How Search Engines Work

When you google something, you are not searching the entire internet. Instead, you are searching Google’s index for an answer to your question.

 

The only way for a page to show up in search results is if it is already in the search engine’s index, or library of pages. 

 

Google and other search engines find new content to add to their indices via links. If a new page does not have any links directing to it, there is no path for search bots to traverse to discover that content. 

 

Once a search bot discovers and crawls a new page, it adds it to its index. Then, when someone runs a search, the search engine will deploy its algorithm to look through its library of pages to find content that best answers the search query.

 

Results are ranked in the order in which the search engine thinks content best answers the question. Search engines use a variety of ranking factors to structure the order of results. All ranking factors are meant to deliver the best content experience for the user. In this case, that means making sure that the search engine answers someone’s question as quickly as possible.

 

Ranking factors include, but are not limited to, the following: 
 

High-quality content that matches search intent.


Think content that increases time on page, lowers bounce rate, and provides a truly valuable experience to the user.

 

Page experience.


Content must be mobile-friendly and load quickly to provide the best experience possible.

 

Internal and external links pointing to the page in question.


Links act as votes of confidence. Quality links pointing to a page communicates that the content is valuable.

 



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