Let’s discuss the term “metasearch”. It’s probably been mentioned as meta-humor or (particularly pertinent to SEO) metadata. In all these instances, meta refers to identically: the prefix associated with is self-referential or self-reflective. Meta-humour is humor based on humor, and metadata is data that talks about data.
Metasearch engines are search engines that are enjoyable to talk about and interesting to consider. You’ve probably come across metasearch engines before; for instance, flight aggregators such as KAYAK or Skyscanner have metasearch engines that aggregate the results from travel agents and other websites that provide flights.
Other metasearch engines combine results from major search engines. These are the meta search engine we’re going to concentrate on today. We’ll explore how these engines function, why people use them, and how they impact SEO. This is a lot to cover, so let’s go meta as quickly as possible.
How metasearch engines function
When someone inquires about the meta search engines, they will present that request for too many diverse search engines. Using some algorithm, the engine blends the results of all the machines it searches and displays results to users. The results page for metasearch engines is quite like a typical results page for a search engine showing the effects the metasearch engine considers the most relevant on its first page.
The metasearch engines don’t look identical – they could get results from different search engines and employ different algorithms to determine what effects they’ll show. You’ll also notice various features – some allow users to utilize Boolean operators. In contrast, others restrict your search to specific domains, while some enable you to look for certain file types.
Another significant difference between metasearch engines is how they deal with sponsored results. Some metasearch engines don’t display sponsored results, while others contain sponsored content. Searching through various metasearch engines will allow you to locate one with the perfect mix of features and effects that meet your requirements.
The reason people utilize metasearch engines
The majority of consumers don’t even realize that meta-search engines exist. Most people use Google, and even the few who don’t utilize search engines like Bing (or localized search engines such as Baidu).
The people who are aware and have a basic understanding of meta-search engines are using them for various reasons. One of the most important is privacy. Metasearch engines often advertise themselves as the guardians of the data of users. It’s the one that searches, not the user, so it is possible to explore those that aren’t based on cookies, location information, and other factors that affect the results. Additionally, search engines aren’t able to track the information you’re trying to find.
The most obvious reason for using meta search engines is that many users are unhappy with the search results from one engine. What better way to get an amalgamation of results from all the top search engines in the world? *
*(The answer to this writer’s view is that Google is more likely to provide better results on its own and other search engines drag lower results quality. The average results, but that’s only one person’s perspective. I also enjoy Google’s rich results. I do not use the author’s persona, nor do I write directly to my readers, but this article is on metasearch engines, so I thought that now was the right moment to go meta.)
Search engines, SEO and Metasearch.
We now know the reasons regular users of search engines might be interested in metasearch engines. We need to think about how they could be used for SEO.
There’s a thing to know. You should not be trying to optimize to be a meta search engine. Optimize for Google, as it’s the one that (basically) people use. Making an effort to optimize for a machine that aggregates results from different search engines is creating headaches.
What you can utilize metasearch engines for is research on keywords. Most meta search engines display several queries related to your search before your search results – you can use these results lists to locate long-tail and specific keywords for narrow niches.
Some metasearch engines let you search through different machines at the touch of a button. You can also examine the results of search engines. This is helpful if you’re (for any reason) looking to improve your search results on your site for search engines such as Bing.
Metasearch engines: Examples
Are you interested in using metasearch engines? Our Edmonton SEO Agency has created several you can test:
- Dogpile
- Search (there are many examples of Searx that you could make use of, such as Searx Belgium)
- manager
- Info
We’ve selected these metasearch engines because they offer various features, queries to search engines, and many more. Explore them, and discover what you discover!