How Site and Intranet Search Engines Work

• User types some words in a search field and presses the "Search" button

• Form sends the query to the search engine

• Search engine:

  • Looks in the index file for matches

  • Gathers matching pages

  • Sorts by relevance

  • Formats the results listing page

  • Sends the result page back to user

Previous | Next | Contents

Best Practices for Search Engines
Brown Bag, May 2002
Avi Rappoport SearchTools.com