How do search engines know what pages are on a WP site?

  • DotAndComma

    (@pentool)


    10 years, 5 months ago

    When you have a static site, you have actual html pages on the server. Eg, you can take your fav FTP program, login, and see all that static pages listed. So when search engines go to your site, they can “see” the actual pages sitting there.

    In case of content management sites, like WordPress, there are no pages sitting on the server, since all content, even the name of the post is sitting in a database.

    So how do search engines know what pages are on the site?

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Andrew Nevins

    (@anevins)

    WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support

    10 years, 5 months ago

    WordPress spits out HTML, the HTML can be the same as any static site. Search engines don’t care what’s under the hood of a website, all they care about is the front-end stuff like HTML.

    Thread Starter DotAndComma

    (@pentool)

    10 years, 5 months ago

    Whoa! Well that was a speedy response! Thanks 🙂

    Well, to respond, yes I understand that. What I don’t understand is that the html that WP creates does not actually lives on the server. So when I go to (for example) http://www.mysite.com/my-summer-vacation/ there is no actual “my-summer-vacation” html page sitting on the server. Yet google sees it. That’s what I don’t understand, how.

    Andrew Nevins

    (@anevins)

    WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support

    10 years, 5 months ago

    Every time a request is made to a URL WordPress returns the HTML, so even a robot at Google can see the HTML.

    Andrew Nevins

    (@anevins)

    WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support

    10 years, 5 months ago

    There is no “state” on the World Wide Web in general, it’s only generated on the fly.

    Thread Starter DotAndComma

    (@pentool)

    10 years, 5 months ago

    Ok, thanks.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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