In the previous article we talked about what is seo, what are the directions to follow in implementing a plan to develop a consistent online presence, but also the main KPIs you need to consider.
And since such a discussion necessarily requires discussing search engines, I am of the opinion that the next logical step is to explain what a search engine is and what are the most important search engines on which you should focus your attention.
Also, in order to better understand what SEO means, it’s important to know how search engines work.
So, in this article we will answer the questions:
- What is the search engine?
- What are the most important search engines?
- How do search engines work?
- Which search engines should you focus on first?
Let’s dive in! We’ll start with the first proposed question, which is:
What is the search engine?
A search engine is a portal through which you can access all the information on the Internet. The top search engines include names such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo and Yandex.
Although these search engines have simple, easy-to-use interfaces for anyone who accesses them, behind them are thousands of microprocessors and algorithms that are constantly crawling the Internet and indexing (organizing) the content so that we can access it in milliseconds.
Because this is a broad topic, and space and time do not allow us to discuss in detail about each search engine, we will focus on the main search engine used, both in Romania and internationally: Google.
In addition to Google, search engines such as Yahoo and Bing have made their place on the list of search engines over time. Another search engine that has started to gain traction in use is DuckDuckGo. Also, in countries like Russia and China there are dedicated search engines like Yandex or Baidu.
The main internet search engines (Google, YouTube, MSN, Yahoo!, Altavista) have had their heyday and not all of them have remained effective and active in cyberspace. Today, we can say that the popularity that the Google search engine has gained is unparalleled.
If you are aware of what a search engine is, you surely appreciate the role of an internet search engine like Google.
The most popular search engine, Google, is one of the most widely used today. If you want to succeed in the digital marketing industry, it is essential to learn how to use Google effectively.
If you’re looking for royalty-free content, Openverse (formerly CC Search) is the right option for you. This free portal pulls its results from sites that have Creative Commons licenses, so it’s easy to tell the difference between a copyrighted and an uncopyrighted article.
Bing is the search engine owned by Microsoft and came about as a result of a desire to dethrone Google’s supremacy. It hasn’t succeeded and it won’t succeed anytime soon, because it’s far from the efficiency of the most visited search engine.
Because Google is the main source of traffic on the Internet and the main search engine used in Romania, in the following we will address only how this important and powerful search engine works.
Crawling – how does Google work?
Imagine the Internet as a great network of highways where every road is a link and every intersection is a page. That’s why, in order to discover all the documents on the Internet, Google uses so-called spiders or crawlers with which they scan all the sites on the Internet, from which they receive, of course, access.
The next step is to organize and store all these documents and information in complex servers with multiple databases.
More concretely, if spiders start their activity on the Internet from site A, and it has dofollow links to sites B, C and D, these “spiders” will follow all the links and end up on sites B, C and D. Once they arrive at a site, these spiders store it in their databases and organize it based on a variety of criteria.
The diagram below shows this process in general terms:
What happens when you do a Google search?
Suppose you are interested in getting to an article that explains what link building is and you do this Google search.
Google searches its database for all pages that contain the search terms (keywords) you enter. The next step Google takes is to sort a series of results that it considers important for your search. To structure these results, Google asks over 200 questions.
All these questions actually represent several ranking factors in the algorithms Google uses to extract from its database the sites that best meet your specific need.
The scope of all the aspects analyzed by Google was, is and will be to deliver RELEVANT content to the user in the most shortest possible time.
This is also why Google’s prime directive for those who have sites and want organic traffic from search engine results is to make content for the people who access it, not for the bots and algorithms that serve content to users.
But since its launch, Google’s proposed search engine has undergone many changes and improvements, necessary to remain competitive in the search engine market and to remain the leading search engine that delivers the best results for user searches.
One of these changes was called RankBrain and consisted of an update to the search algorithm used by Google.
RankBrain is an artificial intelligence system officially confirmed by Google on 26 October 2015 and has become one of the core components used by the search engine. Its implementation has facilitated the shift from a fixed algorithm to a dynamic one that can gain new knowledge and adjust certain results on its own to constantly improve (on its own), with the main goal of making Google one of the best search engines on the market.
The full list of all the updates Google has made to its search engine algorithm can be found at Moz.com.
Why is the Google search engine important for your business?
In Romania, 97% of daily searches on the Internet are made using the search engine provided by Google.
All the action happens through a search engine, from a simple information or education search to a search with purchase intent. This pattern has not changed, even though the attention of Internet users has shifted predominantly to mobile devices. Today, more than 50% of website traffic is now conducted via a mobile device.
From over time, the Internet has become a significant opportunity for entrepreneurs who understand the whole ecosystem and know how to make the most of it. of the advantages it offers.
For example, a domain needed to build your own website can be purchased for 10 euro per year and a hosting server for 5 – 20 euro/month. However, if your plan is to make a website for your business, you should bear in mind that it will not be profitable if it cannot be found by potential customers through a search engine, preferably Google.
That’s why it’s vital to consider developing an SEO optimization On-Page and Off-Page strategy necessary to send the search engine all the signals it needs to consider you relevant when a potential customer searches for your service or product in Google.
Now that you know what the search engine is, it’s time to understand how Google marketing can help you grow your business.
The importance of search engines to business is a proven fact. With so many users online, search engines determine what information customers access online. Being search engine friendly is as important as offline advertising, direct marketing or print media.
Here are four reasons why it’s worth giving search engines importance in promoting your business:
- Obtain up-to-date, high-quality information
Search engines are like web filters. They are useful to provide anyone with the right information, without having to wade through thousands of irrelevant web pages. There are more than 8 billion pages in the Google database. Without understanding what a search engine is, you would get lost in the vastness of information made available by the internet.
Happily, search engine marketing has many benefits, and providing relevant information for searches is probably the most appreciated benefit.
- Maximum visibility for visitors
The power of organic search is so great that it accounts for a substantial part of the performance of most company websites. This is how users find products and services. It also helps increase brand awareness and increases click-through rates. In addition, search engine marketing helps companies combine paid search with organic search.
- Improves the performance of your site
Search engines are virtual gateways open to the world. Whether you are a small, medium or large business, search engines are essential to the success of any business. A top position on Google is essential to bring new customers and visitors to your website. If you’re not on the first page, you won’t be easy to find. The number of people who don’t look beyond the first two pages of search results is known to be overwhelming.
- Search engines provide the information users are looking for
For example, when a consumer searches for a product, they can access the brand’s official website. But not all users know or want to do this.
A search engine is a great tool for business. A well optimized website can increase sales. Using a search engine, users can access information about their favorite topics. If they enter the phrase “cheap jeans” into Google, they will find the most relevant information in a single second. Using search engines to optimise your website will increase your visibility in search engines and convert more visitors. If you want to get the most out of your investment, you need to invest in search engine optimisation (SEO).
In addition to providing relevant results for customers, search engines also offer more popularity to businesses. Repeated searches using search engines can help companies build brand awareness, increase click-through rates and improve sales. Knowing what a search engine is, optimisation becomes almost mandatory to make your business visible.
Combined with organic SEO, search engine marketing is an important way of long-term promotion. In addition, search engines are a great way to attract new customers. In addition to increasing brand awareness, SEO can improve sales and drive traffic to your site.
