Sign in
3 min read SEO Guide

Beginner SEO Guide: How Google Finds, Understands and Connects Your Content

Learn the basics of SEO as a beginner. This guide explains how Google finds your pages, what indexing is, how to make your site easier to crawl and how smart internal links improve rankings.

TLDR

  • Google needs access to your pages before they can rank.
  • Make it crawlable, consistent and organized.
  • Link your pages using short, descriptive anchor text.
  • Use clean URLs and basic HTML tags.
  • Build content first, links second.

Turn GoHighLevel into a marketing OS tailored to your exact business needs

Learn more

What this post solves

If you’re new to SEO and don’t know how search engines actually find or understand your content, this will teach you the simple setup steps that help Google index and rank your site.

Who this is for

Beginners setting up a website for the first time. Bloggers, small business owners, early-stage creators.

What is SEO and how does Google Search work?

Search engine optimization means making your site easier for Google to find, understand and rank in search results. You can’t control Google, but you can control how well your site is structured for its crawlers.

Search process in three steps:

[ User searches ]
       ↓
[ Google finds matching pages ]
       ↓
[ Google ranks them in search results ]

Google uses automated crawlers (also called bots or spiders) to explore the web. They follow links from page to page, copy the content they find and store it in Google’s index.

Indexing means Google has saved a version of your page. Ranking is deciding which saved page to show when someone searches.

If your page isn’t crawled or indexed, it can’t rank.

How do you help Google find and index your content?

Google is good at finding pages on its own, but you still need a clear site structure. Broken links, slow hosting or blocked pages all stop indexing.

What does your site need for Google to crawl it properly?

  • A functional navigation menu
  • Internal links between related pages
  • No blocked pages through robots.txt or noindex
  • Descriptive page titles and meta descriptions
  • Functional sitemap (XML)

Simple crawl-friendly structure example

Home
 ├── Blog
 │    ├── Post A
 │    ├── Post B
 │    └── Post C
 ├── About
 └── Contact

Bad version:

Home
 │
Blog (broken links)
 │
???? (orphan pages)

Should you submit a sitemap manually?

Only if you're launching a new site or making major changes. Google Search Console lets you upload an XML sitemap so Google knows what pages exist.

For small sites with good navigation, Google often discovers pages automatically, so don’t obsess over it.

How to check if Google has indexed a page

Search site:yourdomain.com/page-url in Google.

If you see it appear, it’s indexed. If not, you may need to:

  • Improve internal linking to the page
  • Fix noindex or robots.txt settings
  • Improve URL structure and load speed

What is smart internal linking and why does it matter for ranking?

Links are the way Google learns how your content connects. Internal links help search engines understand which pages are most important.

Homepage
  ↓
Service Page (linked from homepage hero)
  ↓
Blog Posts (linked from service page)

Pages with more internal links usually rank higher because they look more important to Google’s crawlers.

3 rules for good internal linking

  1. Link with purpose
    Don’t link only for SEO, link to help the user take the next logical step.
  2. Use clear, short anchor text
    Bad: “Click here to read more”
    Good: “Read the SEO guide for beginners”
  3. Avoid stuffing multiple links to the same page in a paragraph
    Google sees this as low value.

Never use vague anchor text

Bad:

"Click here"

Good:

"See how to optimize images for SEO"

Action checklist

  • Use clean, readable URLs like domain.com/blog/seo-basics
  • Add natural internal links between pages with short anchors
  • Create and upload an XML sitemap to Google Search Console
  • Avoid blocking crawlers via robots.txt or noindex
  • Keep navigation simple and consistent
  • Don’t duplicate the same content across multiple URLs
  • Test if you're indexed using site:domain.com/page
  • Focus on content first, links second

FAQ

How long does it take for Google to index a page?
Anywhere from a few hours to weeks. New sites without backlinks take longer. Internal links and proper sitemaps speed up indexing.

Do I need to hire an SEO expert to get indexed?
Not for basic indexing. Focus on clear navigation and working links. Tools like Google Search Console give everything you need at the start.

Do I need backlinks for Google to find my site?
Backlinks help, but they aren't required for indexing. Internal linking and a sitemap are enough for most small sites.

Why isn’t my page showing in Google even if Search Console says it’s indexed?
Indexing doesn’t equal ranking. If your content is too thin, duplicate, blocked, or slow to load, Google may ignore it for relevant searches.

Do I have to submit every URL to Search Console?
No. Submit the root sitemap once. Let Google crawl the rest naturally.