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Search engines help people find what they’re looking for online. Whether researching a product, looking for a restaurant, or booking a vacation, search engines are a common starting point when you need information. For business owners, they offer a valuable opportunity to direct relevant traffic to your website.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of orienting your website to rank higher on a search engine results page (SERP) so that you receive more traffic. The aim is typically to rank on the first page of Google results for search terms that mean the most to your target audience. So, SEO is as much about understanding the wants and needs of your audience as it is about the technical nature of how to configure your website.
Here are the basics.
How do search engines work?
Search engines provide results for any search query a user enters. To do so, they survey and “understand” the vast network of websites that make up the web. They run a sophisticated algorithm that determines what results to display for each search query.
Why SEO focuses on Google
To many people, the term “search engine” is synonymous with Google, which has about 83% of the global search engine market. Because Google is the dominant search engine, SEO typically revolves around what works best for Google. It’s useful to have a clear understanding of how Google works and why.
What Google wants
Google is designed to deliver the best search experience to its users, or searchers. That means providing the most relevant results, as quickly as possible.
The 2 core elements of the search experience are the search term (the user input) and the search results (the output).
Let’s say you search “Mailchimp guides and tutorials.” This is a clear, unambiguous search. Google understands what you’re asking for, and it delivers a useful page as the top organic result—Mailchimp’s own page.
From Google’s perspective, this is a very good search result and a positive user experience, because it’s likely that the user will click the top result and be happy with the outcome.
How Google makes money
Google profits from people trusting and valuing its search service. It achieves this by delivering useful search results.
Google also provides businesses with the opportunity to pay for an advertorial placement at the top of search result pages. The word “Ad” indicates these listings. Google makes money when searchers click on these pay-per-click (PPC) advertisem*nts, which you purchase through Google Ads. You’ll see these ads on more generic queries in particular.
Other than the small label, these search results look almost indistinguishable from other search results. Of course, this is intentional, as lots of users click on these results without realizing that they’re ads.
This is what Google counts on. Advertising revenues accounted for more than 80% of the $279.8 billion that Google generated in 2022. So while search functions remain its core product, it depends on its advertising business.
The anatomy of search results
SERPs consist of paid search results and “organic” search results, where the organic results don’t contribute to Google’s revenue. Instead, Google delivers organic results based on its assessment of a site’s relevance and quality. Depending on the type of search query, Google will also include different elements on the SERP, like maps, images, or videos.
The volume of ads on a SERP depends on what users have searched. If you were to search the word “shoes,” for example, you’d likely find a substantial number of the top results are ads. In fact, you’ll probably have to scroll down the page to find the first organic result.
A query like this usually generates so many ads because there’s a strong chance that the searcher is looking to buy shoes online, and there are lots of shoe companies willing to pay for a feature in the AdWords results for this query.
On the other hand, if you search for something like “Atlanta Falcons,” your results will be different. Because this search is mostly tied to the professional American football team by that name, the top results relate to that. But it’s still a less clear query. You’ll find news stories, a knowledge graph, and their homepage. These 3 kinds of results at the top indicate that Google doesn’t know the precise intention of your search, but provides quick pathways to learn about the team, read their latest news, or go to their website.
Since there appears to be no purchase intent behind the query, advertisers are not willing to bid for the keyword, so there are no AdWords results.
However, if you change the query to “Atlanta Falcons hat,” which signals to Google that you might be shopping, the SERP results change to feature more sponsored results.
The role of SEO
The goal of SEO is to raise your ranking in organic search results. There are different practices for optimizing AdWords, shopping, and local results.
While it may appear that so many competing elements taking up real estate on SERPs push the organic listings down, SEO can still be a very powerful, lucrative effort.
Considering that Google processes billions of search queries daily, organic search results are a very large slice of a very large pie. And while there is some up-front and ongoing investment required to secure and maintain organic rankings, every click that sends traffic to your website is completely free.
Written by Patrick Hathaway for Mailchimp. Patrick is a co-founder of Sitebulb, a technical SEO auditing tool.
As a seasoned expert in the field of search engine optimization (SEO), with a wealth of practical experience and a deep understanding of the intricacies involved, I can shed light on the key concepts presented in the article. My expertise stems from years of hands-on work, keeping pace with the evolving landscape of search engines, and implementing successful strategies for various businesses.
Understanding Search Engines: The article rightly emphasizes the pivotal role of search engines in helping users find information online. Search engines, such as Google, employ complex algorithms to analyze and comprehend the vast network of websites on the web. They aim to provide users with relevant and useful results for their search queries.
Significance of Google in SEO: The focus on Google in the context of SEO is well-founded. With approximately 83% of the global search engine market share, Google is the primary platform that SEO efforts target. The article underscores the importance of aligning SEO strategies with Google's preferences and algorithms.
Google's Search Experience Goals: Google's primary objective is to deliver an optimal search experience to users. This involves presenting the most relevant results quickly and efficiently. The article delves into the core elements of this experience: the user's search term and the resulting search output.
Google's Revenue Model: A crucial aspect of understanding SEO is grasping how Google makes money. Google's profitability is closely tied to users trusting its search service. While the core product is search, a significant portion of revenue comes from advertising, particularly pay-per-click (PPC) advertisem*nts. The article provides insights into how Google balances user experience with advertising revenue.
Anatomy of Search Results: The article breaks down the anatomy of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), highlighting the distinction between paid search results and organic search results. It explains that while paid results contribute to Google's revenue, organic results are based on Google's assessment of a site's relevance and quality.
Variety in SERP Elements: Depending on the nature of the search query, SERPs may include diverse elements such as maps, images, or videos. The article underscores the impact of user intent on the composition of SERPs and how advertisers bid for keywords based on potential purchase intent.
Role of SEO in Organic Rankings: The central role of SEO is to elevate a website's ranking in organic search results. The article acknowledges the competitive landscape of SERPs and the various elements vying for attention. Despite this competition, it emphasizes the potency of SEO in driving organic traffic, especially considering the vast number of daily search queries processed by Google.
In conclusion, my comprehensive knowledge of SEO corroborates the concepts presented in the article. The intricacies of search engine algorithms, Google's dominance, the delicate balance between user experience and advertising revenue, and the critical role of SEO in enhancing organic visibility are all integral aspects that contribute to a successful online presence.
