Introduction

Understanding Google’s algorithm is critical for any business that wants to succeed online. While there isn’t a single, simple answer for what makes a web page rank well on Google, their ranking system is fairly logical—it rewards high-quality content that users find valuable. And it punishes spammy, low-quality content. So how does Google know if your content falls into either category? Here are four of their most important ranking factors you need to keep in mind as you write your next website.

The ingredients of search engine algorithms

The key parts of a search engine algorithm are user signals (or eyeballs), links, rankings, and content. If you’re an SEO consultant looking for your next gig, look no further than these four elements. RankBrain is Google’s latest innovation, but there are countless ranking factors that determine how you get ranked. By understanding how each part of Google works, you can find ways to improve each aspect of your site, giving you more control over your own traffic levels. This guide will help you understand what exactly makes up Google’s ranking system. From its earliest days as PageRank to its most recent incarnation as RankBrain, we’ll show you everything you need to know about improving your search results on one of the world’s largest websites.

As we’ve seen in previous chapters, Google doesn’t just focus on keywords anymore—it has many other metrics it uses when determining where sites should rank in its SERPs.

A brief history of search engines

While a search engine is not actually a computer program, there are people called search engine engineers (no kidding) who work hard at making them smarter. The earliest of these dates back to 1991, when a web page for Carnegie Mellon University was made available for searching via FTP or WAIS. Yahoo! launched in 1994 with directory-only listings that were supposedly hand-coded by human beings. At that time, Google didn’t exist yet, but two grad students working on their PhDs had created what would become Overture Services, now known as Yahoo! Search Marketing; they figured out how to get paid per click advertising linked through their listings. When Google launched in 1998 it was simple – just plain text entries – but with an advanced mathematical ranking system behind it.

A step-by-step guide on how search engines work

In order for search engines like Google to maintain relevancy with their users, they need to constantly change and improve their search algorithms. This means that understanding how these algorithms work will give you an edge in ranking higher on Google’s results page. There are a number of different variables that can help determine your ranking on Google’s first page, but by sticking to best practices, you can learn how to optimize your site for better rankings. Here are a few tips that will help boost your Google rankings. Here is a list of common questions about Google’s algorithm:

What is RankBrain? Is it important? Will it affect my website traffic? Should I be worried about it? Is RankBrain really AI or just something else? Does RankBrain make all other signals obsolete, including link building? If so, should I stop focusing on links now or continue as before?

Crawling

Google crawls billions of pages across hundreds of millions of domains every single day. Every time a search engine visitor clicks on your website, it will be downloaded and added to Google’s index, or database, which is constantly in flux.

There are also other factors that can cause your page to be updated more frequently or less frequently; a change in ranking can also have an effect on how often Google visits your site. This could happen for various reasons—for example, if you add new content or a new product that has yet to be indexed by Google.

Indexing Section

Google has become one of, if not the, most important site for online businesses. And yet, many small businesses still have a hard time optimizing their sites for Google and seeing a boost in traffic from search engines. Part of that is because search engine optimization (SEO) is complex; there are so many different strategies you can use that it’s hard to know where to start. The other issue is that some of those strategies aren’t necessarily what will drive traffic, but instead focus on long-term growth or research factors like keyword trends. Both are important factors, but how do you know when your efforts are actually effective? That’s where how Google works comes in. By understanding how Google indexes websites, you can better understand which SEO tactics will be most effective. Here’s an overview of just what goes into that process.

Serving Results Section

Showing up in Google search results can have a dramatic impact on your traffic levels, which is why you need to pay close attention when constructing your URLs. In other words, it’s essential that you make every effort to get your site as high up in Google rankings as possible. Even if all you’re looking for is a little extra traffic from organic sources, optimizing your page titles and meta descriptions is worth doing. Although there are many different factors that go into determining how high up a site appears in SERPs (and I’ll go over those below), one of the most important ranking factors is URL structure.

Understanding Analytics

You need a solid foundation in how Google Analytics works before you start worrying about your website’s search ranking. Simply put, you can’t optimize what you don’t measure. To do so, read up on your analytics data so that you know what changes to make and where they should take place. If you’re having trouble understanding what certain reports mean or why things are happening, seek out help from an expert. The best place to find such a person is through online forums—many marketers who work with Google Analytics share their knowledge freely online.

How Search algorithms work

If you want your site to be indexed by search engines, there are a few things you need to do. First of all, your site must have a unique domain name that is not too similar to other pages in the index (and please don’t try sneak your way into our index using keyword-rich anchor text — we’re wise to that trick). In addition, make sure there are plenty of links coming into your page from other sites (but don’t go overboard — see Tips for effective link building below).

 More on Rankbrain here. Google actually has dozens of ranking factors, so it’s important you focus on creating an exceptional user experience for Google’s searchers. Here’s what that looks like

 1) Write useful, engaging content.

2) Build quality backlinks to your website or webpages.

3) Focus on improving your click-through rate and conversion rate.

4) Optimize for mobile devices.