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How search ranks results
Why one page comes first, and the idea that made modern search work: a link is a vote.
The short version
To order thousands of matching pages, a search engine combines many signals. The most famous idea is that a link from one site to another counts as a vote for it, and votes from important sites count for more. Words on the page, freshness, speed and your location matter too. It builds on search engines.
I always assumed pages were ranked by who used the keyword most.
That was how early search worked, and it was easy to cheat.
Links were the fix.
A link is a vote
In 1998, two students at Stanford, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, had an idea called PageRank. If many pages link to a page, it is probably worth reading. And a link from a page that is itself well linked counts for more. The engine works this out for the whole web at once.
It was much harder to cheat than counting words, because you cannot easily make other people link to your page.
Other signals
Words matter: a page with your words in the title and headings is more likely to be what you want. So do:
- how recent the page is, for news;
- whether it loads quickly and works on a phone;
- where you are and the language you use;
- whether people who click the result then stay or go back.
Note: the exact signals and their weights are secret and change often. This is a general description only.
Key takeaways
- Early search counted words and was easy to trick.
- Links work as votes.
- A vote from an important page counts more.
- Many other signals are mixed in.
- The order is not a check of truth.
Now you know.
A link is a vote.
Important votes count more.
Many other signals are mixed in.
Last reviewed 3 Nov 2026
