The first thing you need to know about search engines is exactly what they are. A search engine is a compound made up of two main things: an entire database of information and algorithms that compute results. The most common example of a search engine is Google, which works with billions of web pages and algorithms to deliver the most relevant results from a variety of elements.
But how do search engines like Google actually work?
One question you might ask is, “how are search engines able to identify the right web page for every possible query?” This is where the search engine index comes in. In order to achieve these results, search engines keep a record of every possible web page online. The next step is creating a massive index of them all. This index attempts to identify and organize every website and web page in a way that allows it to draw connections between the keywords people search for and the content included on each page.
On top of that, the index must be able to assign relative quality to different web pages that cover similar topics. This is where things can sometimes get difficult because all of this is happening with machines. People have a hard time agreeing on what constitutes “quality” content, but search engines must determine it based on factors that machines can measure objectively.
Index
One question you might ask is, “how are search engines able to identify the right web page for every possible query?” This is where the search engine index comes in. In order to achieve these results, search engines keep a record of every possible web page online. The next step is creating a massive index of them all. This index attempts to identify and organize every website and web page in a way that allows it to draw connections between the keywords people search for and the content included on each page.
On top of that, the index must be able to assign relative quality to different web pages that cover similar topics. This is where things can sometimes get difficult because all of this is happening with machines. People have a hard time agreeing on what constitutes “quality” content, but search engines must determine it based on factors that machines can measure objectively.
Algorithm
Another, more complicated task that search engines perform is in regards to algorithms. Algorithms include attributing relative value to all of the web pages. For example: if the website crawler finds thousands of pages including content that the search engine considers important, how does the search engine decide what order to deliver those results in?
Ranking
Finally, to determine why one page will rank over another, let’s look at some of the most important search engine ranking factors. These factors include: website age, links, keywords, mobile usability, page speed, and behavior data. Google and the other search engines have supplied some information about the ranking factors they utilize, but they are generally discreet when it comes to how their search engine algorithms work, claiming they don’t want people trying to manipulate the results.
