Introduction
Search Engine has one aim, which is to provide the most suitable and relevant answers or content for user satisfaction. Knowing how a search engine works is a fundamental requirement in SEO. Aligning with it can help you cut your share of the enormous traffic search engines generate.
In this article, I will discuss three basic ways search engine algorithms carry out their activities and what they do to meet user satisfaction.
The three ways are;
Crawling: This is a process of scanning and copying website content by search engine spiders/bots.
Indexing: In this process, the search engine stores the website’s information like the title and description of the page, type of content, keywords used, links in the website, when the content was created or updated, etc. in the search engine’s index.
Ranking: The search engine ranks websites based on relevance to keywords and presents the most useful content to the searcher.
It’s essential to understand that the way a website page appears to us is not the same as it appears to a search engine. While we see images, graphics, and links, the search engine only considers the text and links as relevant. Therefore, if someone searches for images, the search engine uses file names to locate the most useful content. It is advisable to ensure that the images’ filenames contain the relevant keywords to improve their searchability.
How can a search engine ensure user satisfaction?
This can be achieved by;
- Analyzing the searcher’s intent and matching it with the most helpful content.
Search engine algorithms are advanced systems that can find relevant content even if it doesn’t contain the exact words that the user searched for.
For Example, when a user searches for “weight reduction”, the algorithm can still show content related to “weight loss”, as it understands that words and intent are interconnected. This makes it easier for users to find the right content they need.
- Quality of the content: Search engine follows the E-E-A-T model;
Expertise: Search engine expects you to be an expert in the subject.
Experience: You possess practical knowledge about the subject matter that you write about.
Authoritativeness: Gaining dominance and other sites linking to your site. It shows that your content is credible.
Trustworthiness: Your content can be trusted because your content is reliable and helpful to users.
- User search history: The user’s past searches also have an impact on how search engines look for suitable contents that meet the needs of the user.
- Page load time and speed: Websites that load quickly, within 1.5-3 seconds, have an advantage over slower-loading websites.
- Bounce rate: Search engine also considers the rate at which visitors leave a site. It gives a signal that the content of the website is probably not helpful to the users.
- Average session duration: This is the amount of time spent by visitors on your website. The more time a user spends on your site tells the Google search engine that your content is most helpful to the user.
- Location: Users are served with results relevant to their location.
- Language: Users are served pages in the language they use in search engines.
Conclusion:
Awareness of how search engines function is beneficial in creating a successful SEO strategy, as well as in tackling any other search engine marketing task.