How search engines work is a very important thing to learn as you begin your journey to professional and mastered search engine optimization (SEO).
How can you optimize articles, pages, and websites for search engines without knowing how they work?
That's why we've written this comprehensive, yet simple and concise guide to help you achieve professionalism and complete mastery of the field of SEO.
Get a cup of tea or coffee, grab a pen and paper, and start reading Lesson 3 of the Winners' SEO course.
What are search engines and why do we need them?
First, we must understand what search engines are, what they are, and why we need them in our lives.
Search engines are software programs like any other software that handle the various pages and websites on the internet.
We need them because they collect, archive, and categorize these pages and websites in a way that helps us find what we need.
In the past, when we wanted to browse a website, we had to type in its URL, which was inevitably saved or saved.
After a while, websites similar to internet directories began to appear, such as Yahoo in its early days.
These directories created large categories within them (sports sites, movie sites), so you could click on the large category and then search the list of sites.
These sites were very useful in the beginning, but with the expansion of the internet and the availability of millions of websites, the idea of directories became completely impractical.
Google came up with a brilliant idea to help searchers find what they're looking for through its vast search engine archive (don't worry if you don't understand; we'll explain in detail shortly).
How search engines work in brief
Each search engine has its own unique way of working. Despite their great similarity today and their reliance on artificial intelligence and machine learning, there are significant differences between them.
However, because the search engine we're most interested in is Google, we will focus on it and explain it in detail without discussing other search engines.
Google has a very large market share, reaching 96% according to some statistics, and so we're focusing on it specifically.
In short, Google's search engine performs three main tasks, which are in simple terms:
- Accessing pages on the internet (crawling).
- Processing and understanding the content of those pages.
- Storing information about those pages and websites in a large Google archive (indexing).
- Arranging those pages and websites and making them appear to the searcher in a way that achieves their goals (ranking).
Of course, these processes are very brief and somewhat technical, but in the next paragraph, we'll understand together how search engines work in detail (and from now on, when I say search engines, I mean Google).
The steps of Google's search engine operation
We can understand how search engines work through three basic steps:
Step 1: Crawling
The first thing we need to understand to understand how search engines work is crawling, through which spiders crawl the web and find websites and pages.
Spiders, or crawlers, are software programs that explore the internet through URLs such as backlinks and sitemaps, or even through links entered through Google Search Console.
This process isn't a one-time process; it's ongoing. These crawlers constantly access your website's pages and detect any updates to their content.
So, when you jump ahead, you'll find that you're not actually searching the internet, but rather searching the search engine's database.
These spiders, or crawlers, pull data from websites and pages into the search engine's archive, where its artificial intelligence can then process and rank them.
These spiders automatically—using machine learning—determine whether these pages are eligible for entry into Google's database.
For example, they don't add drug and weapon sales sites to the search engine, but they do add content related to addiction recovery and the like.
From the above, we can deduce some explanations for why sites aren't appearing in search engine results yet:
- The site is still new and hasn't been crawled yet.
- The site isn't connected to any other site (through links).
- The site's design and programming prevent spiders from accessing it.
- The site is penalized by Google for spam.
- The site is illegal, and therefore Google refrains from displaying it to the public.
Step Two: Indexing
After the search engine obtains this information from the crawled pages and sites, the indexing process comes into play.
In this process, the page is added to the archive or index of the search engine, in this case, Google, so that it can be displayed to the user when searching for it.
This index contains a massive collection of hundreds of millions of websites and pages on the internet that are ready for browsing.
It's worth noting that not all crawled pages and sites are placed in the search engine's index or archive.
The search engine first processes the pages to understand and categorize them, and may often delete some websites and pages.
You can tell the search engine how to index your site using robots meta directives (meta tags), such as index/noindex, follow/nofollow, noarchive, and others.
It's very important here to understand how search engines work: crawling and indexing are highly intertwined and difficult to separate in terms of how they work.
Step Three: Ranking
The third and final step in how search engines work revolves around the order of the pages in the search engine's index.
This is the most important step for the user. When you search on Google, you want the results you see to be the most useful.
In this step, search engines rank the results in their archives according to the pages most relevant to the user's search (the keywords they search for).
The most important search engine, Google, has a very complex algorithm for ranking results. It is believed to include more than 200 ranking factors related to content, location, and other factors, as we will learn in a moment.
We say "believed" here because Google does not reveal its secrets. It keeps the algorithm's workings and ranking factors secret, even developing and updating them periodically.
The most important search engine criteria for ranking search results
Now that we know how search engines work, the most important question of all comes: How do we optimize our search engines?
The answer is simple: we must ensure we satisfy the algorithm by taking ranking factors into account and optimizing them on our website or pages.
Of course, it's not very easy; otherwise, it would be easy to rank first, but it is possible if you invest some time and effort.
These ranking factors—which we'll discuss shortly—are very intuitive; they simply relate to a good visitor experience and satisfying their needs.
Of course, talking about them in this way seems a bit vague, but I'll explain everything in a moment, and let's begin discussing them in detail.
No one knows for sure what search engine ranking factors are, but through research, experimentation, and experience, SEO professionals have identified a few factors, numbering up to 200.
These factors are very diverse, including domain-related factors, page-related factors, backlinks, user experience, and more.
To simplify, I'll list the most important ones and categorize them into groups:
The first group: Content and page ranking factors
1. Keyword Density: The frequency of the main keyword on the page, typically ranging from 0.5 to 2 percent of the page's content.
2. Keyword in Title Tag: Mentioning the keyword in the article title is one of the internal SEO optimization points. It's also preferable for the keyword to be at the beginning of the title, not at the end.
3. Keyword in Description Tag: Don't forget to include the keyword in your article description, as this will help you attract visitors regardless of SEO.
4. Keyword in Titles: The subtitles on your page or article should contain the keyword you want to rank for.
5. Keyword Prominence: The keyword should be mentioned in the first 100 words of your page or article, and preferably the first thing mentioned at the beginning of the article.
6. Keyword in URL: Including your target keyword in the URL will give you a significant advantage.
7. Content Length: It's also preferable for your website page to contain more than 1,400 words, according to numerous statistics and studies.
8. Table of Content: Make sure to use a table of contents, as it will help you rank higher and help your visitors reach their goals in your articles, especially if they are long.
9. Mobile-Friendly Page: In 2023, your website and pages must also be mobile-friendly to rank higher.
10. Page Loading Speed: Page loading speed is one of the most important factors, according to many SEO experts.
11. Duplicate Content: Repeating the same content across multiple pages on your website will greatly harm your site and impact your search engine rankings.
12. Image Optimization: Optimizing images for search engines will greatly help you rank first.
13. Content Update Frequency: The more frequently you update your pages and website content, the more Google will like you.
14. Syndicated Content: If your content is copied from other websites and pages, this will greatly harm your site and pages, and your pages may not be indexed at all.
15. Multimedia: Including images and videos on your website pages will give you a significant advantage in search engine results.
16. Broken Links: If there are a number of broken links on your page, this will harm its ranking because the search engine will classify it as a neglected page.
17. Having Too Many Affiliate Links: If your page contains too many affiliate links, this may hurt its ranking.
18. Having References and Sources for Your Content: Contrary to popular belief, citing the sources from which you've sourced your information will give you a significant advantage, as search engines will rank your content as high-quality and reliable.
19. Using Bullets and Numbered Lists: Using these elements makes it easier for readers to understand your page and comprehend your content. Google loves using them and rewards those who use them.
The Second Group: Website Ranking Factors
1. Presence of a Sitemap: A sitemap helps Google index and navigate your site.
2. SSL Certificate: Google prefers your site to begin with HTTPS.
3. Contact Us Page: Having this page and others like it on your site gives you a significant advantage.
4. Ease of Designing Your Website: If your website is well-designed, Google will love it and will place it at the top of the search results, because visitors will love it too.
5. Site Updates: Whether it's technical updates or new content, updating your website will help it rank higher in search engines.
6. Using Google Analytics and Google Search Console: Believe it or not, simply using them will help you a lot.
7. Your Website Reputation: If visitors are speaking well of your website on other websites, especially ranking sites, Google will help you improve your website and page rankings in search results.
8. Core Web Vitals: If your website achieves good results in this test, this will help you rank higher in search engine results.
9. Your Website's Mobile-Friendly Compatibility: This is one of the most important factors today.
10. Server Location: If you're targeting residents of a specific region or country, it's best to have your website's servers located there, as this will help you rank higher in search results.
11. Experience, Authority, and Trust (EAT): We'll discuss these in detail during the course, but all I want you to know for now is that they will give you a huge advantage.
The Third Group: Domain Ranking Factors
1. Domain Authority: Having a domain with high authority in its niche will help your website rank higher in search results.
2. Domain Trust: Having a trusted domain will give you a huge advantage.
3. Domain Age: Many SEO experts confirm that domain age is an important indicator for Google, but some deny this.
4. Keyword Appears in Top-Level Domain: Not every website needs this, but having the important keyword in the domain will suggest to Google that your website specializes in its niche.
Group Four: Ranking Factors for Backlinks
1. Number of Linking Root Domains: The higher the number, the higher your ranking will be with search engines, provided they are of high quality.
2. Age of the Linking Domains: The older and more reliable the backlinks are, the higher your ranking will be.
3. Number of Linking Pages: The higher the number, the more likely you are to have a significant advantage over your competitors, provided they are reliable, of high quality, and relevant to your content and niche.
4. Backlinks from .edu or .gov sites: Backlinks from government or educational sites will make your site more trustworthy.
5. Authority of Linking Pages: The higher the authority of the sites that link to you, the more the algorithm will trust you.
6. Backlinks from Competitors: The impact of backlinks from competing sites on your search ranking is very powerful and should not be ignored.
Group Five: Other Ranking Factors
1. Bounce Rate: The lower this rate, the better your site will rank in search engine results.
2. Repeat Traffic: The more users return to your site, the more Google will trust it and place it at the top of the results.
3. User Browsing History: When users frequently access and search for your site, Google will give you an advantage.
Finally, I would like to point out that these are not all the existing ranking factors, but they are the most important at this stage, and I will introduce you to more of them throughout the course.
Frequently Asked Questions About How Search Engines Work
1. What are search engines?
Search engines are software programs that help you easily find the pages and websites you want on the internet.
They operate using sophisticated and complex algorithms based on artificial intelligence and machine learning to satisfy you and provide you with the best possible service.
The most famous of these search engines is Google, which we focus on understanding in our SEO course.
2. Why do we need search engines?
We need search engines to find the results we want from pages and websites on the internet. Without them, this task would be extremely difficult.
We also need search engines today to achieve our marketing goals, disseminate our ideas, and sell our products, and their importance in our lives grows every day.
3. How do search engines work?
Search engines operate using complex algorithms based on artificial intelligence and machine learning to scour the internet and crawl all its sites and pages.
It then adds them to its index, where they are then processed and arranged according to the user's needs and the purpose of their search to suit their intent.
4. What are the stages of search engine operation?
Search engines operate through three stages or steps:
- The first stage: Crawling.
- The second stage: Indexing.
- The third stage: Ranking.
We discussed these stages in detail in our article, so be sure to read it immediately.
5. What is crawling?
The crawling process is the first stage of search engine operation, in which search engine spiders crawl the internet.
They browse through all existing websites and pages, then extract important and essential information to add to the search engine's index, which is then processed and ranked.
6. What is indexing?
Indexing is the second stage of search engine operations, in which these pages and websites are actually added to the search engine's index so that they appear to the user when they search.
This stage is so closely linked to the previous stage, crawling, that it's difficult to completely separate them.
7. What is Ranking?
Ranking is the final stage of search engine operations, in which pages and websites in the search engine index are processed.
The goal is to arrange them to suit the user's intent and needs, so that they appear in the correct order when they search.
8. What is Rank Brain?
Rank Brain is an artificial intelligence program, specifically for machine learning, that constantly strives to improve Google users' search results.
It constantly learns from users' experiences and strives to provide them with results that satisfy them and achieve their desired benefits.
9. What are the most important Google search engine criteria for ranking search results?
According to experts, there are more than 200 factors and criteria for the Google search engine, which an SEO specialist should strive to optimize as much as possible.
However, there are some that are more important and some that are less important. Among the most important are: quality of backlinks, quality of content, freshness of content, quality and speed of the site, and mobile compatibility.
10. How do we optimize search engines?
After understanding how search engines work, it will now be easier to optimize them. All an SEO expert has to do is understand the ranking factors and optimize them as much as possible.
We will address this point in detail in the upcoming lessons of the course, such as internal and external SEO optimization, which you should definitely read.
11. How does a user conduct a search on search engines like Google?
We can summarize this process into seven steps:
1. Need Recognition Stage: The user recognizes that they need an answer to a question, a solution to a problem, information, or the purchase of a product or service, etc.
2. Formulating the search term or phrase: The user's search for the keyword depends on several factors, such as the user's language, culture, and knowledge of the search topic.
3. Entering the search terms and actually performing the search: In this step, the user actually types the search term or phrase (query).
4. Browsing the search results: In this step, the user searches through the results to find the most appropriate result.
5. Accessing some results: In this stage, the user checks whether the content matches their need. They may navigate through several search engine results.
6. Returning to the search results again: This may occur if the user doesn't find what they're looking for and returns to other search results to find what they need.
7. Keyword Re-Entry: If the user doesn't find what they need, they'll try typing the search term or phrase (query) again.
12. What types of searches do search engine users perform?
We can divide searches into three types:
1. Searches that aim to navigate to a specific site (Go Queries): The user types the name of the site they want to navigate to.
2. Searches that aim to know (Know Queries): In this type of search, the user searches to obtain new information or ideas.
3. Searches related to a specific action (Do Queries): This type is most important in e-commerce when the user purchases a product or subscribes to a service.
Conclusion
In this article, we discussed in detail how search engines work and outlined all the important basic points you should know about them.
We discussed the stages of how search engines work in detail, and we also discussed the most important factors related to search engine optimization.
We hope by the end of the article you've understood how search engines work. If you have any questions or inquiries, please post them in the comments below and we'll respond as soon as possible.