Most of us will end up on a search engine if not on a daily basis but on a weekly or at the very least monthly frequency.

One question that we probably never think of that is particularly pertinent to businesses and the success of our websites is what it is they are looking to achieve when you’re searching.

So what is it they’re trying to do?

This will come as no surprise but it is looking to provide you with the most relevant search results for the terms that you are searching for.  Where a search engine merges into a decision making engine is an interesting point of conversation.

By ranking websites higher than others it is encouraging you to visit those before others; they are suggesting they are the most relevant for your needs and therefore supporting your decision making; does it therefore go from being a search engine to being a decision making engine? Have a think!

How does it do this?

Google has an algorithm that dictates when and where your website competes against other websites in terms of relevance to the term being searched for.

This algorithm is constantly changing and evolving; there were more than 300 changes in 2013 alone and there will be plenty more to follow as they continue to work to give you better quality search results.

How does it find websites?

Your website is crawled by spiders, which are search engine robots that crawl the internet looking at websites, understanding what it is they are about and then feeding this information back to the algorithm, which in turn takes that information and dictates what and where they should rank in results.

What is the algorithm made up of?

Nobody knows the exact make up of the algorithm – it’s like a great recipe – it’s not shared.  What we can do is understand some of the elements that are key to how your website ranks for a certain search term.

For more information on how we can help you to improve your search engine presence and bring new customers and business to your front door please call 01566 784860 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk