[vip_students] More About Google
- From: "Tony Sweeney" <tonysweeney@xxxxx>
- To: "students list" <vip_students@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 21 May 2009 16:20:47 +0100
Hi All,
Just trawling and came across the below which maybe some of you know already
but I found that it helped me refresh my memory re basic searching.
Enjoy!
> Basic search help
Google search basics: Basic search help
Search is simple: just type whatever comes to mind in the search box, hit
Enter or click on the Google Search button, and Google will search the web
for
pages that are relevant to your query.
Most of the time you'll find exactly what you were looking for with just a
basic query. However the following tips can help you refine your technique
to
make the most of your searches. Throughout the article, we'll use square
brackets [ ] to signal queries, so [ black and white ] is one query, while
[ black
] and [ white ] are two.
Some basic facts
list of 3 items
. Every word matters. Generally, all the words you put in the query will be
used. There are some
exceptions.
. Search is always case insensitive. Searching for [ new york times ] is the
same as searching for [ New York Times ].
. With some
exceptions
, punctuation is ignored (that is, you can't search for @#$%^&*()=+[]\ and
other special characters).
list end
Guidelines for better search
list of 4 items
. Keep it simple. If you're looking for a particular company, just enter its
name, or as much of its name as you can recall. If you're looking for a
particular
concept, place, or product, start with its name. If you're looking for a
pizza restaurant, just enter pizza and the name of your town or your zip
code.
Most queries do not require advanced operators or unusual syntax. Simple is
good.
. Think how the page you are looking for will be written. A search engine is
not a human, it is a program that matches the words you give to pages on the
web. Use the words that are most likely to appear on the page. For example,
instead of saying [ my head hurts ], say [ headache ], because that's the
term
a medical page will use. The query [ in what country are bats considered an
omen of good luck? ] is very clear to a person, but the document that gives
the answer may not have those words. Instead, use the query [ bats are
considered good luck in ] or even just [ bats good luck ], because that is
probably
what the right page will say.
. Describe what you need with as few terms as possible. The goal of each
word in a query is to focus it further. Since all words are used, each
additional
word limits the results. If you limit too much, you will miss a lot of
useful information. The main advantage to starting with fewer keywords is
that,
if you don't get what you need, the results will likely give you a good
indication of what additional words are needed to refine your results on the
next
search. For example, [ weather cancun ] is a simple way to find the weather
and it is likely to give better results than the longer [ weather report for
cancun mexico ].
. Choose descriptive words. The more unique the word is the more likely you
are to get relevant results. Words that are not very descriptive, like
'document,'
'website,' 'company,' or 'info,' are usually not needed. Keep in mind,
however, that even if the word has the correct meaning but it is not the one
most
people use, it may not match the pages you need. For example, [ celebrity
ringtones ] is more descriptive and specific than [ celebrity sounds ].
list end
How to read search results
Google's goal is to provide you with results that are clear and easy to
read. The diagram below points out four features that are important to
understanding
the search results page:
search results
list of 4 items
1. The title: The first line of any search result is the title of the
webpage.
2. The snippet: A description of or an excerpt from the webpage.
3. The URL: The webpage's address.
4. Cached link: A link to an earlier version of this page. Click here if the
page you wanted isn't available.
list end
All these features are important in determining whether the page is what you
need. The title is what the author of the page designated as the best short
description of the page.
End
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