How Does The Google Search Engine Work?
- sushrutha d
- Oct 4, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 8, 2024
The three main processes of the Google search engine: crawling, indexing, and serving. The Google search engine uses these processes to locate the most relevant content to a user's search query.
Crawling: The first step the Google search engine takes is the process of finding new and updated webpages. Google explores the Internet with automated programs called crawlers. These crawlers find new and updated webpages, then stores these page URLs in a big list to review later. There are several ways that Google crawlers finds webpages. The main way is to follow links from pages already identified.
Indexing: A book index is a list of content and its associated pages. Similarly, Google stores web content with its location: the URL for each webpage. Google will index almost anything on the page including text, photos, and video content. Remember, indexing is only possible if the website owner allows the webpage to be crawled.
Serving: After the webpage content is indexed, the Google search algorithm sorts through billions of webpages to deliver the most relevant content for a given search. The purpose of the search algorithm is to deliver the best results for a search.
Key factors for SERPs -
Think of these key factors as concepts as they can be applied in several different ways. That's why creating content to rank high in the SERPs is often open to interpretation.
Meaning of the query : One of your tasks may be to create content that addresses the searchers needs. An effective marketer will understand the potential customer' intent and meaning of a search. That's why you want to build customer persona - to better understand your customers.
Relevance of the webpages: The most basic signal that information is relevant is that the webpage contains the same keywords as the search query. A keyword is a word or multiple words that people use to find information, products, or services online. The keyword either matches, or is similar to, this searchers query. If the keywords appear in the headings or body text of a webpage, the search algorithms may determine that page to be more relevant.The Google search algorithms review more than just keywords for relevance. They will match phrases and topics at the searcher may be interested in. Depending on the type of search, different types of content may be relevant as well. Maybe a searcher is more likely to watch a video or maybe the content with photos, rather than just paragraphs of texts.
Quality of the content: One way Google determines quality content is understanding if prominent websites link or refer to the content. Backlinks.
Usability of the webpages: Google algorithms also consider the content's ease of use. Now, if you have two webpages with exactly the same content, the webpage that has a better user experience may perform better. Google calls this the page experience ranking factor.
Overall context and user settings: Information such as the location, past search history, and search settings help the search algorithm deliver relevant and useful results. The country and location of a search can alter the results. Google may tailor results based on activity in your Google account. For example, if you search for "events near me," Google may tailor some recommendations to event categories they think you might be interested in. These systems are designed to match interests, but they're not designed to infer sensitive characteristics.
A best practice is to always Google Search your product or service for the brand name and several related words. Analyze the results. Like, what are the possible placements in the SERPs?
There are several SERP features, Common ones include -
A featured snippet is a special box that displays information about a search in the results page. It's a non-paid feature. The featured snippet displays when the algorithm determines the format or how people more easily discover what they're looking for. A digital marketer or e-commerce analyst can mark a webpage as a featured snippet. Google systems will determine whether a page would make a good featured snippet for a user's search request.
Rich results provide specific information about a website. This information helps a website display with additional features in search results. Images or videos may appear in any search position including the top, the middle, and the bottom of the SERPs when the Google system determines that visual content is valuable to the search. Images are a non-paid feature. The videos in the SERPs come from across the web. When searching for a local business, product, or service, you may get a map and listings of local businesses. Additionally, if someone searches for the business name, its business profile will likely appear as a panel on the right side of the SERP, separate from the non-paid search results.
There are also paid ads. Typically, you'll find paid ads towards the top of the search results page. After the paid ads are search listings. You may find Google Ads at the end of the search results page as well.