Technical SEO: Understanding How Ranking and SERPs Works

I’ve previously discussed Technical SEO: Understanding Crawling, Analyzing, and Indexing, and this article will serve as the second chapter on how search engines work from Search Queries, Ranking, to SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).

A typical Google Search Engine process include:

1. Crawling you pages
2. Analyzing the contents and urls
3. Indexing the pages
4. Matching the Search Queries
5. Ranking your contents
6. Show up in SERPs

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Search Queries: Understanding the Intentions

When users search for information, Google strives to understand your needs by matching words and analyzing the intent behind the search. Whether you enter a typo or check the weather, Google aims to provide the most relevant information.

Therefore, if you want your content to be seen by more people, the first step is to lay a good foundation by understanding the basic principles of search engines. The basic principles of search engines have evolved from the past focus on keyword density (analyzing the number of times a keyword appears in an article) to BERT, which emphasizes whether the content meets user expectations.

In other words, the key is mastering content basics: aligning the article’s topic and keywords with user intent. Of course, when search engines perform matching analysis, they don’t just target articles; they also evaluate videos, photos, and other relevant information, which is another direction for optimization.

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Ranking: Algorithms and Trends

Search engines rank content based on several factors, including title, meta description, URL structure, content relevance, and link authority. These can be divided into four key aspects: technical, content, searchable, and data.

In addition to mastering the important basic concepts of content, ranking relies on Google’s algorithms. From Penguin and Panda to Hummingbird’s RankBrain, these updates are crucial for enhancing user experience and have a significant impact on search results.

Tip: Start with the SEO Periodic Table and annual trends using Google Trends. Additionally, Google’s regularly updated official documents are worth reading as well if you want to know SEO better.

Because Google is a search engine that constantly updates and changes to meet user experience principles, major updates often have a significant impact on rankings and traffic. Therefore, paying attention to Google’s policy changes helps grasp trends. For example, the (not-so) recent emphasis on mobile devices also increases the focus on mobile device speed.

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SERPs: Search Engine Results Page

In the organic search results, the pages will display the title and meta description of the websites. If a webpage is not specifically optimized, the search engine will randomly extract text related to keywords for display.

With the increase in mobile device usage and voice search trends, the content on the search results page is becoming more diverse. For example, text-based featured snippets are characterized by quick text answers, or video featured snippets, all aimed at comprehensively meeting user needs.

Another trick I’d like to use is called “full-screen strategy”, which aims for occupying as much screen space as possible, the screenshot below shows how it looks on desktop, imagine this on a mobile device:

Tip: Aim for a “full-screen strategy” by occupying as much search result screen space as possible. Beyond regular results, utilize rich results such as featured snippets, videos, and local business listings (akin to Google My Business) are definitely things you should utilize to occupy as much screen space as possible.

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Conclusion

The six stages of search engine technical SEO each play different roles, serving as Google’s gatekeeper to ensure everyone follows best practices. Although the relevant ranking optimization seems extensive and requires patience, but if we look back to the roots, the starting point is always user experience-centered.

From this principle, examining the ranking elements of the four aspects of SEO makes it easier to grasp the directions of your next search engine optimization efforts.