What is a search engine?

So what exactly is a search engine?

In summary a search engine is a website which people use to find other websites. You could say a search engine is a directory of the Internet; only without a directory style structure. This means at first it can be a little daunting trying to find the information you require.

Instead of placing each website under categories which are of relevance, a search engine relies on the actual content of the site together with the keywords their user's type in to form the listings / search engine result pages (SERPS).

These listings are generated dynamically (as the search is made) with the most relevant website being placed right at the top of the list. Or at least that's how it's supposed to work.

How does a search engine gather its information?

Search engines crawl the web using spiders! That might sound strange but it's actually true, although the spiders search engines use are not of the eight legged variety.

A search engine spider is merely an automated program that is used to follow all the links contained within your website and add the content from each page to an ever increasing database of web pages. As the spider 'indexes' your site page by page, a number of factors are taken into consideration which will later be used to rank the site (its position within the listings).

How does a search engine find new websites?

We know that search engines use spiders to gather new or updated information from existing websites, however what about new websites? How does a search engine spider know when a new site is launched? Does someone tell it? The simple answer to that question is yes.

There are two ways to let a search engine know about your new website:

1) Submit the URL to each individual search engine via the submission form they provide

2) Ask owners of existing websites to link to your new site

Contrary to popular belief, the first method is not the most effective. In fact we haven't used a search engine submission form for years!

The best way to make sure your site is included in each search engine is by obtaining links from already popular sites. Not only will these links ensure your site is found by spiders on the next update, but they should also help towards the improvement of your own rank within the search engine listings.