Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft are the leading search engines
in global online marketing. Though it's a prevailing notion that Google is the
first among these search engines, such issue has no place in this discussion as
what will be tackled here is how the said internet tools index various sites in
order for the latter to gain good rankings, notable traffic, and remarkable
sales.
The search results generated by these internet tools are aided
by web crawlers also known as spiders. These software agents process data from
the countless sites in the web. They create copies of visited web pages
for eventual processing by search engines. This process is called "indexing"
wherein pages are downloaded for fast search results.
Initial
stages of indexing include the listing of URLs which the spider subsequently crawls
on or visits. This list is termed as
"seeds". As the spider crawls on these URLs, it identifies the hyperlinks and
stores them in the list of URLs to be visited known as "the crawl frontier". Hyperlinks
and URLs saved in the frontier are recursively visited based on a set of
policies adopted by search engines.
The
search process is guided by algorithms. It is a sequence of instructions that
guides calculation and data processing. Algorithms in search engines are
changed from time to time because when webmasters uncover the sequence in
algorithms, it enables them to manipulate search results at the prejudice of
others. With the constant alteration of algorithms, unscrupulous webmasters are
hampered from doing illegal manipulation in SERPs, and relevant search results
are insured.
Generally,
indexing of web sites and pages are automatic. The spider randomly navigates
within the web and visits all sorts of web sites. However, there are search
engines that have paid submission service such as Yahoo!. Such service
guarantees inclusion in the database but does not guarantee particular rankings
in search engine result pages. In fact, Yahoo!'s paid submission service draws
plenty of criticisms from advertising companies and competitors. Hence, it is still advisable to optimize a
site to make it to the rankings rather than employing paid submission services
because the results of the latter is short term in nature and is not practical
in terms of cost-effectiveness.
Indexing,
spiders, and algorithms, among others- these are the basics in processing a
site and its pages for search engine visibility. It is essential to point out though
that search engine crawlers may look at so many different factors, not affected
by those mentioned above, when crawling on a site. Not all pages are indexed by
search engines. Distance of pages from the site's root directory can also be a
factor as to whether or not the pages get crawled and evaluated. Therefore, to
rank high in leading search engines, the best option is still to make a winning
website that is optimized with acceptable SEO techniques, designed with
interactive features, and written with information-rich content.
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