Understanding Search Engines Algorithms

Every computer program is the realization of an algorithm, which in turn is the logic for performing a particular task as being conceived by a programmer in his or her mind. Similarly, search engine bots, which are software themselves, are built based on algorithms, often referred to as a search engine algorithm. The search engine algorithm specifies how to categorically analyze each website based on a variety of factors, and decides its relevance in comparison to other similar sites on the Internet. It is thought that Google has hundreds, if not thousands of criteria when evaluating a website, which then allows is to assign a score or measure of importance.

Search engines – again for example Google – indicate the importance or relevance of a website using a measure and Google trademarked term called Page Rank (PR) which appears to have a scale of 1 - 10. It is calculated by Google's computer search engine bots by taking into consideration different factors pertaining to particular websites such as word count, meta tags, age, back links, outbound links, graphic content, total number of pages, and much more. Google then uses this data to rank websites which it feels are popular and/or have relevant content while also having a higher page ranking. There are many other factors which Google considers before ranking a website, most of which are kept secret by the company so as to preempt attempts of reverse engineering – also called search engine optimization - by webmasters and web designers.

These Computer algorithms used by search engines are based on very complex mathematical equations, usually designed by the best minds in computer engineering. Some have said that Google has a habit of seeking advanced individuals with even scientific military background to build them. Most search engine algorithms of various search engines like MSN or Yahoo work entirely different, thus gauging the importance of a website in other ways. That is why a web page that gets listed on the top 10 in Google search results might not occupy a similar spot when searched in MSN, Ask or Yahoo. At best, there could be similar factors that might be considered by different search engine algorithms relating to a web page while ranking it, but, when taken wholly, it is different. In my opinion, it has become almost common knowledge that Google is the most sophisticated of all search engines delivering the best results. Many people believe that even if just subconsciously, those seeking important information often resort to Google which has mostly coined the terms "I Googled it" or "I Googled your name on the internet". After all, everyone has their favorite search engine, but when it's time to get serious about research, Google is the way to go.

For example, there has been studies conducted which measured click-through rates on Google search results verses Yahoo search results. Yahoo had a higher click through rate, and some thought that it indicated that Yahoo was a better search engine, delivering more clicks, even though research has shown Google to have far more traffic. In reality, the click through discrepancy in only an indication of superior results on search result pages themselves where an answer to a search is mostly shown in bold text and contained right within the snippet provided on the search page, preventing even the need to visit a listed page for an answer to a query. Google is about speed and accuracy.

It is also important to remember that search engine algorithms, as being used by top search engines, won't remain the same always. In order to beat search engine optimization attempts made by web designers, and also to enhance the page ranking or web page indexing methods, search engines frequently change their algorithms. So, if you observe that your site is not occupying the slot you expect it to be amongst search engine results, one of the very likely reasons for this could be a change in the search engines algorithm. This is also due to the arrival of thousands of new daily additions of web pages to cyberspace that are or could be a better fit, but the former is still a valid and likely possibility.

In conclusion, search engine algorithms are complex measuring programs which assign a score of quality in order to deliver results to questions. As a web site owner, while it is important to understand algorithms, it is also best to make a search engines job easier by focusing on what the algorithm itself will be looking for on your pages, and leave every clue possible that it is there. For example, if you have a helpful graph on your web page, don't just through the graph on the page and wait for the search engine to figure it out and the traffic to pour in. Name your image file name with the keyword "graph.jpg", call the page graph.html, link to the page with the word "graph", and use meta tags that contain the word "graph". Make the job easy and remember that algorithms don't look, they only read and count.