The Mysterious Inner-Workings of Search Engines: How Page Rank Determines the Results Page

October 16, 2009 by Forrest Yingling

It is not uncommon to search for exactly the same word or phrase and get totally different results from different search engines. Moreover, it is not uncommon to get different results from one minute to the next when using the same search engine. The system of rating and ranking search results and the order in which they appear is a complex process and can be difficult to comprehend. Obviously, over the past few years, Google has taken the reigns as the top search engine. Around 80% of all Internet searches are conducted through Google. In fact, Google is the search engine that developed the Page Rank system to begin with.

As a result of this, everyone with a website wants to be at the top of the Google results pages. Among Internet gurus, this is known as the “SERP” or Search Engine Results Page. Getting your site to the top of the SERP is a coveted position that everyone is striving for. Attaining that ultra-desirable number one spot on the SERP is usually reserved for monster corporations that dominate the field of the keyword you are searching for.

Although the number one spot may be out of your grasp as a small or medium sized business, getting on the first page is not out of your reach. With the right SEO (Search Engine Optimization) approaches, ending up on the first or second page of the SERP is an attainable goal and one that owners of small businesses should always be aiming for.

The SEO capabilities of Miva Merchant 5.5 are designed to take your online store to the next level with its easy to understand application of meta tags, titles and descriptions. Miva Merchant 5.5’s templates allow you to add tags to the bulk of your pages by simply editing three templates – Storefront, Category and Product Display. Miva Merchant 5.5’s simplistic rendering of advanced practices leaves the online store owner with more time to focus on other important areas of marketing – blogging, posting to forums, social networking, etc.

Page rank is largely determined by the amount of sites linking to your site. This is why the practice of link building and exchanging has become such an important Internet marketing tool. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the higher the “weight” or ranking of a site that links to your site, the more valuable the link.

Watch this video on YouTube that teaches you how to get valuable backlinks from posting comments to blogs and how to avoid those that have “no follow” links, which will not aid in SEO.