How the Web Works: A Beginner's Guide

You open your browser, type in www.google.com, and hit Enter. In less than a second, the page appears. Magic, right?

Not quite. Behind that instant load is a powerful, intricate process involving servers, protocols, DNS, and your browser’s rendering engine.

In this post, we’ll break it all down step by step—in plain English.
By the end, you’ll know exactly what happens behind the scenes every time you visit a website.

1. You Type the URL

Let’s say you enter:
https://www.google.com

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) tells the browser exactly what you're trying to access, and how.

It includes:

https:// – the protocol
www.google.com – the domain name
(Optionally) /search?q=openai – the path and query

2. DNS Lookup Begins 🌐

Your computer needs to know the IP address of the server hosting www.google.com.

Here’s how that happens:

The browser checks its cache – maybe it already knows the IP.
If not, it asks your DNS resolver (usually from your ISP).
The resolver checks other DNS servers and eventually finds the IP.
Example: www.google.com → 142.250.183.206

Now your computer knows where to send the request.

3. The Browser Sends an HTTP/HTTPS Request 🚀

Using the IP address, your browser sends a request to Google’s server.

If the site uses HTTPS, your browser and the server first perform a TLS handshake to encrypt the connection.
The request contains details like:
- The page path (/)
- The browser you're using (User-Agent)
- Cookies (if any)

4. The Server Responds 📬

Once the request reaches the server:

It finds the requested page
Sends back an HTTP response with:
- HTML content
- Headers (e.g., status code 200 OK)
- Possibly CSS, JavaScript, images, etc.

The response might also include redirects (301, 302) or errors (404 Not Found, 500 Internal Server Error).

5. The Browser Processes the Response 🧠

Now your browser gets to work.

It:

Parses the HTML → builds the DOM
Loads external CSS → applies styles
Downloads and runs JavaScript files
Fetches assets like images, icons, fonts

Everything happens in steps, often in parallel, to speed things up.

6. The Page Appears (Rendering) 🎨

Once all assets are loaded and scripts are executed, the browser renders the final visual webpage.

Repaints the screen
Handles animations and user interactions
May keep loading data in the background (AJAX, APIs)

Boom! The page is live and interactive.

🔁 Summary: The Full Journey

Here's a simplified flow:

You type a URL
→ DNS lookup
→ Request to server
→ Server sends back HTML
→ Browser loads assets
→ Page is rendered

🧪 Bonus: Try It Yourself

Want to see all this in action?

Open any website
Right-click → Inspect → go to the Network tab
Refresh the page

You'll see:

DNS time
Initial requests
HTML, CSS, JS files loading
HTTP status codes

It’s the best way to learn how the web really works!

🧠 Why This Matters

Understanding this process helps you:

Debug slow-loading sites
Improve performance
Work better with DevTools and APIs
Think like a real web developer

This is foundational knowledge for anyone learning frontend, backend, or full-stack development.

📚 Useful Resources

MDN Web Docs – How the Web Works
DNS Explained Simply – Cloudflare
Chrome DevTools Guide
HTTP Protocol – MDN

🙌 Thanks for Reading!

If this article helped you understand the journey from URL to web page, give it a 💙, leave a comment, or share it with a fellow dev!

Stay tuned for the next post on Coding Book, where you’ll always get:

Bytes of Code, Loads of Clarity.

Follow me for more beginner-friendly content on HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and all things web.
Let’s keep learning, one byte at a time!

What Happens When You Enter a URL? A Beginner’s Guide to How the Web Works