Lesson 1 - What is a Search Engine?

The most common way people find information on the web is to use a search engine such as Google, Yahoo or Alta Vista. Users enter a keyword or keywords and the search engine trawls through a database of hundreds of thousands of websites to find those which contain the keywords you have specified in your search. By looking for keywords the search engine is trying to find those websites it thinks are most relevant. For example, if you type in Pontypool Rugby it would search for all those websites which contain the words Pontypool and Rugby.

How do Search Engines know a website exists?

Periodically, search engine robots trawl though the net in order to find any new websites which have appeared on the Internet. With most Search Engines you can manually submit your web site address to them. In this way it helps them to find you and can speed up the time when you website appears in a Search Engine.

How long will it take for your site to be listed?

It does usually take 2 – 6 weeks for your website to appear in a Search Engine so don’t expect to find your new website in Google as soon it goes live on the Net. Some Search Engines do take longer than others and need you to manually submit to them. See Submitting your site to Search Engines. Such a delay is due to the extremely high number of submissions.

Lesson 2 - How do Search Engines rank websites?