Background
Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin again from Stanford who developed a method for finding information on the Internet. One of their papers describing the reasoning behind Google is available at www-db.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html
Size
Google declares 1.25bn web pages in their database although because Google uses link data it is able to include pages it may not have visited and the actual number of indexed pages is 600m+. This is still more than any other search engine database with Fast, WebTop and Inktomi in the 500m+ size. Google also provides results for over 40 other portals ranging from Netscape and Yahoo to Virgin.
Results
Google uses the Open Directory Project database to provide it's Directory element but it's own database for search results. Googles ranking algorithm uses a combination of on page and off page factors to decide which sites get to the top of the results. The system attempts to decide which sites are relevant by looking at how web sites link to each other. The Google technology examines the quantity, quality and content of the links pointing to your site. If your motorbike web site is linked to by lots of other motorbike sites it gains a higher position for connected searches. Having 'motorbikes' in the text used to link to your site will help your ranking as will linking your site to other motorbike related sites. This Authority factor, combined with factors on each page such as text in Bold and different font sizes, gives an overall measure of the importance of your site for that query.
Sites listed in search results at have their pages clustered together so you will generally only see one or two links to a site in the results rather than a listing for each page. Other returns on the results page are either sponsored advertising or a link to relevant Google Directory categories.
Use of Metatags
Google doesn't read Keyword or Description Meta tags and assigns it's own description to each site by extracting relevant parts of the page to display in the Google results.
Adding a Page
Submit your home page to Google at www.google.com/addurl.html There is no need to submit each page on your site as their GoogleBot spider is one of the most prolific crawlers. It will identify other pages on your site by identifying links. A sitemap page with links to each page on your site enable the crawling process by providing an easy way for Googlebot to identify your pages. If your site has links from other sites it is likely to be found by Google without any submission on your part.
Spam
Because Google uses link relevance to decide how important your page is, techniques such as invisible text and and repeating keywords will have little effect on its results. Without external links to your site it is unlikely to show near the top of the results. Some have tried to affect this by building networks of sites linking together. The effort is better spent building real links to related sites as this will increase your traffic long term as people find you through those links.
Regional
Google has a number of regional versions which display instructions in the language of choice but the results remain the same for any given phrase.
Top Ranking Secrets
Aim to build a site with good unique content and encourage others to link to your site. Ideally have them link to you using your best keyword in the link text. Create a "Link to us" page where people can cut and paste your code into their pages so you retain a little control over how the link appears. Try to get links from those sites which already act as authority hubs in your speciality. Ensure that your site is listed with the main directories, ODP, Yahoo, Looksmart and About.com as these provide a boost to your sites position. |
