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Search Engines and Their Secrets
- What is a search engine?
- A search engine is a tool that indexes thousands of
web sites based on certain criteria, such as titles, content,
and keywords, and then allows users to search for pages that
match their needs.
- How does a site owner get their site listed with
a search engine?
- Most search engines offer submission forms that can
be filled out on line. These forms vary greatly in the amount
of information that they ask for. Some simply want the title
and URL (address). Others ask for a listing of keywords and
a short description that they will then use in their database.
- How do search engines stay up to date?
- Some search engines rely upon site owners to keep them
up to date with any changes; others use a spider, or a robot,
to search the net continuously for changes. A spider is a program
that runs constantly, following links from one page to another,
reading web pages, compiling information about them, and sending
it back to the search engine for use in the database.
- What do spiders and robots look for when viewing
a web page?
- Spiders vary greatly, depending upon their programming,
but in general, they all search for any one or more of the following
items:
- Titles
- The title of the web page can have an effect on the
placement of the page on search returns. Engines that rank
based on title will place the search returns in alphanumeric
order. This means a title beginning with the number "1"
will rank higher than one beginning with the letter "A",
and so on.
- Meta Tags
- Meta tags are imbedded HTML code that is not visible
to the viewer of your web site, however, they are read by
many spiders and robots. These meta tags can contain the
title, keywords, and a short description. Spiders that read
meta tags will often disregard the actual contents of the
web site in preference for the contents of the meta tags.
- Site content
- Some spiders will review the actual contents of the
web page, looking for frequently used key words that can
be used to categorize the site. They will also pick up the
first several paragraphs of the web page to be used as the
description on search results.
- What is ranking and why does it matter?
- Ranking is the way the search engine lists matches found
during a search. Those sites that have a high ranking will be
listed first. Since a single search can return hundreds of results,
usually ten to a page, surfers are most likely to visit the
first twenty sites listed, therefore, it is important to do
all you can, within reason, to increase your ranking.
- What are the most popular search engines?
- There are hundreds of search engines now, many of them
limited to specific interest groups, such as health or education.
The top five are:
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