How do search engines rank web pages?

Search engines use mathematical formulas to determine the rank of a web page. These mathematical
formulas are called ranking algorithms. All major search engines use the same principle to rank web sites. The
exact ranking algorithms differ from search engine to search engine but the principle is the same. We'll use the
ranking algorithm of
Google as an example.




How does Google rank your web pages?

Google explains the ranking algorithm on their company pages:
"Traditional search engines rely heavily on how often a word appears on a web page. Google uses
PageRank™ to examine the entire link structure of the web and determine which pages are most
important.
It then conducts hypertext-matching analysis to determine which pages are relevant to the specific
search being conducted. By combining overall importance and query-specific relevance, Google is
able to put the most relevant and reliable results first."




PageRank and hypertext-matching analysis?

Google uses PageRank (which is a mathematical formula and not the green bar in the Google toolbar)
and hypertext-matching analysis to rank your web pages. To get good results for the PageRank factor,
you need good links from related pages that point to your site. It's a simple principle: if page a links to
page b then it is a recommendation from page a to page b. The more links point to your web site, the
better your rankings.
The quality of the links is also important. A link that contains the keyword for which you want to have
high rankings in the link text is better than five links with the text Click here. A link from a web site that
has a related topic is much better than links from unrelated sites or link lists.

While the linking concept is easy to understand, the hypertext-matching analysis factor is a bit more
complicated. Google explains hypertext-matching analysis as follows:
"Hypertext-Matching Analysis: Google's search engine also analyzes page content. However,
instead of simply scanning for page-based text (which can be manipulated by site publishers
through meta-tags), Google's technology analyzes the full content of a page and factors in fonts,
subdivisions and the precise location of each word.
Google also analyzes the content of neighboring web pages to ensure the results returned are the
most relevant to a user's query."

How to optimize your web pages for Google's hypertext-matching analysis

As Google analyzes the full content of your pages you also have to optimize the full content of your
web pages. It is not enough to edit your meta tags. You have to optimize all factors that can influence your
search engine rankings.The problem is that many web masters don't know which page factors can be important.

One page is not enough

As mentioned in the explanation of Google's hypertext-matching analysis, Google also analyzes the
content of other web pages on your site to ensure that your web page is really relevant.
That means that you should optimize different pages of your web site for different but related search
terms. The more web pages of your web site are optimized for keywords about a special topic, the
more likely it is that you'll get high rankings for a special keyword that is related to that topic.