Learn exactly how search engines rank webpages. Discover the role of on-page SEO, off-page authority, E-E-A-T, and how to track your positions in Google Search Console.
Let’s say you just published a massive 3,000-word guide on your website.
You did everything right.
Discovery is exactly what it sounds like. It is the very first step in the SEO lifecycle. Before crawling. Before indexing. Before ranking.
Googlebot found your link. And next, search engines actually have to read what is on that page. This process is called crawling.
They crawled your code. They stored it in the database.
But when you type your main keyword into Google, nothing happens. You check page one. You check page two. You are nowhere to be found.
That is because getting into the database is not the finish line. It is just the starting point.
Because if you aren’t in the index, you simply do not exist to Google. If a bot discovers and crawls your page but refuses to index it, you still won’t rank. But once you are safely indexed, the real game begins.
Here is exactly how search engines order and rank your webpages, and how you can push your content to the very top.
How The Algorithm Sorts The Web
When a user types a query into Google, the search engine does not go out and scan the live web in real-time. Instead, it searches its own internal database.
But it has to sort through millions of results in milliseconds. And it has to put the absolute best answer at the number one spot.
To do this, Google and Search Engines uses a highly complex algorithm. This algorithm looks at hundreds of different ranking factors.
We can break these factors down into three main categories. On-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO.
Both on-page and off-page factors play an important role in SEO.
On-Page SEO for Relevance
First, Google has to know if your page actually answers the user’s question.
While off-page SEO refers to optimization tactics applied outside your website, on-page SEO refers to efforts applied on your webpages.
This is all about relevance.
Let’s say a user searches for “best running shoes.” Google scans your indexed page. It looks at your title tag. It looks at your H2 headings. It reads your main body text.
If your page is perfectly optimized for that exact topic, Google tags it as highly relevant.
Off-Page SEO for Authority
But relevance isn’t enough. Thousands of pages are relevant.
Google has to know who to trust.
Off-page SEO (search engine optimization) refers to efforts to improve a website’s unpaid search engine rankings without making changes on the website itself.
Think about off-page SEO as building your site’s reputation. The goal of off-page SEO is to get search engines and users to see your site as more trustworthy and authoritative.
Common tactics include link building, guest posting, and social media marketing.
Technical SEO for Performance
Finally, Google wants to serve pages that provide a great user experience.
But there’s also technical SEO to consider. This involves making site-wide technical improvements to things like security, loading speeds, and mobile-friendliness.
With the aim of improving search visibility.
If your site takes ten seconds to load, users will bounce. And Google will actively demote your rankings.
Why Backlinks Carry The Most Weight In Ranking?
Let’s dive deeper into authority. Because authority is what separates page one from page ten.
Off-page SEO plays a major role in your site’s ability to rank. It’s an essential part of a successful SEO strategy.
And the strongest signal of authority is a backlink.
Link building is the process of getting other websites to link to your site. In SEO, these links are called backlinks.
And off-page SEO factors like backlinks, reviews, and recommendations help search engines see your site as reputable. Which can lead to better visibility in search results.
Let’s say a major news outlet links to your new guide. Google sees that as a massive vote of confidence.
The more backlinks a page or domain has, the more authoritative it may seem to Google. Especially if those backlinks come from domains that are authoritative themselves.
Semrush measures a website’s authority with a metric called Authority Score. It’s based on the quality and quantity of backlinks, organic traffic levels, and the naturalness of the site’s entire backlink profile.
If you want to consistently outrank your competitors, you need a higher authority score. You need better links.
The Power of E-E-A-T
But Google is getting smarter. They don’t just count links anymore. They look at the entity behind the website.
One of the best ways to build your credibility in the eyes of search engines is to focus on Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).
This is a concept Google’s Quality Raters use when evaluating search results and providing feedback to improve future algorithm updates.
You have to prove you are a real expert.
You need clear author bios. You need verifiable contact information. You need to show first-hand experience with the exact topic you are writing about.
If you lack E-E-A-T, search engines will hesitate to put you at the top of the results.
How to Check Your Rankings in Google Search Console
So, how do you know where you actually stand in the search results?
You don’t just guess. You check Google Search Console.
Here is exactly how to track your ranking positions.
First, log into your Search Console dashboard.
Look at the left sidebar menu. Click on the Search results tab located right under the Performance section.
Look at the large graph at the very top of the screen. You will see four colored metric boxes.
Click the orange box that says Average position. This immediately activates your ranking data line on the graph.
Then, scroll down to the data table just below the graph.
Click on the Pages tab.
Find your newly published URL in the list and click on it. This filters all the data to only show metrics for that specific article.
Next, click back over to the Queries tab right next to it.
This will show you a precise list of every single keyword that specific page is currently ranking for.
Look at the “Position” column on the far right side of the table.
This number is exactly where you sit in the search engine index.
If the number is a 1, congratulations. You are at the very top of Google.
If you are stuck on page two (positions 11-20), you need to force the issue.
Go back to your content. Improve your on-page relevance. Build more authoritative backlinks.
And prove to the search engines that you deserve the number one spot.
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