What Is A Search Index: Everything You Need To Know
Remember the early days of the web when we’d have to scour through directories to retrieve information? What a tardy process! Thanks to search engines, now we can expect near-instantaneous responses to our queries.
No matter what we're looking for, search engines display relevant information within seconds. But with millions of sources to check, how does it happen in a wink?
The magic behind search engines’ super-fast performance is search indexing. Google and other popular search engines use indexes to return results to a query, making users’ experiences smooth and seamless.
Let’s discover the nitty-gritty of search engine indexing and how it works!
First Thing First - What is a Search Index?
If you’ve dug through the large scientific books, you’re familiar with the concept of an index. To find information, you’d usually turn to the index in the back that includes a list of alphabetically organized keywords. Each keyword points you to the page where you can find the topic you want to learn about.
A search index is quite similar to a book index. However, instead of page numbers, it lists all web pages that the search engine knows about.
A search index is a set of structured data used by search engines to generate relevant results for users. It is tailored to the specific information retrieval method of the search engine’s algorithm.
The ultimate goal is to make the search fast, accurate, and relevant since most of us use search functionality frequently.

How Does Search Indexing Work?
Search indexes for websites are created by a team of bots, known as crawlers or spiders. These tiny bots visit the website’s pages and collect specific information, including URLs of pages, keywords, titles and headers, images, and meta descriptions. The data is then transformed into an index.

For example, if you search for “cat food” on Google, it will comb through its search index to present the best results.
When a user types in a query, the search engine discovers documents relevant to it. The index returns results with a title, a brief summary, possibly an image, and a reference to the page URL. The entire process takes less than a tenth of a second, so you do not have to twiddle your thumbs when searching for something.
If it weren’t for search indexes, search results would be slow and less accurate. According to [Google Gospel of Speed](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/future-of-marketing/digital-transformation/the-google-gospel-of-speed-urs-hoelzle/#:~:text=The%20Google%20Gospel%20of%20Speed,-Urs%20Hoelzle%20January&text=Google%27s%20search%20guru%20and%20SVP,by%20fractions%20of%20a%20second.), a 400ms delay in search results leads to a 0.44% drop in search volume.
Public Search Index Vs Enterprise Search Index
While a search engine provides end users with tons of information, it usually hangs back when it comes to delivering a similar experience in an organization. This is where enterprise search comes in!
Unlike Google which only works across web pages, an enterprise search system also focuses on databases, applications, emails, CMS, and more. This makes the enterprise search indexing process distinctive.
The enterprise search system doesn’t rely on a single index. The complexity of the enterprise search and the fact that most of the data is unstructured calls for the creation of multiple indexes. This helps the platform capture the semantics of each data source being indexed.
Another unique aspect of the enterprise search index is advanced configurations. It customizes crawling and indexing, i.e. limiting crawl and index only to titles, headings, or content, to provide the most accurate and relevant search results. Moreover, admins have total control, and accessibility to, their content sources. They can specify the elements for indexing to speed up searches and queries.
Here at [SearchUnify](https://www.searchunify.com/), webmasters (known as admins in the SearchUnify realm) can upload a sitemap to index an enterprise platform or configure a highly customized crawling plan that allows them to control the depth of the crawl.
Not to mention, the enterprise search index is more robust and secure. An advanced enterprise search index includes role-based access control, returning only authorized content to each user.
Takeaway
Search Indexes play a pivotal role in surfacing relevant results when a user searches for certain keywords. Without good indexing, search engines would deliver results differently - less prompt and accurate. So understanding how to optimize search indexing is indispensable.
We hope this post helped you assimilate the basics of search engine indexing. Interested in learning more about how search works? Stay tuned for our upcoming posts!
No matter what we're looking for, search engines display relevant information within seconds. But with millions of sources to check, how does it happen in a wink?
The magic behind search engines’ super-fast performance is search indexing. Google and other popular search engines use indexes to return results to a query, making users’ experiences smooth and seamless.
Let’s discover the nitty-gritty of search engine indexing and how it works!
First Thing First - What is a Search Index?
If you’ve dug through the large scientific books, you’re familiar with the concept of an index. To find information, you’d usually turn to the index in the back that includes a list of alphabetically organized keywords. Each keyword points you to the page where you can find the topic you want to learn about.
A search index is quite similar to a book index. However, instead of page numbers, it lists all web pages that the search engine knows about.
A search index is a set of structured data used by search engines to generate relevant results for users. It is tailored to the specific information retrieval method of the search engine’s algorithm.
The ultimate goal is to make the search fast, accurate, and relevant since most of us use search functionality frequently.

How Does Search Indexing Work?
Search indexes for websites are created by a team of bots, known as crawlers or spiders. These tiny bots visit the website’s pages and collect specific information, including URLs of pages, keywords, titles and headers, images, and meta descriptions. The data is then transformed into an index.

For example, if you search for “cat food” on Google, it will comb through its search index to present the best results.
When a user types in a query, the search engine discovers documents relevant to it. The index returns results with a title, a brief summary, possibly an image, and a reference to the page URL. The entire process takes less than a tenth of a second, so you do not have to twiddle your thumbs when searching for something.
If it weren’t for search indexes, search results would be slow and less accurate. According to [Google Gospel of Speed](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/future-of-marketing/digital-transformation/the-google-gospel-of-speed-urs-hoelzle/#:~:text=The%20Google%20Gospel%20of%20Speed,-Urs%20Hoelzle%20January&text=Google%27s%20search%20guru%20and%20SVP,by%20fractions%20of%20a%20second.), a 400ms delay in search results leads to a 0.44% drop in search volume.
Public Search Index Vs Enterprise Search Index
While a search engine provides end users with tons of information, it usually hangs back when it comes to delivering a similar experience in an organization. This is where enterprise search comes in!
Unlike Google which only works across web pages, an enterprise search system also focuses on databases, applications, emails, CMS, and more. This makes the enterprise search indexing process distinctive.
The enterprise search system doesn’t rely on a single index. The complexity of the enterprise search and the fact that most of the data is unstructured calls for the creation of multiple indexes. This helps the platform capture the semantics of each data source being indexed.
Another unique aspect of the enterprise search index is advanced configurations. It customizes crawling and indexing, i.e. limiting crawl and index only to titles, headings, or content, to provide the most accurate and relevant search results. Moreover, admins have total control, and accessibility to, their content sources. They can specify the elements for indexing to speed up searches and queries.
Here at [SearchUnify](https://www.searchunify.com/), webmasters (known as admins in the SearchUnify realm) can upload a sitemap to index an enterprise platform or configure a highly customized crawling plan that allows them to control the depth of the crawl.
Not to mention, the enterprise search index is more robust and secure. An advanced enterprise search index includes role-based access control, returning only authorized content to each user.
Takeaway
Search Indexes play a pivotal role in surfacing relevant results when a user searches for certain keywords. Without good indexing, search engines would deliver results differently - less prompt and accurate. So understanding how to optimize search indexing is indispensable.
We hope this post helped you assimilate the basics of search engine indexing. Interested in learning more about how search works? Stay tuned for our upcoming posts!
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