How Search Engines Like Google, Bing, Yahoo and Others Works.
Search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others work by using a three-step process: crawling, indexing, and ranking.
- Crawling: This is the process by which search engines discover updated content on the web, such as new sites or pages, changes to existing sites, and dead links. To do this, they use bots often referred to as spiders or crawlers. These bots start with a list of website URLs determined from previous crawls. and sitemaps provided by website owners. When the spiders visit these websites, they use links on those sites to discover other pages.
- Indexing: Once a spider has crawled a page. It needs to understand and catalogue the content in a giant database known as an index. This index includes the words it contains and where they are located. All the links on the page, and other relevant information. The goal is to understand the content of the page well enough to serve it up to users who search for relevant topics.
- Ranking: When a user enters a query, the search engine sifts through the billions of pages in its index to provide an ordered list of the most relevant results. This ranking is determined by a complex algorithm that weighs various factors. Such as the relevance of the page’s content to the query. The quality of the page (as determined by factors such as the number of links pointing to it), the user’s geographical location, the loading speed of the page, and many others.
Over time, search engines have become more sophisticated, using advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques to improve their results. These can include semantic understanding, user behaviour data, personalization, and more.
It’s important to note that all search engines work slightly differently, using their own proprietary algorithms. These algorithms are updated regularly. For the most accurate and current information, it is best to refer directly to the documentation provided by the specific search engine.
Bernice Ebhohimen with over 8 years of experience in Full-Stack Website Design & Development, WordPress, Web Hosting, eCommerce, SEO, and Marketing. She Started Bernixe Tech in 2016, Bernixe Tech is a Websited Design and Development Agency and also a free (Full-Stack, WordPress) resource site for beginners.
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