How Do Search Engines Work in 2024 What You Need To Know
How Do Search Engines Work in 2024 What You Need To Know
com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/)
(https://linksthatrank.com/
Because you need to know how the
system works in order to try and leverage it!
I’m going to take you through how search engines work step by step.
Let’s start with the search engine essentials to lay the foundation for
(https://load.searchlogistics.com
a successful SEO (https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/)
(https://load.searchlogistics.com
/c/v8umgn5uvga6ajgalgx4/career.
/c/v8umgn5uvga6ajgalgx4/
(https://load.searchlogistics.com/c/ta7mckv55iop9qygeh24/)
As you can see Google dominates the search engine world. But how
does the search engine we all know and love function?
When you enter a search query in the search engine, you might
assume that Google hunts through the entire world wide web in that
moment.
What’s really happening is that the search engine web crawler has
compiled a huge database of pages and you are searching that
database, NOT the entire world wide web.
using Google.
But how do they �nd websites, get access and recover that
information? Well, it’s not actually as complex as you might think…
All websites are part of a network called the World Wide Web
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web) which is basically
like a huge spider web spread all over the world.
The only difference is the world wide web is held together by links
(also known as hyperlinks or backlinks
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/glossary/backlinks/)).
And search engine crawlers (or spiders) use these links to travel
around the web and discover new content!
Once web crawlers �nd a new page, they start reading all of the
content and code of the page.
Crawlers know that sites where you can buy guns and drugs
shouldn’t be added to their database.
But once a web crawler has decided that a page should be added to
the database, it’s time for a site to enter the second stage of the
process – .
(It’s a little more complex than that, but tagging works for now).
✓ Crime
✓ Fantasy
✓ Reference
✓ Biographies
You might go along to Google and enter the search query “French
verb list”.
The search engine will search its database for the pages that match
that search term:
These factors vary depending on the search engine you’re using for
example Amazon (https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/statistics
/amazon-prime-statistics/)’s ranking factors are very different to
Google’s (more on that later).
You can get your web page indexed quicker by submitting your XML
sitemap to Google Search Console.
With Google, the simplest way I can explain it is through the concept
of voting. In its very basic essence, the more “votes” a website has –
the higher it ranks.
And you’ll �nd is that lots of web pages show up. But there is one at
the top.
That means of all the pages that relate to that topic, my site has the
“most votes”
And for the most part it’s these votes/backlinks that are driving the
number #1 position in the search engine rankings.
It’s not quite as simple as that because not all “votes/backlinks” are
created equal. The bigger the site and the more well known it is, the
more weight their “vote” carries.
If you were to get a link from a big media outlet like The New York
If you were to get a link from a big media outlet like The New York
Times or The Guardian, it would carry signi�cantly more weight than
a link for a brand new unestablished blog.
I’ll show you how all of these pieces together later. But for now:
Remember that in general the more “votes” a page has, the better
and that not all “votes” are created equal.
(https://linksthatrank.com/backlink-blacklist/)
They will crawl and index web pages to use in their search results.
Because there are also other types of search engines you should be
aware of like-
YouTube Alibaba
Amazon Etsy
eBay Quora
These sites all work as search engines within themselves but each of
these sites has millions of visitors we could tap into.
And Amazon does that by making sure the products you are most
likely to buy, show up at the top of its search results.
They use many different factors to �gure that out such as-
You can �gure out how other search engines work as well just by
observing results and applying intelligent thought.
(https://load.searchlogistics.com/c/pphg4phtjjjzicmlhbzo/)
All search engines have a target goal with the information they
provide. They all want to meet the needs of their audience.
Because once you know that, all you have to do is optimise for that!
(If you want to dive deeper into SEO, I recommend you check out my
(https://linksthatrank.com/)
…let’s get our hands dirty by taking a deep dive into Google ranking
factors (https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/google-ranking-
factors/).
(https://load.searchlogistics.com/c/ta7mckv55iop9qygeh24/)
← Previous Next →
SEO Case Studies Increase Your Search Traf�c
OR
(https://www.searchlogistics (https://www.searchlogistics
.com/case-studies/) .com/challenge/)
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn
/seo/magento-seo-extensions/)
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn
/seo/shopify-seo-tools/)
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn
/seo/shopify-seo/)
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn
/seo/guaranteed-google-rankings/)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-255423)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-246744)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-248296)
Thanks!
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-238564)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-70754)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-70835)
Thank you!
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-41540)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-41651)
You’re welcome!
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-39855)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-41644)
Thanks!
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-2253)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
FEATURED IN: work/#comment-21071)
Cheers!
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-2261)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-21107)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-3144)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-21960)
No problem!
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-3818)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-22657)
Cheers!
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-4321)
now thats a blog post! thanks Matt , been following for years!
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-23058)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-4614)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-23274)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-5112)
here.
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-23671)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-5131)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-23692)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-5396)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-23913)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-5996)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-24387)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-work/#comment-6475)
says:
(https://www.searchlogistics.com/learn/seo/how-search-engines-
work/#comment-24792)
Comment *
Name * Email *
(https://www.searchlogistics.com)
(https://www.youtube.com
(https://www.facebook.com
(https://twitter.com
(https://www.linkedin.com
/@SearchLogisticsHQ)
/SearchLogisticsHQ)
/mattwoodwarduk)
/in/matthewwoodwarduk/)
Link Building via Links ThatRank Learn SEO About Search Logistics
(https://linksthatrank.com/) (https://www.searchlogistics.com (https://www.searchlogistics.com +44 1892 800605
/learn/) /about/) (tel:441892800605)
Get Our Book on Amazon
(https://geni.us/28dayseochallenge) The 28 Day SEO Challenge About Matthew Woodward +1 506 306 2088
(https://www.searchlogistics.com (https://www.searchlogistics.com/about (tel:15063062088)
Fully Managed SEO Service
/challenge/) /matthew-woodward/)
(https://www.searchlogistics.com
✉
/services/full-service-seo/) The SEO Checklist SEO Case Studies Contact us (/contact/)
(https://load.searchlogistics.com (https://www.searchlogistics.com/case-
E-Commerce SEO Services
/c/zjimisafuiypwwej1oea/) studies/)
(https://www.searchlogistics.com
/services/e-commerce-seo/) SEO Strategy Builder SEO Glossary
(https://load.searchlogistics.com (https://www.searchlogistics.com
Technical SEO Audit Service
/c/ribukwaf59hmnqlnloc1/) /glossary/)
(https://www.searchlogistics.com
/services/technical-seo-audit/) Backlink Blacklist Testimonials
(https://linksthatrank.com/backlink- (https://www.searchlogistics.com
Google Penalty Recovery