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All lessons in SEO for Beginners Lesson 0.2 of 26

Module 0: Introduction

  1. 0.1What is a search engine?
  2. 0.2How do search engines work?
  3. 0.3What is SEO?
  4. 0.4How to start SEO

Module 1: Keyword Research

  1. 1.1What are keywords in SEO?
  2. 1.2What is search intent?
  3. 1.3How to find keywords for your website
  4. 1.4Keyword difficulty
  5. 1.5Keyword mapping

Module 2: On-Page SEO

  1. 2.1What is on-page SEO?
  2. 2.2How to optimize a page for a keyword
  3. 2.3How to write title tags and meta descriptions
  4. 2.4How to use headings for SEO
  5. 2.5Internal linking for SEO

Module 3: Link Building

  1. 3.1What is link building?
  2. 3.2What makes a good backlink?
  3. 3.3How to get backlinks for beginners
  4. 3.4Blogger outreach

Module 4: Technical SEO Basics

  1. 4.1What is technical SEO?
  2. 4.2How to check if a page is indexed
  3. 4.3How to find broken links on a website
  4. 4.4XML sitemap and robots.txt for beginners
  5. 4.5How to do a basic SEO audit

Module 5: Measuring SEO Results

  1. 5.1How to set up Google Search Console
  2. 5.2Clicks, impressions, CTR, and position explained
  3. 5.3Your SEO action plan

How do search engines work?

Inside this lesson

  • What crawling, indexing, and ranking mean
  • How Googlebot finds new pages
  • Why some pages never show up in Google

Short answer

Search engines work in three steps. First, a web crawler like Googlebot visits pages by following links. Next, the search engine stores what it understands in a huge database called the index. Finally, when someone searches, it ranks indexed pages by how well they answer that search. Miss a step, and your page stays invisible.

Three steps: crawl, index, rank🕷️CrawlBots follow links📚IndexPages stored🏆RankBest answers firstMiss one step and the page cannot show up in search.
Every search engine works in the same three steps.

Step 1: Crawling

Crawling is how Google and other search engines discover pages. They use a program called a web crawler, or bot. Google’s crawler is named Googlebot. Bing’s is named Bingbot.

Googlebot works like a jeepney driver who only knows the routes he has driven. He finds new streets when a known street connects to them. Links are those streets.

Googlebot finds new pages in a few ways:

  • Links from pages it already knows. A link from another site or from your own pages leads it to you.
  • XML sitemaps. A sitemap is a file that lists the pages on your site. You can submit it to Google.
  • Requests in Google Search Console. You can ask Google to crawl a specific page.

After fetching a page, Google also renders it. Rendering means running the page’s code, like a browser does, so Google sees what visitors see.

Step 2: Indexing

Indexing is how Google and other search engines store and understand pages. After crawling a page, the search engine reads its text, images, and links. It then decides whether to add the page to its index.

Think of the index as a library catalog. A book that is not in the catalog cannot be borrowed, even if it sits on a shelf.

Not every crawled page gets indexed. Google and other search engines may skip a page that:

  • Is a near copy of another page
  • Has very little useful content
  • Carries a noindex tag, which tells Google not to index it
  • Shows an error when Googlebot visits

Step 3: Ranking

Ranking happens the moment someone searches. Google or any other search engine looks through its index and orders the pages that best answer the search. This order becomes the search results page.

The ranking algorithms of Google and other search engines weigh many signals. Some of the main ones:

  • Relevance. Does the page match the words and meaning of the search?
  • Helpfulness and quality. Does it answer the question fully and clearly?
  • Usability. Does it load fast and work well on a phone?
  • Trust. Do other trusted sites link to it?
  • Context. Results can change by location. “Best siomai” in Davao shows different results than in Manila.

Drag and drop: put the steps in order

Drag (or tap) each card into Crawl, Index, or Rank.

  • Googlebot follows a link to a new blog post.

  • Google stores the post and notes it is about “budget travel in Siargao.”

  • Someone searches “Siargao travel tips” and the post shows in position 4.

  • Google reads your sitemap and finds 10 new product pages.

  • Google skips a page because it is a copy of another page.

  • A faster, more helpful page moves above yours.

How to check each step for your site

  1. Check crawling. Make sure important pages are linked from your homepage or menu. Pages with no links pointing to them are called orphan pages.
  2. Check indexing. Search Google for site:yourdomain.com. You will see pages Google has indexed. You will learn this fully in Lesson 4.2.
  3. Check ranking. Open Google Search Console and look at the Performance report. It shows the searches where your pages appear. Bing Webmaster Tools shows the same for Bing. You will set up Search Console in Lesson 5.1.

Quick quiz

1. What is Googlebot?
2. Which file lists your pages to help Google find them?
3. A page is crawled but not in the index. Can it rank?

Common mistakes

  • Publishing pages with no links to them. If nothing links to a page, Googlebot may never find it.
  • Blocking Google and other search engines by accident. A noindex tag left on from a site’s test version can hide your whole site.
  • Assuming crawled means ranked. Each step is separate. A page can be crawled and still not be indexed.
  • Expecting new pages to show up overnight. Discovery can take days or weeks for a new site.

Your action

Key terms

Web crawler (bot)
A program that visits web pages by following links.
Googlebot
Google’s web crawler.
Rendering
Running a page’s code so Google sees the page like a visitor does.
Index
Google’s database of pages it has stored and understood.
XML sitemap
A file listing the pages you want search engines to find.
Noindex tag
A code that tells search engines not to add a page to their index.
Orphan page
A page with no internal links pointing to it.

Questions beginners ask

How often does Google crawl my site?

It depends. Popular sites that update often get crawled more. New, small sites may be crawled less often at first.

Can I make Google index my page faster?

You can request indexing with the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console. Bing Webmaster Tools has a similar URL submission tool. Neither guarantees indexing, but both can speed up discovery.

Do other search engines work the same way?

Mostly, yes. Bing and others also crawl, index, and rank. This course focuses on Google because most people in the Philippines use it.

Related lessons

Want someone to handle SEO for your business while you learn? The team at Remar Digital can help.