Skip to content
Searchpedia SEO field notes Callum Bennett Callum

Start here

Google Search

Google Search is the system that crawls, indexes, and serves web pages. If you understand those three stages, you'll stop guessing why your pages don't rank.

Beginner6 min readUpdated 2026-07-27Notes by Callum Bennett

Start here

  • Google Search has three stages: crawling, indexing, serving. Each is a potential bottleneck.
  • Publishing doesn't equal indexing. You have to actively make pages findable.
  • Use the words people search for in key page elements.
  • Don't block resources or links—Google needs them to understand your page.

What I'd do first

  • Check if Google can crawl your page. Use Search Console's URL Inspection tool. If it says 'URL is not on Google', you've got a crawl problem.
  • Make sure your page is indexable. No 'noindex' tags, no blocked resources (CSS, JS, images), no login walls. Google needs to see the full page.
  • Use the words people actually search for. Put them in your title, H1, alt text, and link text. Don't get clever with synonyms—use the real terms.
  • Don't block links. If you're using JavaScript to hide navigation or links, Google might not follow them. Keep links in standard HTML where possible.
  • Submit a sitemap. It's not a magic bullet, but it helps Google find pages it might miss.

Plain-English take

Google Search is a giant library. First, it sends out little robots (crawlers) to find every book (page) on the web. Then it reads each book and files it in the catalog (index). Finally, when you ask a question, it checks the catalog and pulls out the most relevant books. That's it. Three steps. If your book isn't in the catalog, it doesn't matter how good it is—nobody will find it.

How it shows up

You'll notice Google Search in action every time you type a query. The results page shows organic links, ads, featured snippets, images, videos, and more. But behind the scenes, Google has already decided which pages to show based on its index. If your page isn't indexed, it's invisible. If it's indexed but doesn't match the searcher's intent, it won't rank. The key is to align your content with what people actually want.

Tradeoffs

There's a tension between making pages crawlable and making them fast. Heavy JavaScript frameworks can slow down crawling, but they also enable rich user experiences. I've seen sites where blocking JS improved crawl efficiency but broke the page rendering. You have to test. Another tradeoff: using exact-match keywords in titles can help ranking but might sound unnatural to readers. I lean toward natural phrasing with the keyword included, but I've second-guessed that plenty of times.

What I got wrong

I used to think publishing a page meant it would automatically show up in search. It doesn't. I also assumed Google could handle any JavaScript—it can't. And I wasted time optimising for keywords nobody searches for. The biggest lesson: start with the searcher, not the page.

Next step

CrawlingThe first stage—how Google discovers your pages. If you skip this, nothing else matters.

Quick answers

What is Google Search?

Google Search is Google's web search engine that crawls, indexes, and serves results from the web in response to user queries.

How does Google Search work?

Google Search works in three stages: crawling (discovering pages), indexing (analyzing and storing content), and serving (returning relevant results).

Why is Google Search important for SEO?

Google Search is the primary system where your pages must be discoverable, understandable, and eligible to appear. Understanding its stages helps diagnose ranking issues.

Where to go next

More from Start here

Sources

Primary documentation is linked directly. Anything commercial is marked nofollow.

Notes from Callum Bennett.