Search engines are the tools people use to locate information on the World Wide Web. These automated software applications (also known as robots, ants or spiders) crawl the Web, visiting pages and sites to build an index of content. When a user enters a query, the index is used to find and display relevant information. There are many different types of search engines, with some specializing in specific file formats like audio and video. Others focus on a particular type of content, like images, jobs or text. Some even focus on a particular geographic region or language.

When someone searches the Internet, it is important that the engine return results that are useful. This is why there are many different search techniques, such as using Boolean operators or putting words in quotation marks. Using these techniques limits the scope of the search, ensuring that only information directly related to the question is found.

Each search engine uses a complex mathematical algorithm to rank pages and determine where they should appear in the results page of the SERP. These algorithms are a closely guarded secret and continually subject to change and modification. For this reason, a page that ranks well on one search engine may not do so well on another.

Search engine processing involves three stages: indexing, searching and ranking. When a user enters a search term, the engine looks up keywords in the index and finds the pages that most closely match those terms. Once the results are returned, they are ranked according to the algorithm, and the highest-ranked results are displayed first.

During the search process, the engine also evaluates each page to establish its relevance to the query. It does this by analyzing the textual content of each page and looking for keywords that indicate its topic. The content is also compared to other pages in the search engine’s database to see if it is similar.

In addition to assessing the contents of each page, the engine also considers the quality and reputation of the website that hosts the page. It does this by evaluating the number and quality of links that point to the page, as well as the frequency with which the page is referenced in other websites.

Each of these factors is then weighted according to the algorithm and a score is calculated. The page with the highest score is then selected as the top search result. Each search engine uses its own unique algorithm to calculate these scores, so a page that is ranked highly on Yahoo! is not likely to be ranked highly on Google. This is what makes search engine optimization so important for website owners, who strive to maximize the visibility of their pages on the SERP. This can turn visitors into customers, clients or a dedicated audience that keeps coming back for more.