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Google is the largest search engine on the internet, receiving over several hundred million queries each day. It is therefore imperative for companies wishing to gain internet recognition that their site is indexed by Google.
Developed at Stanford University by Larry Page and later Sergey Bin during 1995, Google was a new kind of search engine that involved ranking pages through a link analysis algorithm, trademarked by Google as “PageRank”. In short, this means the more hyperlinks a page has pointing to it, the more relevant, or important, the page must be -and the more likely it is to receive a favourable Google indexing.
This is significantly different from previous search engines, which relied (and still do for the majority) on keyword-based methods - such as how often the search term occurred in the page - for ranking websites in their search results.
Of course, there are other factors and criteria beside PageRank that Google looks for when deciding where a page should be ranked on the results page, but link analysis help set Google apart from it’s competitors because it meant internet users were more likely to find pages relevant to their search criteria.
Because of Google’s popularity amongst the internet community, many companies depend on their website receiving a high ranking on Google. Consequently a group of consultants specialising in the field of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) have arisen to analyse the algorithms and other such methods Google, and other search engines, employ to rank pages on their listings. They then help companies by managing their websites, and increasing the likelihood that their site will have a higher ranking. Without the correct optimising of a website it is unlikely to receive a satisfactory listing, and although a company’s website may on surface appear attractive and informative if Google’s algorithms can’t find it, it won’t receive a listing and serves very little purpose in generating new business from potential clients.
Caution must be undertaken by companies who hire SEOs, as some will offer unrealistic guarantees, such as #1 ranking – or may offer guaranteed ranking on “top search engines”, but not specify which ones - so Google may not be one of them. Here at Phil Yarrow Consulting we offer a variety of optimisation services to our clients and we are careful to avoid setting unrealistic expectations.
In addition to natural (or organic) results from a web search, Google also displays paid relevant adverts known as Pay Per Click, which companies can invest in.
