Getting search engines to index your pages has always been challenging. And with the introduction of Search APIs, the process has become even more complex. Luckily, this guide explains Search APIs to help you choose the best user experience for your website.
What Is An API?
An application programming interface(API) is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. They can be considered an interface that allows you to use pre-existing code written by someone else to build your app or project.
Public vs. Private APIs
Generally speaking, there are two main types of APIs: public and private. Public APIs allow developers to create apps that use data from a company’s website or service, whereas private APIs only use internal APIs. So, for example, you can think of a public API as a bridge between your website or service and third-party applications. A private API would be like a secret passageway to get around your building. Both have their place in modern web development; it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish with your application.
The First Server Indexes
According to Contentful, “An index is a bucket of searchable data.” Developers built the first search engines on server-side programming languages, like PHP or Perl. For example, WebCrawler was the earliest search engine created in 1994 by students at Washington University for use by their classmates. From its inception, it used HTML to gather information from websites; it then stored them on a database server.
Full-Text Search in APIs with Algolia
With more and more websites moving to mobile devices, creating a full-text search feature is essential to making your website work across different platforms. Algolia makes it easy to develop full-text search features on your website using our API, which operates across several programming languages. Still, there are a few considerations you’ll want to make when adding these features to your website.
Understanding How Web Servers and Web Browsers Interact
Search engines’ sole purpose is to connect people with relevant information. The better that search engines can understand, index, and rank a website’s content—the more likely they are to be able to connect users with it. But how do search engines work? In short, there are two components involved: web servers and web browsers.
The Rise of the RESTful Web Services
Over just a few years, RESTful Web services have evolved from a back-end developer concept to an essential practice for almost every web application. The reasons are straightforward—REST is simple, flexible, scalable, and efficient. It also encourages loose coupling between services. And it provides these benefits while remaining independent of any specific programming language or technology stack.
In conclusion, search engines rely on various factors to rank your website appropriately. Although Google has begun favoring websites with an API over those without, it is not yet required to include one if you want to rank well.
