What is an Index?
An index is a computer-generated list of every page on a website that can be accessed by a search engine. It is created by web crawlers and used by search engines to find pages when users type in queries.
More About Indexing
Search engines use indexes to help users find the information they need. When a user enters a query into a search engine, it looks through its index to find pages that match. Then, it presents them to the searcher almost instantly.
SEO bots referred to more generally as ‘crawlers’ or ‘spiders’ create indexes using algorithms that analyze the content of pages. These bots comb through every inch of content, including text, images, and links. The information collected for a search engine’s index is then used to decide the page’s ranking in the search results. If a page cannot be crawled for any reason, it will not appear in the index and it cannot be ranked.
