If you want to understand SEO (Search Engine Optimization) properly, then first you must know how a search engine works. When you understand the working of a search engine, you will also understand how SEO techniques work and why.
The main purpose of SEO is to improve the ranking of the website, so that when a user searches for something on Google or any search engine, your website appears in the top results.
3 Main steps of Search Engine :-
Search engine processes any website in 3 main steps:
Crawling (finding new web pages)
Indexing (storing page information)
Ranking (showing best pages in search results)
Now let’s understand them in detail.
- Crawling – How does a search engine find new web pages?
Search engine uses crawlers or spiders to find new websites or pages. These robots follow links from one page to another page and scan new content.
If your website has quality backlinks (which other good websites create for your site), then Google crawls your site quickly. This is an important part of off-site SEO.
How to tell Google about your website quickly?
Submit your website to Google Search Console.
Upload a sitemap so that Google knows which pages are on the site.
Improve internal linking so that Google can easily access all the pages of your website.
Pro Tip: If you do not want any page to be indexed in Google, then use the “noindex” meta tag.
- Indexing – How does Google understand web pages?
When Google crawls your page, it analyzes what topic this page is about.
In this process Google checks:
Keywords – What topic is the page about?
Meta tags – Are the title tag and meta description optimized or not?
Images & Videos – Is Alt text given or not?
Structured Data (Schema Markup) – It helps Google to understand the details of the page better.
Google stores all this information in its index, so that when a user searches, that page can be retrieved immediately.
- Ranking – How does Google show pages in search results?
When a user queries something on Google, Google analyzes the pages stored in its index and displays the most relevant and high-quality pages in front of the user.
Important Factors of Ranking:
Relevance: How much does the content of the page match the user’s search query?
Quality: Is the content valuable and user-friendly or not?
Trustworthiness: Is the website reliable or not? (E-E-A-T – Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)
User Engagement: CTR (Click Through Rate), Bounce Rate and Time Spent on Page.
Page Speed & Mobile Friendliness: Does the website load fast or not, and is it mobile-friendly or not?
Google checks all these factors and shows the best results on top.
Changing Trends and Future of SEO
New updates keep coming in SEO all the time. Earlier only keywords and backlinks used to matter, but now AI, user experience and content quality are becoming most important.
Latest SEO Trends & Updates:
AI and Machine Learning: Google now uses AI-based algorithms (RankBrain, BERT).
Voice Search Optimization: People now search by saying “Hey Google” instead of typing, so conversational keywords have become important.
E-E-A-T Update: Google now checks not only keywords, but also the experience and expertise of the author.
Google Algorithm Leaks: Recent API leaks have confirmed that Google also considers CTR (Click-Through Rate) as a ranking factor.
Pro Tip: Follow Google Search Liaison (X/Twitter account) and Google Blog for new updates from Google.
Conclusion: How to get success in SEO?
To get success in SEO, you will have to understand Google’s algorithm, follow new updates and apply the right SEO techniques.
Quick SEO Checklist:
Do proper keyword research.
Make the website mobile-friendly and fast.
Create quality backlinks.
Write user-friendly and valuable content.
Analyze Google Search Console and Analytics.
Stay updated with new updates from Google.
SEO is a long-term game, it requires patience and continuous learning. If you follow the best SEO practices, your website’s ranking and traffic will gradually improve.
