first understand how it works

For starters, understand that search engines are automated the results determined by sophisticated software, rather than human intervention. To get listed, all you have to do is submit your site's address. But to appear high on the list for any particular search, you have to anticipate what the search engine scripts are looking for.

So what do they look for? These all-knowing, judgment-making search engines? Well, they look at a few things including page titles, links to your site, and the content itself to determine what they call "relevance." For example, when a user searches on "camel trek," the search engine asks questions like: How often do the words "camel" and "trek" appear on this page? Do they appear close together? Near the top of the page? Do they also appear in the page title? Do other sites link to this one? Are the linking sites relevant to the search? Are the linking sites popular?

They weigh these different elements against each other to estimate how likely it is that the site will be relevant to the user. Then they rank it accordingly. But each search engine weighs the factors differently. This is why identical searches yield different results on different search sites.