Picture this, you type words in Google, hit ‘ENTER’ on your keyboard and see crazy lots of relevant results in a fraction of a second. You may wonder how the search engine connects results to the words you typed.
Of late, Google has announced to list many of the factors why it ranked a specific search result in its search result listings. So, now you can see how Google gives results for your query. This initiative by the search engine is an expansion to the previous feature that was rolled out in February 2021 to help searchers learn more about the search result listing before clicking on it.
According to the new update, Google will now display the terms it matches on the website page and your query, including the terms that were related but not direct matches.
The search engine will also list:
- if any links from other sites have any ranking impact;
- if results have related images;
- if there are geographical reasons for the result ranking.
Indeed, there are various factors Google will disclose when it comes to why the search engine ranks a specific page in its search results. Furthermore, if you get irrelevant results that do not meet your expectation, then Google will offer ‘Search Tips’ to help you refine your search query.
Below are some of the factors that Google considers to rank a specific web page.
- Keywords: Google matches keywords to determine whether the information is relevant. It does this based on your search query and the webpage that contains the same keywords as your search. Remember that keywords are not only the visible content but can also be included in the HTML such as meta tag or title tag.
- Related terms: Google ranks those websites that have search terms on their pages and links. It looks for terms that our systems determined are associated with the words in your query. For instance, if you search for ‘how to cook sandwich in an oven,’ you will also look for pages that have related terms like bread, sandwich recipe, etc.
- Looking at links: For Google, other pages are also relevant if they have been linked to a page that contains similar words as your query. It serves as a helpful sign for the search engine giant to make sure that online content creators tend to regard the page as useful for that topic.
- Language factor: Google systems also look at the factor like language being used in search queries. Language is important, and this is an English-only feature. When it expands, Google will show other languages. For example, if you search in French, then Google may show you French results. Or if you search in the German language, then the search engine will show you the result in the German language.
- Local relevance: Google systems also look at factors such as the country and location where the search is being done. So, always deliver content relevant to your area. To take an example, if you search ‘what is a trash pickup”, then it will be helpful for getting results that are applicable to your city or state.
Search tips
With the new update, Google allows you to get Search Tips’ to better narrow your search results. Search tips will help you with search settings or techniques to modify your search and get the results you are after. For instance, if you are comfortable searching in English but want to get results in a different language or from a different place, then Google will make it even easier to adjust your settings and search.
Imagine you search for “best mobile.” While it is useful for Google to return results about related concepts, in this case, it may show you results of “best phones” or “best mobile phone.”
The search engine will show you tips to get what you really wanted. For example, you will be able to put quotes around a phrase or word to get results that mention those words exactly or use minus sign for excluding certain words from your search.
Applicable in US
Google is now rolling this feature out in US for English results. According to it, this feature will be expanded to more countries and more languages over time.
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