Here are 2 great resources for learning the answer to this question:
What happens when you click on a URL in your browser
What happens when you type an URL in the browser and press enter?
The way I learned this was by paraphrasing each sentence and visualizing the actions happening. I also use the GMail snooze feature to first review this every day, then every 3 days, then every week, and now it will probably be every quarter.