of sites to index. Then, search engines use their algorithms to provide you with a ranked list from their index of what pages you should be most interested in based on the search terms you used.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyril30
Then, the engine will return a list of Web results ranked using its specific algorithm. On Google, other elements like personalized and universal results may also change your page ranking. In personalized results, the search engine utilizes additional information it knows about the user to return results that are directly catered to their interests. Universal search results combine video, images and Google news to create a bigger picture result, which can mean greater competition from other websites for the same keywords.
Here are the top elements to edit when designing your store for SEO:
Architecture - Make websites that search engines can crawl easily. This includes several elements, like how the content is organized and categorized and how individual websites link to one another. An XML sitemap can allow you to give a list of URLs to search engines for crawling and indexing. (2)
Content - Great content is one the most important elements for SEO because it tells search engines that your website is relevant. This goes beyond just keywords to writing engaging content your customers will be interested in on a frequent basis.
Links - When a lot of people link to a certain site, that alerts search engines that this particular website is an authority, which makes its rank increase. This includes links from social media sources. When your site links to other reputable platforms, search engines are more likely to rate your content as quality also.
Keywords- The keywords you use are one of the primary methods search engines use to rank you. Using carefully selected keywords can help the right customers find you. If you run a jewelry store but never mention the word "jewelry," "necklace," or "bracelet," Google's algorithm may not consider you an expert on the topic.
Title descriptions - While it may not show up on the website, search engines do pay attention to the title tag in your site's html code, the words between < title > < /title >, because it likely describes what the website is about, like the title of a book or a newspaper headline.
Page content - Don't bury important information inside Flash and media elements like video. Search engines can't see images and video or crawl through content in Flash and Java plugins.
Internal links - Including internal links helps search engines crawl your website more effectively, but also boosts what many SEO professionals refer to as "link juice." In other words, it has the same benefit of any link to your site: It demonstrates the value of your content.
Search engines allow users to search the internet for content using keywords.
Web crawlers permit clients to scan the web for content utilizing watchwords. Albeit the market is overwhelmed by a couple, there are many web indexes that individuals can utilize. At the point when a client enters an inquiry into a web index, an internet searcher results page (SERP) is returned, positioning the tracked down pages arranged by their importance How this positioning is done contrasts across web crawlers.
Web crawlers regularly change their calculations (the projects that rank the outcomes) to further develop client experience. They plan to see how clients search and offer them the best response to their questions. This implies giving a need to the greatest and most significant pages.
How do web crawlers work?
There are three vital stages to how most web crawlers work:
Slithering - web search tools use programs, called bugs, bots or crawlers, to scour the web. They might do this like clockwork, so it is feasible for content to be outdated until they slither your site once more.
Ordering - the web index will attempt to comprehend and classify the substance on a website page through 'watchwords'. Following SEO best practices will help the web search tool comprehend your substance so you can rank for the right hunt inquiries.
Positioning - indexed lists are positioned dependent on various variables. These might incorporate watchword thickness, speed and connections. The internet searcher's point is to give the client the most applicable outcome.