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Search Engines: Recommendations To Improve Search Results |
| Date Added: July 27, 2010 02:10:02 PM |
| Author: ryllee13 |
| Category: Internet: Resources |
| The Web contains millions of pages. Search engines are useful tools aimed at helping users find exactly what they want. The downside of search engines is that they find too much info. Keep on reading to learn how to narrow down your search and find what you're looking for. So how do search engines work? Search engines make a database of sites by sending "spiders" or "robots" that go from link to link. When spiders get to a website, they index most words available. The search engine scans its database of websites to match the keywords, which you have entered in the search field, to those same keywords in pages in the database. How to make the search more effective? It's easy and simple to improve your search results. You merely need to know some fundamentals. Some search engines have step-by-step guides to do this but for others you have to enter the right commands. Below you'll find some basic commands which work in most of the major search engines. - Specify what you're looking for The more specific you are, the more info you'll find. Type in the search field exactly what you're seeking. Fir instance, if you're searching for science experiments, enter School Science Fair Projects instead of science projects. If you know it's a biology experiment, add the word 'biology' to your search. - The + symbol The most crucial terms in your search should be placed first. To make sure the search engine finds pages with all the words you're seeking, place the + symbol in front of each word. Fir instance, if you're looking for info on Angelina Jolie and Bred Pitt, then enter +Jolie +Pitt. Only pages that have both words will be on the list. - The - symbol If you're looking for something specific but don't need tons of other information unrelated to your topic, use the - symbol in front of each term. Fir instance, if you're searching for info on Roger Federer but don't want to read about his career, enter Roger Federer -Pro -Tennis Player. - Quotation marks When search words are put in quotation marks, it's called a "phrase search." The search engine will provide pages that have the words in the exact order as in quotation marks. Fir instance, if you're looking specifically for a bio on Sienna Miller, enter "Sienna Miller Biography" and see what comes up. - Booleans Boolean operators (pronounced boo lee ans) can be applied in most major search engines which provide advanced searching. The most popular boolean operators are AND, OR and NOT. Boolean operators are a lot like the + and - symbols. AND means "include all of the words," OR means "include any of the words" and NOT means "exclude." For example, if you're looking for info on bags and shoes, enter bags AND shoes. Your search will bring back websites that contain both those words. |
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