How Do Search Engines Work - Web Crawlers

It is the search engines that finally bring your website to the notice of the prospective customers. Hence it is better to know how these search engines actually work and how they present information to the customer initiating a search.   

There are basically two types of search engines. The first is by robots called crawlers or spiders.

Search Engines use spiders to index websites. When you submit your website pages to a search engine by completing their required submission page, the search engine spider will index your entire site. A ‘spider’ is an automated program that is run by the search engine system. Spider visits a web site, read the content on the actual site, the site's Meta tags and also follow the links that the site connects. The spider then returns all that information back to a central depository, where the data is indexed. It will visit each link you have on your website and index those sites as well. Some spiders will only index a certain number of pages on your site, so don’t create a site with 500 pages!

The spider will periodically return to the sites to check for any information that has changed. The frequency with which this happens is determined by the moderators of the search engine.

A spider is almost like a book where it contains the table of contents, the actual content and the links and references for all the websites it finds during its search, and it may index up to a million pages a day.

Example:  Excite, Lycos, AltaVista and Google.

When you ask a search engine to locate information, it is actually searching through the index which it has created and not actually searching the Web. Different search engines produce different rankings because not every search engine uses the same algorithm to search through the indices.

One of the things that a search engine algorithm scans for is the frequency and location of keywords on a web page, but it can also detect artificial keyword stuffing or spamdexing. Then the algorithms analyze the way that pages link to other pages in the Web. By checking how pages link to each other, an engine can both determine what a page is about, if the keywords of the linked pages are similar to the keywords on the original page.

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Are You Interested In Increasing Your Google Pagerank

You should be. If you have never heard of Google PageRank and you have established a website, it is high time you learned about Google PageRank and what it means to you and the success of your website. Having an excellent Google PageRank can either make or break a website in terms of overall success. Let’s take a look at what Google PageRank is and why it is so important to every website owner.

First, a word about the Google Search engine: Google is one of the most popular search engines on the Internet. Not only is Google’s search engine the absolute largest of its kind, the company focuses on making web information easy to access and even easier to find. Google has designed a unique system and the search engine has yet to be surpassed in terms of the information it provides. Google has grown immensely since its early beginning in 1996 and it will continue to be a predominant force on the Internet. Furthermore, because Google offers easy access to immediate information, they own one of the top Internet search engines in the world. Thus, it would serve a webmaster well to become familiar with the Google PageRank process-the Google PageRank is an algorithm that is based on inbound links and other factors and will ultimately determine the location of listing of your website in the Google Search Engine.

What precisely is Google PageRank?

Google PageRank is a process the search engine’s uses as a way of selecting sites to answer specific queries. Basically, when an Internet user submits a query, the Google search engine will attempt to match websites to the query that has been posed. Yet, there is a bit more to this simple science than the act of submitting a query suggests. Rather, behind the scenes, Google uses specific algorithms to determine if a site specifically address a web user’s needs by analyzing the content of a site by keyword and by the number of inbound links associated with the site-every inbound link is viewed as a vote and the more votes one has, in conjunction with the more keywords one has, the higher their Google PageRank is.

Why is Your Google PageRank Significant?

What does it mean to you when your Google PageRank is increased? Does it really matter what your Google PageRank is at all? You bet it does-the higher your Google PageRank is the higher on a search engine’s listing your website will appear. Thus, if you are looking for top billing, especially in a search engine as popular as the one Google offers, you will definitely want to maximize your efforts of getting your website visible and improving your PageRank is the best way to accomplish such a task. Moreover, the higher you appear on the search engine listing offered by Google, or many other search engines, the easier your website is to find. Essentially this equates to more web traffic for your website and if you are running an online business, more web traffic ultimately means more profit for you.

Making Google PageRank Improvements

If you are looking to improve your Google PageRank you can do so by starting a link campaign. A link campaign can help you increase more inbound links to your website and in turn, more inbound links will increase your Google PageRank. How do you start a link campaign? Well, you can go the hard route by scouring the Internet to find websites similar to your own. Or, you can make your link campaign a far easier process by using the services afforded to you by PageRank Browser and locate all of the best, themed websites on the Internet with relative ease.

Of course, there are few things you must bear in mind when you begin your link campaign. Google actually rates various links and holds some links higher than others. In other words, if you link to 100 less than popular sites you may increase your Google PageRank. Conversely, if you link to 50 extremely popular sites and you get inbound links in return, you may significantly increase your Google PageRank because the most popular sites on the Internet are linking directly too you. Thus, when you begin your link campaign, keep this popularity issue in the back of your mind. Further, know that in using PageRank Browser, you will be able to locate the popular sites with ease, and thereby significantly increase your Google PageRank.

About Inbound Links

Quite frankly, some links that you will establish will be better than others. You goal will be to establish the best links possible by examining the quality of inbound links. Various webmaster tools can help you determine the quality of the reciprocal links you establish. You will want to work hard at establishing direct inbound links to your site-direct links from already popular websites. You will also need to establish links to websites that are similar to yours-remember the search engine algorithm used by Google to determine your page rank is based on relevance. You will also find that the location of inbound links is of significant importance. For example, when you establish inbound links, those links that are buried deep within a website will have less influence on the ranking of your website in Google’s search engine.

What is clear is that your Google PageRank is of significant importance. Thus, every effort should be used to improve your Google PageRank-with the use of webmaster tools and the use of sites like PageRank Browser you should have little difficulty getting your PageRank right where it should be. Therefore, you will not only improve your PageRank you will improve the web traffic you receive by leaps and bounds. Moreover, your improved PageRank will make you a force on the Internet to be reckoned with-you will have a highly recognizable website for all your efforts and you will ultimately improve your online business’ bottom line.

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How Search Engine Marketing Differs From Search Engine Optimization

Search engine marketing is a type of marketing methods used to expand the perceivability of a site in web index outcomes pages. Types of search engine marketing include; site improvement, pay per click or PPC, paid incorporation, and social media optimization. Search engine marketing varies from search engine optimization which is the art and science and exploration of making web pages magnetic to search engines web indexing.

NGO’s or Non-profit organizations, universities, political parties, and the government can all benefit from search engine marketing. Organizations that offer items or administrations online can utilize search engine marketing to help enhance their deals and sales figures online.

Some of the objectives of search engine marketing are to create a brand, produce media scope, and improving notoriety, and to drive business to a physical area in terms of location.

In the event that you don't feel certain enough to attempt your own search engine marketing there are a few organizations that will have the ability to bail you out at a cost. In the event that you choose to run with a search engine marketing organization take as much time as required and shop around, discover an organization that truly suits your own particular organizations search engine marketing necessities.

Stay far from organizations that guarantee top rankings. Most organizations that guarantee tope positioning are more intrigued by your cash than they are in keeping your business. Regularly this kind of organization will charge you so high in dollar, use a couple of days determining your site has a couple of fundamental prerequisites and that is the last you get notification from them. This kind of search engine marketing organization is not by any means intrigued by rehash clients.

Tread very carefully with organizations that guarantee first page rankings on the major search engines like Google and Yahoo. Verify that these organizations are discussing sponsored listing and not simply regular listing. Organizations that are just after regular or natural listing generally charge an expansive month to month expense, utilizing a little partition of the cash on sponsored listing, and pocketing the leftover.

The false guarantee most ordinarily utilized by shady search engine marketing organizations is the cash back assurance. For the most part in the event that you read the agreement precisely you will incline that these organizations have an extremely odd idea of major search engine. Organizations that have a cash back certification or guaranty normally don't major on search engine movers and shakers like Google and Yahoo, rather they utilize little unrecognized search engines that are barely ever utilized.

The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) was founded in 2003 to offer general society instructive assets about search engine marketing and to additionally advertise search engine marketing. At present SEMPO represents over 500 worldwide Search Engine Marketing organizations. Sempo is glad to offer their assets to people in general free of charge. SEMPO has offers search engine marketing training courses for all interested individuals who might want to enhance their knowledge of Search Engine Marketing. SEMPO's targets are to educate search engine marketing procedures, systems, and great practices, to build the accessibility and quality of its experts, and to offer instructional classes that will help to secure a benchmark for search engine marketing. The expense of a SEMPO instructional class can be between five hundred dollars for a basics of search engine marketing class, to well over two thousand dollars for a propelled advanced search marketing course.

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Why A Transition From Optimizing for Search Engines to Optimizing for Customers is Essential

Judging by the daily new business inquiries we get every day, there’s a groundswell of companies that have become frustrated at the lack of cause and effect data from their SEO programs.

Sure, there are workarounds for things like “not provided” keywords, but the lack of information and uncertainty about what Google will take away next is causing many marketers to diversify into other owned, earned and organic areas: social media, content marketing, online public relations, and certainly into online advertising.

At the same time, as SEO practitioners have matured as marketers, the shift from keywords as the driver for content optimization and creation have been displaced by a focus on answering customer questions along the sales cycle.

Ironically, this emphasis on solving for the customer and architecting content according to satisfying customer information is in alignment with Google’s Hummingbird update – i.e. the move away from “keyword SEO” to creating useful, customer-centric content that answers their questions is actually good for SEO.

But so many marketers have relied upon and benefitted from traditional SEO tactics and reporting, that they have a hard time letting go. Their internal marketing performance reporting is often keyword driven and a ridiculous number of companies cannot answer the question: “What is the profile of the target customer you are optimizing for?”. What does the sales cycle look like? What topics are important during the customer journey?

Think about that.

There are numerous companies that have top tier writers creating keyword optimized content with no clear identification of who the content is for, or what the specific intended outcome is. Or where one content object fits with other content and how they are connected to the customer experience.

What legacy SEO focused marketers often care about is rankings, organic referred traffic, and page views with trend lines that go up and to the right. There’s not a lot of focus on customer experience, customer journey or differentiation amongst segments.

Even if marketers were convinced that keyword lists and ranking reports are no longer the primary way (yet still useful in some ways) to manage a website marketing program, they aren’t set up to move to something else other than various online advertising options.

I’m sure more than a few brand marketers reading this can relate to situations where management wants tactics to affect certain big picture measurables like “rankings and traffic” that are not necessarily tied to other important metrics like increased orders, sales, revenue, customers added, sales cycle duration, and cost of marketing/sale. It’s the old KPIs vs. business outcomes thing.

So how can you move from that all-SEO program and mindset to a customer focused online marketing program?  How can you put SEO in it’s place within the marketing mix without discrediting yourself and past advice? What’s the go forward and how can you continue to provide value with roots in SEO but with an emphasis on customer targeting across the sales cycle?

Fundamentally, it comes down to cracking the nut that is your target customer and how solving information problems for them in a way that leads to achieving business goals – leads, revenue, profitability, referrals, lower marketing costs, retention and advocacy. Optimize covers this in depth. That’s not a book pitch, it’s the truth.

Every week I know that companies are contacting their SEOs and saying, “Hey, we love the work you’re doing, but we’re shifting our focus. What else can you do for us?” When that happens, you’re up to bat, what are you going to do?

Are you going to start rambling on about algorithm changes? Or maybe say that social media is the new SEO? Better yet, talk about how content marketing is the new SEO!

Content Marketing is NOT the “new SEO”

My challenge to companies still focused on keyword vs. customer driven online marketing is to take a step back and maintain perspective on where SEO fits in the marketing mix. Content is the reason search engines were created, so broaden your perspective and think about answering the why, for who and what outcomes are expected with content. Understand who the target audience is and why they buy. See the relevant topics and stories you could tell in your content and let that drive creation, optimization, amplification and engagement.

Some marketers will say, “We don’t have people who know how to do that.”. 

The good news is that agencies like ours that integrate multiple marketing disciplines have been helping companies with these discussions and transitions for years. You may not know this, but our company roots are an integration of public relations, direct marketing and SEO – since 2001. That long standing “SEO plus” approach has helped keep SEO in perspective.  After all, SEO is just marketing.

The last thing you need, is to pay a SEO consultant for advice only to later find out the effect of that advice (quantity, not quality content, overly aggressive links) is now working against you. Next you’ll be asked to pay to undo what you paid to have implemented in the first place. Whether that comes as a result of SEO hucksterism or brand greed, it’s expensive and potentially deadly. And it’s completely avoidable.

Not all SEO consultants put their clients at risk like this. Not by a long shot.

The reason to transition from keywords to customer optimization isn’t just to avoid risky SEO tactics. The drive to make the transition should be a clear picture of how your company can better serve your customers.

Start speaking customer and focus on content that helps your brand become  the best answer for customers, where ever they may be: search, social, email, publications, mobile.

More important than getting into the weeds of how to make the transition is acknowledging that the change needs to be made. Then having the confidence that what you evolve to is something that actually works – for customers, for your business and especially for you in your role as an agency or a brand marketer.

Has your company made a transition from old school SEO tactics to a more customer focused, integrated marketing approach? Do you ever feel stuck with SEO focused reporting and want something more strategic?

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