Search Engines

Digital Marketing - Study Notes:

What is a search engine?

A search engine is a program that searches for and identifies items in a database that correspond to keywords or characters specified by the user, used especially for finding particular sites on the web. Search engines are an applied form of information retrieval, which is a field of study in computer science. 

Consumers use search engines to find answers to questions they have on a particular topic with the expectation that it will provide them with several answers to choose from.
The typical consumer journey begins with an internal realization that they have a need or want. Then, to resolve this need, they search online. The search engine results are effectively trying to provide an answer to their needs. 

This is a powerful interaction and it's the job of search marketers to:

• Anticipate the questions that consumers are asking search engines (which are also your keywords). 
• Create the website content or paid ads that answer these questions.
• Position your product as the solution to their needs.

Search engine results page (SERP)

A search engine results page (SERP) is displayed by a search engine in response to a query from a searcher. The search query is also known as a keyword or key phrase. The SERP displays the links to the websites that the search engine believes will be the solution to the searchers’ needs. Being top of the search results is a very powerful signal to consumers that this is the best answer to their search.

Search engines have one major function: they provide answers to user queries through lists of relevant pages that they have retrieved and ranked for relevancy. These pages are ranked for relevancy and authority for search engine optimization (SEO), as well as for bid and ad quality for paid search results.

Paid search

Paid search is a faster and more straightforward means to serve clickable links on the SERP. Search marketers can use tools such as Google Ads or Microsoft Ads (on Bing) and so on, to select a number of keywords. The search engine shows their website at the top of the search results when people look for these keywords. The search engine will charge the advertiser when the searcher clicks their ad. And, if users do not click the ad, the advertiser doesn't pay.

Paid advertising makes up the bulk of a search engine results page above the fold because this is where search engines like Google make most of their revenue. When people click on ads, Google gets paid, and that’s the bulk of their profits. These paid ads are the result of Google Ads advertising.

Organic search

Search engine ranking in organic search determines where a particular site appears on the SERP. 

A site's rank is determined by the quality of its content, the functionality of the website, and the profile of backlinks from other websites. 

Organic search results are shown on a SERP below the paid ads. Google feels these are the most relevant and trustworthy results to show for any given query.

Users tend to click more on the organic search results than on the paid ads, as the former are considered more trustworthy and relevant. Usually when users recognize an ad as a paid ad, they’re less likely to click on it, and prefer to click on the organic results below it. 

Search engine processes - organic

Generally speaking, all search engines have three main processes: the crawler, the indexer, and the query engine.

• Crawling: The crawler, which in Google is known as Googlebot, is a piece of software that continuously crawls the web trying to find new links and updated pages. This involves reading and understanding the content of a web page and website. 
• Indexing: When the crawler finds something new, it sends them on to the indexer, which tries to make sense of what the crawler has found, and sees what kind of keywords that page could be ranked for. The indexer then builds an index of rank-able web pages. This involves associating the web address within a particular category in the search engine database.
• Ranking: The query engine is the front end of Google, where the user enters search terms, and where Google interprets what the user has typed in and selects the best possible results from the index to show in its search result. This determines the position of the website on the SERP in response to a relevant query. Again, relevancy and trust are the key factors that Google uses to determine which of the new results deserves to be ranked near the top. 

Search engine processes – paid advertising

The process for paid advertising is very different from the one for organic search. Search engines serve paid search ads based on advertiser keyword choice, ad and landing page quality, and how much the advertiser is willing to pay for a click. 

Advertisers choose keywords that they want to advertise on. Whenever their keyword is searched for, it triggers a live auction. 

Google determines which ad is shown first, second and third, depending on the bids that the advertiser has put in for that particular keyword, as well as the quality score of their ad and their landing page. Those combined result in an ad rank, and the ad with the highest ad rank is shown as the first ad. 

The role of search in business

Search engines are used to provide answers to people's needs. Therefore, the goal of a business is to provide the answer to these needs by anticipating their questions and providing a solution. When done correctly, this is likely to lead to increased business for an organization.