Improved Internet Searches
Most of us, when we're trying to access information quickly on the internet, go straight to our preferred Search Engine (most probably Google), type in a few words in the the query box and hope for the best. Then begins the laborious task of scrolling through whatever comes up in the hope of finding exactly what you're looking for. More often than not the result of the search is a long list of off target web pages.
Essential Tips for Effective Internet Searches
- The more specific you make your keywords, the more successful your web search will be. Formulate a list of words which would all appear on your target page in order to narrow down your search and produce better, more targeted results
- If you're looking for an exact phrase, put it in quotation marks which will ensure that only pages with these words in close proximity will come back to you in your results
- Many common words (where, how, single digits and letters) are ignored by search engines as they slow down your search. If a common word is essential to getting the right results use + sign in front of it to ensure it is included. Don't forget to include a space before the +
- Use - signs to exclude elements from your search. If any of your keywords have multiple meanings which may take your search in the wrong direction put a - sign in front of the alternative meaning, again not forgetting to include a space before it
- If you find a target page with the relevant information you're looking for and suspect that there may be further pages which would be relevant to your search, trim back the URL step by step to get to the origin of the information
- If you want to search for your keyword and its synonyms, place the ~ sign immediatley in front of your search term, eg ~Housing
- Use Advanced Search forms if they are available on the Search Engine you are using, which will give you further options to enhance the quality and relevance of your results. Google allows you to search for specific file formats; .xls for data/statistics, .ppt for presentations and .pdf for industry and government reports. You can also use 'Similar to' and 'Linked to' search options to unnearth sites which are deemed to be similar or linked to a URL you type in, based on similarities in the words and links on the page
- If you want to get the answer to a specific question, for example "What did Alexander Graham Bell invent?" you can get your search engine to fill in the blanks by using an asterisk *. Input the statement as follows in the Search box: Alexander Graham Bell invented the* to get your answer
- If you're not already one of 683 million annual visitors to Wikipedia, type in 'wiki' or 'wikipedia' along with your keywords in the Search box to access a wealth of relevant information on the biggest multilingual free content encyclopedia in the Internet
By using just a few of these Internet Search techniques you will dramatically improve the quality and relevance of your search results and more importantly, save yourself a considerable amount of your very precious time.
