Browsers are software applications (that you can download and install on your device) used to display websites. Then, once you have access, search engines (which are software systems like Google, Bing or Yahoo) are specific websites that allows you to search the World Wide Web (internet) - i.e. you can enter a search query and it provides you with relevant search results.
Many of us get these two things mixed up with each other. So, let's break down the key differences of a web browser vs search engine.
What is a Browser?
A web browser is a software application that you can use to access the internet or search for information on it (using a search engine). This is achieved by retrieving and displaying the information from web pages on web servers. Browsers can be downloaded and installed on multiple device types, like PCs, laptops, mobile phones (smartphones), etc.
The very first web browser was invented by Sir Tim Berners Lee in 1990. Some of the most popular browsers today are Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Each will have different versions for specific operating systems such as Windows, Mac OS or Linux.
The key features of a web browser are:
- a Graphical User Interface (or GUI).
- A search box (or browser address bar or search field, so a user can enter a search term or a website URL).
As a website owner it makes sense to make sure your sites work on the most popular browsers.
What is a Search Engine?
In basic terms, a search engine is a system allowing a user to perform a search on the World Wide Web (internet). You can access a search engine by entering a website URL into a browser, for example google.com.
Using a search engine is easy too. You just enter a search query, and it provides you with the most relevant websites in the search results. They are commonly used by users to find information they need while browsing the internet.
Given the massive amount of information on the Internet, a search engine will act to filter out low quality and less relevant pages. This allows users to quickly see the best quality answers to their search query.
A Short History of Google
The most popular search engines are Google, followed by Bing and Yahoo, which is also known as the “big three”. Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google on September 4, 1998, whilst they were both PhD students at Stanford University in California, United States.
How do Search Engines Work?
The two main components of a search engine:
- Crawler or Bot: These are software programs that regularly scan the Internet for web pages in its database (it's Index) for URLs, keywords, and links. These crawled pages are then parsed, so that any important (or newer) information is extracted or indexed. A scheduler then prioritizes crawling of the parsed links.
- Search Algorithm: This is the mechanism behind the search process. It searches the Index and matches the keyword searched by a user with the most relevant webpages, then displays these in the search results.
What is Search Engine Optimization?
Search engine optimization (or SEO) is the technique used to increase a website’s visibility in the "organic" (or natural) search results of a search engine. SEO’s goal is to improve the ranking of a website’s pages in the organic (or non-paid) results.
To appear at the top of the search results, you either pay the going rate for that search (by advertising) or ensure your site is search optimized so it organically appears higher in the results. That’s where the art of SEO comes in. As well as on-page SEO (by optimizing the content on the web pages for specific keywords), off-page SEO is also especially important - link building to gain trust and authority, is critical the success of websites, especially in competitive niches. You can rank higher by having a thorough understanding of the search algorithm.
Link building is the process of getting high quality backlinks to your website so that it gets more traffic. It is important because all those links help your site in search engine rankings and in attracting the target audience.
In simple terms, it is the process of obtaining inbound links to your website from other websites, which passes along link juice that helps your website rank higher in the search engines.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about the difference between browsers and search engines:
Is Google a search engine or a website?
A search engine helps you search for information you need on the internet, by displaying relevant search results with links to websites, images, videos, news, etc. Whereas a website is one or more web pages hosted online that can be accessed via the internet. Google is in fact both a search engine and a website. Google's search engine can be accessed through the website google.com or its specific geo-locations, e.g., google.co.uk (United Kingdom), google.de (Germany) or google.com.au (Australia).
Do you need both Google and Chrome?
Google and Chrome are not the same thing. Google is a search engine, whilst Chrome is an internet browser. For a detailed analysis please see: what is the difference between google and google chrome
What are examples of web browser vendors?
A browser is a program used to view pages on the internet. It parses, then displays a page's content, making it easier for user navigation. The most popular browsers are Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. The most dominant browser is currently Google Chrome.
What were the first web browsers?
In a lot of ways, the early days of the Internet were a bit like the Wild West. There were far fewer rules compared to today. The earliest web browsers were entirely text based. Yes, imaging an online world without images or video! Soon after, browsers like Netscape became popular, and the evolution of the graphical web browser.
What is Duckduckgo?
DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search engine that was founded in 2008. The main difference between DuckDuckGo and mainstream browsers like Chrome, is it has a private browsing mode. That means it keeps the user's browsing behaviour private. It does not store user's personal information, like IP addresses or browsing history or tracking searches to display better ads.