Crawling & Indexing

Search engines like Google use bots (also known as crawlers or spiders) to scan websites across the internet. These bots follow links from one page to another, collecting information about the content, structure, and relevance of each page. Once a page is crawled, it is stored in a massive database called an index.

The index acts like a library where search engines retrieve relevant pages when users enter a query. If a website has poor internal linking, broken links, or restricted access (such as improper use of robots.txt or noindex tags), search engines may struggle to crawl and index its pages, leading to lower visibility in search results.

Ensuring proper site architecture, submitting sitemaps, and optimizing URLs all help improve the indexing process.

Keyword Optimization

Once a webpage is indexed, search engines analyze its content to determine which keywords and topics it is relevant for. This is why keyword optimization plays a crucial role in SEO.

It involves strategically placing relevant keywords in key areas like the page title, meta description, headings (H1, H2, etc.), and throughout the body content. However, keyword stuffing—overloading a page with excessive keywords—can have negative effects, as Google prioritizes natural, high-quality content.

Modern SEO also considers semantic search, meaning search engines understand the intent behind a query rather than just matching exact keywords. Using related terms, long-tail keywords, and structured content improves a page’s ability to rank for multiple search queries.

Backlinks & Authority

Search engines consider backlinks (links from other websites to your site) as “votes of confidence.” When authoritative, high-quality websites link to your content, it signals to Google that your site is trustworthy and valuable. This increases your domain authority, improving your ranking potential.

However, not all backlinks are equal—links from spammy or low-quality sites can actually hurt rankings.

The best SEO strategies involve earning backlinks naturally through guest blogging, creating shareable content, and building relationships with industry influencers. Internal linking (linking between pages on your own site) also helps distribute authority and improve user navigation.

User Experience & Performance

SEO isn’t just about keywords and backlinks—it also considers how users interact with your website. Google uses metrics like page speed, mobile-friendliness, bounce rate, and dwell time to evaluate a site’s quality.

If a website is slow, difficult to navigate, or not optimized for mobile devices, visitors are more likely to leave, which negatively impacts rankings.

Google’s Core Web Vitals specifically measure loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability to ensure a smooth user experience. To optimize for SEO, websites should have fast-loading pages, clear navigation, engaging content, and responsive designs that work seamlessly across all devices.