Search engines, keywords, how does it all work?

Question came from our client: When we discuss keywords and we have input a number of them, exactly how does this work. How do these keywords get out to the search engines? How are they broadcast to the search engines? Is there anything I can do on this end to help get these keywords out? I keep getting asked how this works, and I guess I am not sure of the exact ways and methods.

Facts you need to know before reading any further:

• Web pages are made up of HTML (HyperText Mark-up Language) code.
• To "visit web page" means to download HTML code from their computer to your computer. If you view HTML code with web browser, it looks like a web page! If you view HTML code with text editor (try Notepad), it looks like a bunch of HTML code.
• The keywords are embedded in your HTML code that makes up your individual web pages.
• Keywords are not broadcast into the search engines, there is really no broadcasting going on in cyberspace.

So, what exactly is a search engine and how does it work?

Search engine is a computer program. This program is fed by internet links (URLs such as http://topdesign.net) which it will visit just like the human "web surfer" does. However, instead of looking at the web page, the search engine will only use the web page's HTML code to extract the page's title, the keywords, some other text (especially when keywords are missing) and the active links within the code.

The next step for the search engine is to feed its database with the information it just collected. The database is made accessible to the general public via search engine's own web page where the visitor types in some search phrase and gets list of URLs (links to web pages) in return.

The search engine will then move on to the next link in its feeder and repeats the entire process over and over again. When it's out of new links (if ever...remember that it extracts the links from the HTML code) it will revisit the sites it has visited before. When it finds the site has changed, it will record the changes and mark it up in its "calender" to make sure to come back again soon, since the site appears to change often. If the site was found in the same condition as before, the priority to revisit it goes down.

How do the keywords get to the search engine?

Search engine will collect them when jumping from page to page. As mentioned above the keywords are read by the search engine as part of the HTML code that makes up the web page. They are then extracted, send to the database and used to categorize the web page.

What happens when the web page does not have any keywords?

The search engine would then use some of the text within the web page, the title of the page and some other data. It uses them even if the keywords are present.

How come my page does not appear at the top of the search engine listing?

If I knew the answer to this question, I could probably retire in a month or two. There are things that - when done properly - appear to improve your web page's search engine ranking. Use of keywords is certainly one of them. But as more and more companies and individuals put out their web sites, your chances to be among the top listings is less and less likely. If you happen to make it to the top, someone else will very soon copy your keywords and other data rendering your "search engine adventure" worthless.

I always emphasize the importance of overall marketing strategy. Take advantage of the low cost information distribution your web site affords. You could never put this much information in a brochure or booklet for this little money. But that's it! Don't lose your time and money trying to figure out search engines. Even if you do, they change all the time.

Devote your savings (from having the web site instead of 500 page booklet) to promoting the web site's existence and direct your potential clients and customers there. You'll do much better than those who spend most of their valuable time wondering why they are not in the top 10 on their favorite search engine.