HOW Websites Work
Wcbsites are a collection of web pages,which are electronic pagesof informationlinkcd together much like a spider's web．Thisspider's web—like navigational system al—10ws userS t0 move aroundthe system in a non—linear fashion． This means that, unlike abook一一whCre information is laid out for the reader Chr.n010giCauy' in a setWcb user has the power to access information onlinehowever they choose．
websitcS are accessed via a web browser such as Internet Exploreror Mozilla．Webbrowscrs arc the graphical interface that enablesusers to view,find and interact withwebsites．
Wcbsites cach havc their own unique address'called an IPaddress,through whichusers can find them．For example,the AlbertaE—Future Centre'S online address iswww．c—future．ca／alberta．Bytyping this address into the web browser address bar,auser would beconnected to our website．
But.since thc Wcb indexes literally billions of websites'anothermethod facili—tate {inding rClevant websites was necessary． Therefore'search engines that utilize&"keyword searching&"werecreated．
It is estimatcd that m.rc than 98％of Internet users use searchengines find web—sites 0n&"nc．A search engine is a websitewhose primary purpose is to provide a searchfunction for gatheringand reporting information available on the Internet．
Search engines allow Internet users to quickly find websitesrelated tO a certain top—ic through the useof&"keywords&"and&"keyword phrases&"．that is．wordsand phrasesthat describe the topic of interest．
F0r cXamplc,let's say an Internet user in the UK is looking forbusinesses onlinethat sell hand carved indigenous masks andfigurines from Canada．She doesn't know ofany specific businessesselling these items;nor does she know any website addresses'SOsheuses a search engine such as Google or Yahoo tO find websites whosecontent con—tains relevant keywords．
On the search engine's main page,she types into thesearch—box:&"Canadian NativeArt．&"The search engine returns3'3 70 listings containing this keyword phrase,organ—iZed bvrClevanCV. The user can then either start browsing thewebsites listed' or shecan narrOW the results further bysearching within those results for anotherkeywordlike&"mask&",for example．
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