What is a Search Engine and how can it help Arizona businesses grow to their fullest potential?
Over the years, search engines have become so popular that most people use them at least once per day. Whether it’s Google, Bing, Yahoo, or maybe even something else, they allow us to get answers to questions in a matter of seconds. However, what are they and how do they actually work?
What’s a Search Engine?
Across the internet, there are millions of websites and billions of web pages. How do we find what we’re looking for? We use a search engine. Essentially, users type keywords and phrases into the search engine like “Tempe marketing company“, and it will respond with web pages that are most relevant to the search. Or, for example, we might type ‘swimming tips’ into Google, and it will load up a list of web pages that contain swimming tips.
Example – In fact, we typed this very phrase into Google, and it came back with 252,000,000 results within 0.56 seconds. At the very top, we found a link called Top 10 Swimming Tips for Beginners. Whether you’re looking for swimming advice or a local restaurant, search engines act as a navigational tool to find whatever we need.
You may have heard the term ‘algorithm’, and this is how search engines rank pages. Google just updated its core algorithm in January, and the internet is talking about it. Every day, websites are fighting to get their pages onto the first page of search engine results because this is where most of the activity takes place. These days, it’s all about relevance and search engines like Google will rank web pages according to relevance
Often, people complicate the process of optimizing content for search engines but it’s actually very simple. Google has one aim; to provide a positive experience for the user. If we can type something into Google and get an answer within four seconds, we have a positive experience and are likely to use the service again. Therefore, Google and other search engines want the web page most likely to answer the user’s question at the very top.
How Does it Work?
If you’re happy to get a little more technical, most search engines have three steps in their operation;
Step 1: (Crawling) – In order to scour the internet, search engines will use bots, spiders, or crawlers. Constantly, these programs crawl websites to ascertain their value and content.
Step 2: (Indexing) – Next, all content is categorized using keywords. If you produce a blog post focusing on a particular keyword, this is the stage where this is picked up.
Step 3: (Ranking) – Finally, all pages are ranked according to a given keyword. Due to changes in the algorithm over the years, nobody knows the exact formula that search engines like Google use. However, it’s a combination of keyword density, page speed, links, and other factors. After crawling, indexing, and ranking, every single keyword has a list of relevant web pages to present. Over time, this ranking is updated; SEO (search engine optimization) specialists are constantly fighting to get their client’s content at the top of results pages.
If you’re looking to appear at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs), we recommend the following;
- Use the keyword for which you want to appear in your content
- Provide genuinely useful content that answers a question
- Prompt the search engines to crawl new content
- Use links in your content (link back to authority websites and try to get authority websites to link to you)
Summary
Search engines present web pages in order of relevance to our searches. They crawl, index, and then rank every single web page on the internet so that users always get the best and most relevant experience.
Read More :- Why is Keyword Research Important in Digital Marketing?
