Ranking Factors
Contents
Every time you do a search on a search engine, it displays the results that best match your search query. The matches are ranked, so that the most relevant websites appear first. Sometimes, it may take a little more hunting or refining your search term to find what you are looking for. On average though, search engines do an amazing job of locating information.
But how exactly is search engine ranking determined? The answer is, by a set of instructions, called algorithms. Each search engine uses a different set of algorithms, but they all follow the same general principles.
Search engines want the most users possible so it is in their best interest to return the best search results at the top so that users have a positive experience. One way they do this, is by analyzing the content of webpages. They determine the keywords related to the topic, and they see if keywords appear in the headers and text. The title tag also plays a part in determining relevance because it is the tag that appears in the browser tab, so it is a good sign that it describes the content. Search engines have determined that relevant pages will feature these keywords more prominently than irrelevant ones.
Search engines may penalize websites or ban them altogether for spamming. Keyword stuffing and submitting to link farms are forms of spamming.
Search engines also use link analysis to determine search engine ranking. By analyzing how pages link to each other, a search engine can determine what a page is about and whether that page is important enough to merit a boost in ranking. It is important to remember that while the major search engines all follow the same general principles, their algorithms are different. That is why doing the same search on different search engines may generate vastly different results. The end result is that no two search engines have exactly the same catalogue of web pages, and thus search engine ranking may differ greatly among them.
Local searching is another factor that will affect your ranking. If your site is based in, or sells to locals in Toronto, then you will get a boost in the rankings for users searching from the local area.