Part I: How do Search Engines Work?

see: part ii: seo in a nutshell

As an Emarketing Manager at texturemedia I field a lot of questions about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The importance of search engines is well known, but there remains a great deal of confusion about how search engines work. Below are key concepts outlining the primary characteristics of search engines.

Search engines…

• Use robots/spiders to “read” web pages and website.
• Attempt to determine what each web page and website is “about”. Identifies keywords and phrases. Ranks the site based on the content, the number of links pointed to it, as well as the value of those links, in relation to other websites and for the same query.
• Can only read text content.
• Can’t “read” or “see” images.
• Navigate the Internet by following hyperlinks. Plain text links best. This includes internal linking of content within a website as well as links to other websites.
• Are unable to follow certain protocols and technologies such as JavaScript and Flash
• Look for web pages and websites that “contribute to the conversation” and are popular with other websites. Duplicated and/or stale content does not add anything new.
• Are popularity contests. Links to a site are “votes” for the site. The more relevant and/or popular the site linking to your site, the greater the value of that “vote”. Thus both the quantity and the quality of links to your site impact search engine performance.

“How do I get my site ‘on top of Google’?”

This is the most common SEO question I am asked, and it belies a basic misunderstanding of how search engines work. There is no such thing as a website being “on top of Google”. Search engines return a list of websites based on the specific word(s) or phrase entered buy the searcher. There is no “rank” for a given website, only the website in relation to specific search terms.

To clarify this common question, one should ask, “how can I get my site in the top Google results for my keywords?”. This question acknowledges that any given website will appear in search engine results only for queries with words and phrases directly relevant to the purpose and content of the website. In asking this question we identified four critically important concepts:

• What is the purpose of your website?
• What is the purpose of each page of your website?
• What words and phrases are used in the website content that are relevant to these purposes?
• Why should the engines rank your site higher than everyone else for your topic?

Only by answering these questions can we accomplish the goal of achieving higher rankings on the search engines.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

As a business owner you want to know how to leverage search engines to promote products and services, and to drive searchers to your website. The term “Search Engine Optimization” encompasses strategies and tactics that can raise the rankings for a website for the key words and phrases relevant to the purpose of the website. Below are some key concepts outlining the primary characteristics of search engine optimization:

• SEO changes can take days, weeks, or months to take effect
• SEO is a long term strategy
• Poor SEO practices, “black hat” tactics, or otherwise manipulating the search results outside of established tactics can result in lower rankings or even being blacklisted by search engines
• Many studies indicate that SEO provides a better long term return on investment (ROI) that online media (banners) and paid search advertising

Now that we better understand how search engines work, and what SEO is, be sure to read SEO In a Nutshell Part II: SEO Strategy.

Jason Rogers, eMarketing