Search Engine Database - How Search Engines Work

If you are confused about search engines, read this article designed to help you understand how search engines work.

Search Engine Database

by Mark Aaron Murnahan, CEO (blog)
YourNew.com / SnappyISP

The more we know, the more we realize the general public perception of the Internet and how search engines work and how search engine ranking works. This edition of Mail @ YourNew.com may be elementary to many (it was to us). After listening to the public, taking many Internet surveys, and realizing how little is understood about search engines, I decided to write this article for clarification.

What started this was a series of new clients who wondered why their Web site (pre-YourNew.com) never showed up in search engine results. After all, they put their meta tags in each page and had a few links from other sites. What completely amazed me was the number of people who have admitted to thinking that when they search for a keyword, that the search engine would actually trek out into the Internet abyss looking for sites with those keywords. Now, I am a teacher of the Internet, and I never like to make my pupils feel silly for asking, but folks, there is not a computer in the universe powerful enough to perform such a monumental search within the year, much less in the time it takes to serve your results. So let me explain what happens when you go to search Google (or whatever your favorite engine). When you type in your search keywords the search engine checks that keyword or keyword phrase against its database of millions of other Websites and it returns with search results that its algorithms say are the most relevant to your query.

Search Engines in a Nutshell

Just to recap: If your site is not in the search engine databases, you will not be found in search engines ... simple as that. If it is in the database, it is a start, but reaching the top takes skill and much practice. Just stick around and keep reading until you get it.

Search Engine Motivations

Just in case you never thought of it, lets look at what keeps search engines in business. If you were an executive at Yahoo!®, would you think it was cool to earn your 6 or 7 figure pay for providing a free search to every Website visitor? No, you would more likely think it was cool that you were able to charge companies for advertising to each of those visitors who are searching (and keep coming back for more searches). This is to say that a search engine provider has money at stake. When they serve out results to your search, it is very important that the results are relevant to what you were seeking. Otherwise, you would go to another search engine the next time, and thereby reduce the value of their advertising forum. If MSN had a billion visitors (or 50 ... the figure is irrelevant), they can sell ads for a lot of money, but if it climbs another hundred million, you can see the added value, right?

With search engine motivations in mind, why in the name of David Filo (a founder of Yahoo!®) would a search engine want to put your alarm company Website on the top of their list for security alarms if your site was improperly programmed, or worse, not about security systems? Further, if it was about security systems, but not specifically about "monitored home security", it would not serve the search engine well to announce your alarms to their Web traffic looking for the same.

Of course, there are different types of search engines and information index sites. However, regardless of their makeup, they have one commonality ... they have a vested interest in serving out relevant searches for the search string you entered. Even the bid rank search engines (where you "pay per click" for top listing) have an interest in making certain that when you search for Web hosting that you do not get wedding dresses.