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.
Google's War on Data and the Clickstream Revolution
SEOs rely on data more than ever, and it seems Google is obscuring, blocking, or removing it at every opportunity. But there is hope, and we call it clickstream data.
Why Didn't You Recover from Penguin?
The long Penguin 4.0 rollout is nearing completion. If you were unfortunate enough not to recover, here are five possible reasons why, from full-blown conspiracies to difficult truths.
Penguin 4.0: How the Real-Time Penguin-in-the-Core-Alg Model Changes SEO
Penguin 4.0 has finally rolled out as a core part of Google's algorithm. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand explains Penguin's past, present, and future, offers his analysis of the rollout so far, and gives advice for going forward (hint: never link spam).
Optimizing for RankBrain... Should We Do It? (Is It Even Possible?)
RankBrain is unlike any of the classic Google algorithms we've dealt with in the past. In today's Whiteboard Friday, Rand tackles the question of what RankBrain actually is and whether SEOs should (or even can) optimize for it.
Penguin 4.0: Was It Worth the Wait?
After almost two years of waiting, Google has announced Penguin 4.0, now in real-time. How big was the impact, and what's going on with September?Level Up Your SEO Skills With Our Free Training
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How to Appear in Google's Answer Boxes
Featured snippets are here to stay, and they're proving to be an important goal in the never-ending quest for rankings. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand explains the 3 types of featured snippets and how you can best position yourself to grab those coveted spots in the SERPs.
Google Is Grouping Keyword Volumes - What Does This Mean for SEO?
Google Keyword Planner recently saw a disappointing change: Keyword volumes are being lumped into large ranges that don't offer near the detail we had before. This post explores what that means for your SEO work.
The Two-Part SEO Ranking Model: Let's Make SEO Simple
It may be tempting to look for an easy answer when it comes to ranking, but both research and Google itself say links and content are the biggest factors involved. Would your SEO improve if you focused with greater effort on a simplified two-factor algorithm?
Case Study: Why it Makes Sense to Optimize Your Site for ‘Near Me’ Searches
Have you updated your website's content to take advantage of ‘near me’ searches? Case Study: Why it Makes Sense to Optimize Your Site for Searches
Google's Future is in the Cards
Google's card-based design tests go well beyond aesthetics and represents an evolution in their approach to search. I use many examples to tell the story of what cards mean for search.