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Some Search Engine Basics
What are Search Engines? A search engine is really three different applications that work together to find and retrieve information. The applications are:
Search Engines put all the resources of the Web within reach of the more than 150 million internet users. The fundamental purpose of search engines is to index Websites in a way that allows people to use keywords to find Web pages that interest them. In general, there are three different types of search engines: 1. Internet-wide: Most of the big search services that let you search not only the Web but also Usenet newsgroups and more. 2. Multiple-search: Sites set up to let you search several search service's databases all at once. 3. Specialized: Services that focus on a particular part of the online world, such as newsgroups, individual web pages, companies and more.
How do Search Engines Operate? Search engines can't find your web pages without a little help, which is why you need to register your site. If you don't, search engines may eventually track down your site through a link to one of your pages from someone else's site or in their ongoing meanderings through cyberspace. After a search engine finds your site, it uses links within your pages to find additional pages. It crawls through your website one link at a time and adds the information into its database. Search Engines don't store all the data in your pages. Instead, they create indexed references to your pages that generally contain the following information:
Most search engines create indexed references to your Web pages, although almost every search engine gathers this information from different areas of your web page. Whereas one search engine might gather the summary description from the first hundred characters on your home page, another search engine might look for common words or phrases in the page to use in the summary description. Still another might concentrate on major headlines. The various search engines use the summary information they gather in different ways as well. Some make all the information available to user queries. Other search engines store all the information categories, yet user queries are performed only against specific categories of data, such as the page title and keyword list. This information gathering process is not a one-time deal. After search engine robots or spiders initially index your site, it is usually scheduled for re-indexing at periodic intervals. This re-indexing process enables search services keep abreast of the ever-changing face of the Internet. Search Engine Watch is a great place to go for tips on how search engines and indexes work, and how to get listed on them.
Free Advertising - With a Catch! Just imagine...
There is no question but that search engines can be a valuable marketing tool when used properly. It's well worth your time and effort to ensure that your Web Site achieves a high ranking in the search engines because it becomes a great form of FREE advertising! In fact, search engines are one of the few ways that you can advertise online for free AND generate large volumes of traffic. The problem is - getting the high ranking that will do you any good is far easier said than done. It's a proven fact that most searchers rarely look past the top ten or twenty listings, so just getting listed isn't going to do you much good. If you're targeting a small niche market, competition may not be a big problem. With a modest amount of effort you may be able to get your site listed in the top ten or twenty positions, generally because there aren't 50,000 other marketers to compete with. But what if your market is a little bigger? It's a classic Catch-22 really. As the number of web surfers searching for a particular keyword or keyword phrase increases, so does the competition for their attention. Which brings us to...
The Importance Of Keywords & Keyword Phrases While there are no "secrets" to high search engine rankings, there are a few simple steps you can take while designing your Web pages to encourage relatively favorable rankings - and it all starts with keywords. Keywords are words that can be used to describe the contents or theme of your web site, and your understanding and proper use of keywords in your web pages is largely responsible for the way in which the major search engines will rank your pages. After all, that's basically how a search engine works - a user enters a keyword or keyword phrase to describe what they are looking for, and the search engine displays a bunch of web pages which are supposedly related to that keyword or phrase. This means that the first step in optimizing your web pages for the search engines is to compile a list of keywords or keyword phrases that your potential prospects will be most likely to use when searching. This is not a task to be taken lightly either - you'll want to spend some time brainstorming various words and combinations of words. Our next tutorial will give you some guidance in "Building Your All-Important Keyword List."
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