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What are search engines? Let’s start from the very beginning. A search engine has several major components:
- Database. The database stores text from a large number of web sites, as well as supporting information (such as the date of the last web site update, the last time the crawler visited the site, etc.). Information from this database is used to answer search requests.
- Crawler. The crawler is an automated program that navigates links from page to page and collects information that is stored in the database.
- Search Algorithm. The algorithm defines the rules that the search engine uses to find web sites that are pertinent for each search query and to rank the sites in order of decreasing relevance (sites that produce the best match are displayed first).
For example, if you search for “online marketing”, the search engine algorithm determines which sites in its database have information relevant to online marketing. Then, the algorithm sorts the results and displays sites that, in the opinion of the search engine, provide the best information about online marketing.
Imagine that you are looking for new online marketing resources and you would like to use a search engine to locate them. Let’s examine the process in detail. You navigate to your favorite search engine, type “online marketing” into the search box and click the “search” button. The engine thinks for a while, gears churn somewhere, magic happens, and finally the engine produces a list of 27,700,000 pages that are somehow related to the concept of “online marketing”.
Several concepts and components are involved in the search process:
- You typed “online marketing” in the search engine query box. “Online marketing” is a “keyword phrase”. Single word keyword phrases (such as “marketing”) are called “keywords.” For simplicity, we will not distinguish between keyword phrases and keywords and instead will use the term “keywords” to refer to both.
- When you clicked the “Search” button, the search engine activated its search algorithm to produce the result.
The algorithm examined the search engine database, located sites that it thinks had information about online marketing, and displayed the results. The results (Search Engine Result Pages, or SERPs) displayed in order of decreasing rank --- the site deemed to have the best information about online marketing is listed first; the second best is listed second, and so on.
As you can see from the discussion above, it is critical to ensure that the search engine algorithm thinks that your site is relevant for a particular keyword. If this is the case, it will be listed near the top of the SERPs and produce significant visitor traffic.
Search engine result pages are typically split into chunks of 10 results per page, and the user has to navigate to the next page to see results 11-20. Most people get tired from clicking the “next page” button and won’t bother going beyond the third page (results 21-30).
Very few users will be able to find your site if it does not appear somewhere in the first three pages of the SERPs. This is why it is essential to optimize your web site’s placement among the list of results.
Although most search engines have a setting that allows users to specify how many results should be returned per page, very few people change the default setting of 10 results per page.
Your site will not be seen by anyone if it’s ranked #27,699,999 for a particular keyword.
Search Engine Optimization will help you improve the rank of your site and help it appear in the first three pages of search engine results.
Read the next part of the tutorial: What Is Search Engine Optimization?
Part 1: Introduction To Seach Engine Optimization, SEO
Part 2: What Is Search Engine Optimization?
Part 3: How To Optimize A Web Page For Search Engines
Part 4: How To Do Keyword Research
Part 5: How To Use Keywords In Title Tag
Part 6: How To Use Keywords Meta Tag
Part 7: How To Use Description Meta Tag For SEO
Part 8: How To Use Keywords On Your Coaching Web Site
Part 9: How To Optimize Your Coaching Web Site For Search Engines
Part 10: More Search Engine Optimization Strategies