by Wayne Smith
Mathematical Point of View of Search Algorithms
Algorithms are mathematical and do not follow wants and desires. Understanding how algorithms work is a great assistance to search engine optimization.
User Intent or Google Search Intent
There are several intents users may have when using search; Academically these would be considered, Navigational, Informational, Commercial, and Transactional. As Google has local search results, which people use, local intent should be added as real-world user intent, and the academic categories open into many kinds of user intentions, practical considerations, and content offerings (including entertainment).
A legalist POV Google is unable to determine the actual user intent from search; But, what they can and are doing is learning what results people want to find when they search for specific words, (or entities), based on their interactions with the search results, (trying different keywords), and interaction with the site, (not following the link to the site or returning and using a different site).
Myth: Search Treats All Websites the Same
There is a myth that if a new website looks like an established, (Read Established not Old), website and does the same thing they will get the same results. This likely stems from a desire that things should be fair. For this to be true CPU power would need to be limitless. How many sites exist on the internet? A Billion? New websites appear, and many websites cease to exist, and many simply stop updating and suffer from link rot. Even with Google and the least expensive task of running GoogleBot, the bot favors established sites ... old sites can remain established if they keep their content updated, but it is not the age of the site that makes the difference.
Ranking Non-SEO content
Several algorithms aid in getting non-seo content ranked in search engines. For enterprise-level content freshness and gain of knowledge are in play. For video and audio what other people think your content is about is in play; Including user interactions within search and other websites. Internal linking, what you think the content is about is also in play.
Topical Authority: Search Entities, Schema, and EEAT ... Oh My!
In the real world, Albert Einstein wrote a paper, and in an example of quality over quantity many people and organizations cited his creative work. In the real world, people ask salespeople questions about the products in the store, an example of experience with a large quantity of products. For a digital document retrieval system, Albert Einstein and the Salesperson are people or organizations the theory of Relativity and products are things. What the Person or Organization knows is the rating factor, (EEAT); Not the entities themselves. Some topics require an EEAT more like Einstein and for others, a salesperson's EEAT will work.