How Search Engines Work

The vast majority of search engines use a combination of "spiders" "crawlers" or "bots" to examine the content of sites throughout the web. The results are stored and indexed by the search engines in vast databases that can subsequently be interrogated when a search query occurs. The problem is that queries are rarely precise and even minor variations such as inclusion in "quotes" will make a significant difference to the number of results and in what order they occur. Since visitors are human (mostly) and therefore inconsistent, it becomes an essential task of SEO to build keywords and phases into a web page that covers all relevant contingencies.

This might even include variations for commonly misspelled words, so that the desired result occurs even if the query is literally incorrect. Another vital element of SEO relates to the site navigation, meaning how information within it is accessed. The spiders can only crawl where the site allows them to do so and if essential information is "hidden" behind drop-down menus, logins and other bits on non-transparent code, then the spiders will not find them and they will not be indexed in the database. Of course, even if your navigation and keyword construction is near perfect, it does not guarantee top ranking, because ultimately, competition affects the outcome. If yours is a crowded market segment, the number of competitors and their ability to outspend you for paid rankings our outsmart you in SEO will have a considerable effect.

Related SEO Tips

How often do Search Engines Crawl?
Search engines constantly crawl the web. depend on how often you update the content.

Giving search engines something to read
Your website must be readable by search engine. Can the search engine read your website?

Accessible to search engines & human
Your site must be easily accessible to search engines and human visitors.