Recently, I saw a young chap who was trying to see where their website ranked organically by typing the website’s name in Google and then counting down the list to its final placement. He then proceded to say how brilliant it was to be fifth on the list even though his competitors held a larger market share. For most people who are not involved with the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) world like I am, then this would be the normal practise to find their website rank, and it’s a fair assumption to make. But, I’ll fill you in on a little secret about search engines. what you see as a result in Sydney (typing it in is this manual way) for example, is not what your friend might see, typing it in, in Melbourne.
How does Google search work?
You see, search engine results vary based on so many factors including IP location, GPS location (mobile), search history (signed in or cookies), social networks (likes, friends, circles), device (mobile, TV, desktop), language, previous searches and many more! Not only this, but Google categorises your website depending on the type of search the end-user is making. For example, if I typed in the word ‘pizza’, then I am likely to get spat back a full local list of pizza shops around the area I am in. If I were to type in a hot news topic such as ‘Donald Trump’, then I would likely get a full list of news articles relating to what’s happening with him in real time. All in all, there are several different types of results available to us at any moment. The categories, are only going to get bigger and redefined because Google only wants to improve their search capabilities.
Back in December 2014, Google had approximately 20,000 employees dedicated to research and development, which is a lot of brains working on making an already brilliant service, even better. I can only assume that number has increased dramatically considering the demand and growth Google has had. And I can bet you that they are not sitting at their desks counting down the list to see where each and every website is currently listed per search. Though that would be pretty funny to see! I can imagine running in there and just calling out a loud number to mess everyone up. No, those tricky little engineers use algorithms to define the results you see in your search.
Algorithms are pretty much Google’s secret little formula that arranges their search results. In basic terms, this is how your website is worked out when it is placed on Google’s search page. Even Google engineers do not know the mechanics of this. If we knew this little gem, then there would be no need for SEO specialists. It’s a known fact if people say “I know every aspect to get your site to the top of Google’s list” then they are talking absolute bollocks. No one does. However, here at DigiGround, we endeavour to get your website ranking high with up to date SEO research and marketing skills. We are constantly developing and educating ourselves so that we are sure to know as much on the subject as possible and our SEO practise and style, uses proven methods and experience to get results.
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