We are all familiar with Google. I mean they have been king of search engines since what has felt like…well, forever!
Search Engines need a way to rank their results and that method has drastically changed since the inception of a search engine. Things have come a long way since the Archie Search Engine back in 1990, and it’s not just search engines, social media platforms and video sharing platforms all need their own way of ranking search results. So, what are some of the methods that these companies use? Let’s find out.
Before we continue onto all the other platforms and various methods certain websites and/or search engines might use, let’s start with the kings themselves; Google.
Now, it can be quite the advanced, complicated mumbo jumbo (as there’s a lot that factors in on how Google goes about ranking results). But I will do my best in quickly explaining how Google ranks search results with their search algorithm. The core factors are as such:
- The content quality of a web page as a whole (this includes the content relevancy as well).
- The quantity of high-quality links that points towards a website.
- The mobile-friendliness of your website
- The speed with which online pages load.
- Your site’s navigation and how well structured it is
Of course, there is a lot more that goes into determining how well your site ranks with Google, but these are the basic gist of each category, Googlebots look for. If you want to know a little more detail, take a look at our article on how a local SEO consultant can help grow your business.
Bing
For the most part, Bing does in fact use similar methods for ranking their search results. But there is one major thing that separates Bing from Google and that is Bing’s reliance on user activity and engagement. What does that mean exactly?
Well, Google doesn’t really care all that much about your click throughs and the time that visitors spent on your website. Whilst they do track and it probably does have some effect on search results, Bing utilizes this information much more. Bing’s search engine wants to know if you’re site and/or content is fresh, and if people are actively engaging and spending time on your site. So a much more popular site will have an easier time ranking on Bing.
You might be asking; Why doesn’t Google put too much reliance on user activity? The short answer is that it’s really easy to exploit. There are many countless services across the web that lets you buy clicks and user engagement. So, that’s probably the main answer.
Yahoo
Ah Yahoo. Did you know, Yahoo once had the opportunity to buy Google? Yup, way back in 2002, Google offered to sell their business and everything along with it to Yahoo for $1 billion USD. But by the time Yahoo even considered purchasing Google, the price had already tripled.
But Yahoo still exists today, so how do they go about ranking their search results? In actual fact, it would seem that Google’s methods and algorithms are unique, as Yahoo’s methods of ranking search results is very similar to Bing. In that they focus more on user activity and engagement, more so than Google.
Due to the fact that this practice can easily be abused (and the fact that you can just outright pay Yahoo to post an article of yours), it’s no wonder why Google is the more reliable and “best” search engine.
Youtube
Youtube is different as it’s not a search engine per say (though they have a great search function) and is instead a video sharing and media platform. Also, the fact that Youtube is actually owned by Google would explain why it’s search algorithm is fairly similar to Googles. Though there are some major key differences when it comes to Youtube SEO.
Unlike Google’s search engine, Youtube SEO looks more at audience retention as well as video engagement and channel subscribers. Basically user activity.
Video titles and their description still use the same tactics as what other websites would use when they want to optimise their site for SEO, with that being trying ti insert keywords and relevant content into their video descriptions.
But what gets you the furthest is definitely the amount of views, subscribers, comments and overall user activity you are getting on each video and for your Youtube channel. The more engagement you are getting, the higher up you get in ranking!
Why is Google the Most Dominant Search Engine?
Of course, there’s many factors and details as to why Google is the king of search engines. They have gone through many major upgrades over the years, but the main factor on why Google is the most dominant search engine is their initial desire and push to make sure that all their search results are organic and as high quality as possible. Their early decision to deviate from early search engine practices and omit user activity and engagement from their ranking algorithm definitely helped out on filtering out any spammy websites, and thus leading to a more natural and high quality search result list.
Will we see other search engines attempt to walk the same path as Google? I don’t think so. The search engine king is so far head and so advanced, that I don’t think any other search engine has the resources or even the time to try to even compete with Google. At least not in the neat future. But who knows, we’ll see.
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