As recently as Fifteen years ago if we were to research a subject we would go to the local library. We would then spend hours going through the shelves seeking information on the subject we were researching, scanning book after book, photocopying some of the relevant pages that had the information we were seeking or we would alternative spend hours going through microfilm records seeking even more information on our subject. At the end of this we would often check out a pile of books to take home for doing even more research. This of course all changed with the arrival of the internet. Now when we need to learn something all we have to do is sit down at the computer and away we go searching for content on our subject.
With browsing on the Internet, most people build up an extensive list of favourite websites, they like to visit, on there computers. It then becomes a simple matter, to boot up the computer, log onto the Internet and then click on the link to the favourite site they want to visit. This feature is very handy for such things as online shopping or forums that cover a favourite hobby etc: When you need to use the internet to find information on a subject that you are researching then you would use a search engine to bring together all the information you would need.
Search engine's were designed to be very effective at locating and retrieving information. Most people are familiar with the large Search Engines, Google, Yahoo, and MSN. These search engines work when a user types a keyword into the search box. Once the user types in the word the search engine will scan all its files and then provide the user with a page or pages of results based on the search term that was entered. As a user you would then scan the results, opening those that you feel are best suited to what you are searching for. The search engines themselves use something called "search engine optimization" to actually determine the order (ranking) that the results (web address) show in on the results pages.
Search engine optimization is the art and science of making web pages attractive to the search engines. In it's simpliest understanding, the more a website appeals to the search engine the higher that particular website will be ranked in the searxh engine results.
Google, Yahoo and MSN are what is called "Crawler based search engines" and they use guidelines known as Algorithms to determine the relevancy of a website. Following the guidelines one of the first things a crawler based search engine looks for is "keywords". In theory the more often a website uses a certain keyword, the more relevant the website is and then the higher the website will rank with the search engine.
Equally important as frequency, is the location of keywords on a website. The first place a search engines crawler will look for keywords is in the title of the website. Those that design websites should have the keyword in the HTML title Tag as well as near the top of the page. Although opinion varies, I also find it best to include a contents Tag along with the description Tag, where keywords will also feature. Search Engines also operate under the assumption that a website designer will want to make any important information obvious right away.
Spamdexing is a term you will start to hear alot. It is a term used to describe a webpage that uses a single keyword hundreds of times in an attempt to propel a webpage to the top of search engines rankings. Most search engines now use a variety of methods, including customer complaints, to penalize websites that use spamming methods. This is why very few internet search engines now, rely solely on keywords to determine website ranking. Many search engines also now use something called "off the page" ranking criteria. Off the page ranking criteria is search engine optimization where link analysis and click through rates are taken into account among other things. These are things that unscruplous webmasters cannot easily influence.
