how does google search engine work

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Google search engine is the most popular online platform, used daily by billions of people around the world. It is here that you can find anything, from information about a person or company to goods and services. Today, this search engine not only gives answers to literally all questions, but is also an important germany cell phone number list component of marketing. And to successfully promote a business, you need to know how Google works, in particular, its algorithms.



Let's start with the basics
Before we tell you how the Google search engine works, let's figure out what it is. The search engine itself consists of extensive databases and works according to a special algorithm. Search bots continuously, 24 hours a day, process huge amounts of information posted on billions of web pages. In the process of this large-scale analysis, they determine which sites are most relevant to your request, and which do not meet the specified criteria.

When Google appeared
The creators of the search engine are Stanford students Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

how google works

Initially, it was a scientific project, the main goal of which was to develop a universal digital library. The search robot began indexing the first pages in 1996, when the platform was hosted on a subdomain of the Stanford website. A year later, Google got a separate domain, which is now known to everyone. And a year later, the creators, having secured the support of sponsors, registered the company Google Inc.

Search engine history
The search engine was originally called Backrub, but was later renamed Google. The name echoes the mathematical term "googol" - a number equal to 10 to the power of 100. The name reflects the company's ambitious goal - to quickly organize and classify the colossal amounts of information on the Internet.

The Google search engine's operating principle is based on the PageRank algorithm. According to it, the rating of a web page is determined by the number of links to it from other sites. By the way, this is why the site's link mass used to play a key role in ranking. Today, the algorithms are different.

Beginning in 2000, the company introduced paid advertising. Ads were displayed in search results when certain keywords specified by advertisers were entered.

How Google Algorithms Work
There are often millions of web pages for a single search query. Ranking principles are used to structure this information and return the most relevant results.



Google search works on a multi-stage algorithm, which includes several interconnected stages:

Scanning the Internet space.
Indexing of discovered pages.
Displaying results.
At the final stage, not only the page's compliance with the search query is taken into account, but also the user's personal preferences. Let's take a closer look at how the Google search engine works.

Crawling
In simple terms, this process is called scanning. It is performed by a crawler (Google bot) - a program that studies publicly available pages and links, detects new or updated ones, and adds them to its database. The intervals between crawler visits vary. This process can last from several days to several weeks, and the bot determines the frequency of crawling autonomously.

google search principle

If necessary, site owners can initiate an unscheduled scan. In this case, it is possible to request a repeated crawl of both individual pages and the entire web resource. This may be required, for example, after a significant update of the site's content.

Indexing
This is the next stage after scanning, at which the collected data is systematized and entered into the database.

how does google search work

How does Google work? When indexing, it pays special attention to the following elements:

keywords on the page;
their location in the document structure;
meta tags containing additional information about the page;
link structure of the site.
All of these factors play an important role in determining the relevance of a page for various search queries.

Google Ranking Factors
During the indexing process, data is sorted by importance - this process is called ranking. As a result, some web resources appear in the first positions in the search results, while others are located much lower. As we have already said, Google's search principle is based on complex algorithms. To determine which sites are most relevant to a particular request, they take into account many factors. We will consider them in more detail below.

How Search Personalization Works
Search results are generated taking into account the individual characteristics of each user. That is why the results for the same query can differ significantly for different people. Google search personalization works based on three key factors: location, user behavior, and social connections.

Imagine you are searching for "best pizzeria". If you are in Kyiv, Google will most likely show you establishments in the capital of Ukraine. But a user from New York will see completely different results. This is due to geolocation, which the system determines by the IP address of your computer or via GPS on your mobile device.

Your search history and online behavior also play a role. Let's say you regularly visit beauty and style sites. In that case, when you search for "black paint," Google is more likely to favor cosmetics over home improvement supplies.

how does google search work

Social factors matter, too. If your friend shared a review of a new movie, that information may appear higher in your personal search results when you search for it. For example, when searching for reviews of a recent blockbuster, you may see your friend's post among the top results.

It is important to note that users have the ability to manage personalization options through Google search settings. And customize search results to their preferences, making interaction with the search engine more effective.

how does google search work

What influences ranking
So, now that we have figured out how the Google search engine works, let's find out what influences website rankings.

how does google search work

Backlinks
One of the key ranking factors is the presence of backlinks. However, it is important to understand that it is not the quantity but the quality of backlinks that plays a decisive role.

A quality backlink must meet several criteria. First, it must come from a resource with a similar topic. Imagine that you have a site where you can order groceries. It is logical that a link from a popular culinary blog will have much more weight than from a site about cars. Ideally, the backlink should be organically integrated into the thematic text with relevant keywords. Second, the donor site must have a good reputation in the eyes of search engines. In addition, it is important that the link is “live”, that is, without the “nofollow” attribute, which prohibits search engines from taking it into account.

Relevance and reliability
In addition to external factors, internal ones also influence the site's position. One of them is the relevance and reliability of the content. When a user enters a query, Google strives to provide the most accurate and complete answers. Therefore, algorithms analyze not only the presence of keywords, but also the behavior of other users - how satisfied they are with the information found.

Freshness
Please note that the factor of "freshness" of information works differently for different types of queries. If we are talking about news, then the top positions in the search results will be occupied by the most recent materials. However, for general questions, the system can also put "old" resources in the first positions, but only if they contain useful and relevant information.

Loading speed
Google pays special attention to this aspect, conducting a separate assessment for both the desktop and mobile versions of the site. Today, users expect instant access to information, and slow loading is one of the most common reasons for a high bounce rate.

To evaluate the loading speed of your site, you can use special tools. Google PageSpeed ​​Insights is a free service from the search giant itself, which not only measures speed, but also provides specific recommendations for optimization. Alternative options, such as Pingdom Tools or Gtmetrix, offer a more detailed analysis, including an assessment of the loading time of individual page elements.

Device adaptation
Text should remain readable, images should be clear, and navigation should be convenient regardless of screen size. It is especially important that key site elements, such as calls to action or contact information, always remain in the user’s field of view.

In addition to the above factors, ranking is also affected by the logic of the internal structure of the site. It is responsible for how search robots understand and index the content. In addition, the age of the domain is taken into account: older resources are often more trusted by search engines. Behavioral factors such as time spent on the site, number of pages viewed, and bounce rate also play an important role.

Personalizing search results
Google search works in such a way that it analyzes not only the content of websites, but also the behavior of users on the network, their location and even their purchase history. Due to this, the system provides the most relevant results for each specific user.

Location plays a key role in personalization. For example, when searching for a restaurant or store, Google automatically takes your location into account, even if you don’t specify it in your search. This is especially useful for local businesses, as it allows you to be more visible to potential customers in a certain area.