Search Engine: Getting the Best Search Results |
| Date Added: August 03, 2010 04:09:46 AM |
| Author: ryllee13 |
| Category: News and Media: Education |
| The WWW contains millions of pages. Search engines are useful tools aimed at helping users get info they want. Yet, the problem is that they find too much info. Keep reading to learn how to get the best search results and find what you're seeking. So how do search engines work? Search engines make a database of sites by sending "spiders" or "robots" to go from link to link. When spiders get to a site, they index most of the words available. When you use a search engine, the engine scans its database of sites to match your keywords to those same keywords in pages in the database. How to make the search more efficient? - Specify what you're searching for The more specific you are, the more information you'll find. Type in the search field exactly what you're looking for. For example, if you're searching for science experiments, enter School Science Fair Projects instead of science projects. If you know it's a physics experiment, add the word 'physics' to your search. - The + symbol Enter the most significant words in your search first. To ensure the search engine finds pages with all the words you're searching for, place the + symbol in front of each word. Fir instance, if you're searching for info on Beyonce and Jay-Z, then enter +Beyonce +Jay-Z. Only pages which contain both words will be on the list of search results. - The - symbol If you're seeking something specific but don't need irrelevant info, place the - symbol in front of each term. Fir instance, if you're looking for info on Michael Phelps but don't want to read about his career, enter Michael Phelps -Pro -Swimmer. - Using a "phrase search" When you put your search words in quotation marks, it's called a "phrase search." The engine will provide pages that have the words in the exact order as in quotation marks. For example, if you're searching specifically for a biography on Tyra Banks, enter "Tyra Banks Bio". - Combining Symbols Once you have learnt how the + and - symbols work, combine them for better search results. A better search, than using a bunch of subtractions, may be to do the following: "Kylie Minogue" -Fever -"CD Review" - Using boolean operators Boolean operators (pronounced boo lee ans) can be applied in most major search engines which provide advanced searching. The most popular booleans are AND, OR and NOT. Booleans 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." Fir instance, if you're seeking information on beauty and health care, enter beauty AND health care. Only pages that have both words will be on the list. |
|
|