Google Algorithm

 

 

As a search engine optimizer it is imperative you understand how search engines work. In general, you will probably be working with Google, Yahoo! and Bing search engines, but if you target different international markets, you might be dealing with Yandex, Baidu, and other SEs as well. 

Understanding how search engines work, what crawling and indexing mean, and how SEO’s practices must adapt to these algorithms.

• How Search Works – Google created this visual story that makes it really easy to understand how search, crawling and indexing work. It gives important cues on how Google extracts information from their index in order to provide you with results they think will be most relevant for the queries you enter.
• Inside Search – Check this out for more accurate and detailed information on how search works, what algorithms are and what they do, and how Google works to fight spam in order to give you only the most relevant, freshest results. The page also leads you to their Webmaster Guidelines, which provide essential information if your aim is a friendly relationship with Google’s algorithms. All in all, you should pay a lot of importance to Google’s support website and articles, since they lend crucial information.
• Search Help from Google – Learn about the different types of search, what SafeSearch is (tip: it was created by Matt Cutts), what location-specific search is, how to search by image (as opposed to keyword phrases), how to filter and refine your search, and basically use Google’s search function to its maximum potential.
• How Bing Search Works – Information from Bing’s official blog on how their search engine works. You can also check out the SEO guidelines for Bing from the official source, or this Princeton blog post explaining how Bing functions as compared to Google – nifty information indeed!
• How Yahoo Search Works – This article by SEOBook clarifies not only how Yahoo! search works, but how it does so as compared to other notable search engines. However, it does focus more on Yahoo functions in particular, offering great insights into the history of one of the oldest search engines in existence.
• Search Engines – In this piece by Links&Law, you get some pretty straightforward explanations on what search engines are, and are provided with excellent information on the history of search engines in general.
• Search Engine History – There is such a thing as a search engine freak. If you’re really curious about how search engines started, how many there were, what they were able to do, and how they evolved, this detailed article is manna from the skies.
• How Search Engines Work – Mike Grehan wrote a great theoretical paper called “New Signals to Search Engines” that detailed what I thought was the best (read “most honest”) history of the Internet. Since I first published this guide, links where the paper was available kept changing, so I duly updated them here. This year, it seems to have vanished, and I’ve replaced the link to one of his shorter articles on how search engines work. However, I want readers to still know about the paper, perhaps it’ll resurface some day, or you may be able to find it. I also recommend his blog, which is full of in-depth articles that are still useful today, although it hasn’t been updated since 2014.
• Google Data Center FAQ – In order to get a comprehensive understanding of how Google functions as a search engine, you need to learn about its multiple data centers. Google has data centers throughout the US, but some are located in Europe as well. These data centers house the servers which power the search engine – some deal with data storage, others with crawling, indexing, or Google ads. Their exact number is unknown, as Google is a bit secretive in order avoid informing competitors’ decisions. I highly recommend this article by Rich Miller, which gives you all the known facts + the existing theories on Google’s data centers.
• Google Crawling, Indexing & Ranking – This document from Google Webmaster Central answers the most common questions, and more, about how the search engine crawls, indexes and ranks pages and websites. If you’re keen on learning SEO, start from the bottom, by understanding how search engines work – particularly Google’s. With a solid basis of how Google search works, you’ll be perfectly prepared to tackle difficult SEO decisions. You might also want to check out this technical SEO guide to crawling, indexing and ranking written by Paddy Moogan, for a slightly different approach, and some extra info. While Google’s guide above may be more focused on informing webmasters in general, Paddy’s guide takes the SEO’s point-of-view.
• Google Algorithm Cheat Sheet: Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird – A big part of doing SEO is knowing Google’s algorithms, and understanding how they influence search and your site. It’s all explained very neatly, and in depth by Marie Haines in this article. She’ll take you through what an algorithm change is, what each of the algorithms does on its own and, more importantly, what to do in case you’re negatively affected by an algo update. As usual, it’s also worth skimming through the comments on Moz-published articles, since their community always raises good points, and the discussions often clarify tricky aspects of SEO and other digital-related matters.
• A Guide to Major Google Algorithms – This short guide by Michael Martinez also covers some of the Google algorithms that you need to know about, including more recent ones like RankBrain. And keep Martinez’ site, SEO Theory, bookmarked. It’s a good idea to visit it from time to time, he’s got an excellent understanding of SEO and has a very direct approach to the practice.
• The Complete Guide to Google Penalties (Both Manual and Algorithmic) – While we’re on the algo chapter, I thought I should add this great guide on major Google penalties that you need to avoid, complete with how to recover in case they hit your site. Neil Patel’s article will help you either find the solution to a penalty problem, or learn how to protect your site against penalties and work with the algorithms instead of fearing them.
• The Ultimate Google Algorithm Cheat Sheet – What makes many of Neil Patel’s articles and guides so great, and not just for beginner SEOs, is that they often take a step-by-step, how-to approach to subjects or SEO tactics that can otherwise be difficult to grasp or tackle. It’s pure, practical SEO knowledge in your hands, like this cheat sheet on Google algos that will confront you with even the smallest, but important effects of these algorithms.