SEO Basics for Beginners: How Google Ranks Websites

SEO basics are simpler than they look. Search engine optimisation is the practice of making your website easy for Google to understand and genuinely useful for searchers.

How Google works in three steps

1. Crawling — Google's bots discover pages by following links
2. Indexing — Google stores and understands what each page is about
3. Ranking — for every search, Google orders pages by relevance and quality

Ranking factors that matter most

• Relevance: does the page match what the searcher wants?
• Quality and helpfulness: is it accurate, original and written by someone who knows the topic?
• Authority: do other trustworthy sites link to it?
• Experience: is it fast, mobile-friendly and easy to use?

Five things to do first

1. Set up Google Search Console and submit your sitemap
2. Give every page a unique, descriptive title tag
3. Write a clear meta description that earns the click
4. Use one H1 and logical H2 subheadings
5. Link related pages together with descriptive anchor text

Keep learning

SEO rewards patience and consistency. Want to master it hands-on? Join our SEO Training Course in Madhapur or online.