What are search engines?

A search engine is an online tool that helps people find information on the Internet. A typical example? Google. The truth is, Google is probably the only example you need to know. Just look at the chart of search engine market share worldwide (based on Statcounter):

So when we talk about search engines in this guide, we’re mostly referring to Google. Other search engines work on similar principles, and as long as your website is optimized for Google, you should be set up for others as well.

How do search engines work?

The process by which search engines work involves these main steps:

• Crawling
• Indexing
• Picking the results

…and finally, displaying the search results to the user. The process of search engines works something like this:

Crawling

Crawling is the process by which search engines continuously scan and examine all the web pages on the Internet. They use small pieces of software (called crawlers or bots) to follow all the links and discover new pages (as well as update the pages they have already discovered).

Martin Split, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, explains the crawling process simply:

“We start somewhere with some URLs and then we basically follow the links from there. So we’re basically crawling the internet, page by page, more or less.”

Indexing

After crawling a website, the information is indexed. Search engines try to analyze and understand the pages, categorize them, and store them in an index. A search engine index is essentially a giant library of all the websites it crawls with a single goal, to understand them and make them available for use as search results for the general user.

Tip: If you want to find out if your page is crawled and indexed, you can simply go to your Google Search Console and use the inspect URL tool:

You will see the last time the page was crawled, as well as warnings about any potential crawling and indexing issues that Google may have with your page. We discuss Windex crawling more in our detailed post.

Select results

When a user searches for a term on Google, the search engine searches the list and returns the best results. The list of results is known as the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). SERP stands for Search Engines Results Page. In the following paragraphs, we will take a closer look at the Google search algorithm.

Google algorithm

Google search algorithm is used as a general term to refer to all the algorithms, machine learning systems, and technologies that Google uses to rank websites. To provide the best results, they consider a variety of factors, including:

• Conceptual search: The search engine needs to understand exactly what the user is looking for.
• Page relevance: The page must be relevant to the search term.
• Content quality: The search engine tries to select the best results in terms of content quality.
• Usability of pages: Pages must also be usable (in terms of accessibility, readability, safety, etc.).
• Context and Settings: Finally, the user’s location, settings, and search history are taken into account.

Like any complex system, Google’s algorithm needs to be updated and refined regularly. In addition to minor algorithm updates that happen on a daily basis, Google usually releases a few major algorithm updates every year. They are officially announced by Google and create a lot of buzz in the SEO community. Of course, we at Digi Giraffe will tell you all about it.

Browsing through a list of the most important major algorithm updates (e.g. Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, etc.) can be a great way to get an overview of how Google search and SEO have evolved over the years. For more information, read our in-depth post on the Google algorithm.

Rating factors

Of course, search engines keep the exact calculations of their algorithms secret. However, many ranking factors are well known. Ranking factors are a hotly debated topic in the SEO world.

Many of them have been officially confirmed by Google, but many remain in the realm of speculation and theory. From a practical point of view, it is important to focus on factors that have a consistent impact, but also try to maintain a “good score” in all areas.Of course, not everything people think is a ranking factor is actually used by search engines (if something is associated with higher rankings, it’s not necessarily something Google uses in its algorithm). On the other hand, some of the confirmed ranking factors only have a very small impact on rankings.

Here is a good list of Google success factors (those most associated with higher rankings) compiled by the DigiZiraffe team. Here are the top 10:

• Great, targeted content: You need to identify what people are searching for and create quality content tailored to their needs.
• Crawlable website: If you want your site to rank, your website needs to be easily found by search engines.
• Quality and quantity of links: The more quality pages linking to your website, the more authoritative you will be in the eyes of Google.
• User-Purpose-Based Content: SEO is not just about what words you use, it’s also about the type of content and its comprehensiveness. The visitor will be happy, and Google will be happy.
• Unique Content: Be very careful about using duplicate content on your website.
• (Expertise, Authority, Trust) EAT = Expertise, Authority, Trust: E-A-T signals are evaluated by Google’s quality evaluators, never forget to build and prove your expertise and trustworthiness and only write about topics for which you are qualified.
• Fresh content: Some topics require more freshness than others, but even so, you should update your content regularly to keep it current.
• Click-through rate: Optimize your title tags and meta descriptions to improve the CTR of your pages.
• Website speed: Make sure your visitors don’t have to wait too long for the page to load, otherwise, there’s a high chance they’ll leave before actually visiting.
• Usable on any device: Your website should work perfectly on any device and screen size (remember, most internet users come from mobile devices!)
  

  Note: Content quality is undoubtedly the most important factor in SEO (note that 5 out of the 10 most important factors are content-related). To learn more about optimizing content for SEO, go to Part 4 of the free SEO tutorial (Content Optimization).

Other important factors that may have a positive impact on your ranking:

• Content depth
• Image optimization
• Subject credibility and authority
• A page with a proper structure
• Social sharing
• Use HTTPS