Search Engines

Understanding how search engines work, Google in particular, is important when working in SEO. The basics of crawling and indexing are amazingly useful to understand if you want to rank your own content.

Additionally, Google updates its algorithm several times a year. Understanding the more significant updates, and how they work, can help you to craft content and SEO strategies that are up-to-date.

We've written extensively about how search engines work, and included some of the top resources here. You can also browse the latest posts on search engines from the Moz blog below.

How Search Engines Work : New to SEO? Start with the basics of how search engines operate with our free beginner's guide.

Search Engine Ranking and Visibility : Learn the fundamentals of how search engines rank content on search engine result pages.

Google Algorithm Update History : A complete history of Google algorithm updates since 2000. This includes important links and references for understanding how Google works.

How Search Engines Value Links : Search engines work off a number of signals, but two of the most important are content and links. In this video, Rand Fishkin explains the basics of link evaluation.

MozCast : Is Google updating it's algorithm as we speak? MozCast is the Google algorithm weather report, so you can see how much Google results are changing each day.

Most Recent Articles on Search Engines

How to Achieve 100/100 with the Google Page Speed Test Tool
Felix Tarcomnicu

How to Achieve 100/100 with the Google Page Speed Test Tool

The website loading speed is imperative for the overall user experience, and it’s also one of the hundreds of SEO ranking factors. The truth is that nowadays, people don’t have the patience to wait more than five seconds for a page to load. If your website is not loading fast enough, you will lose potential customers. With more tha...

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Here’s How App Store Optimization Can Work for Your Brand
Bailey Mezan

Here’s How App Store Optimization Can Work for Your Brand

The abundance of apps within the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store makes them both great and scary places to run a business. Despite the plethora of choices, however, a brand can find a home and thrive in the app store. However, it is the job of the app publishers and marketers to make that mission a reality through (a) higher engagements and conversions amongst app store visitor...

Is Google Judging You Based on a Template?
Aaron Friedman

Is Google Judging You Based on a Template?

Is there another factor at work affecting your rankings? In this post, Aaron Friedman presents the idea that Google may be segmenting search results by industry and type of content, and offers up the results from three case studies and provides advice for how to work within the confines of a template you don't fully control.