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Effective Web Searching Using Google

Given the vast wealth of information and knowledge on the World Wide Web, we need an effective way to parse and search for specific information. To do this we use a search engine. A search engine is “Software that enables users to search the Internet using keywords.” (Google.com)

How do search engines work?

Search engines, such as Google, attempt to catalog, store, and organize a complete copy of every web page on the Internet inside a database. The user feeds keywords to the search engine, which in turn searches the database to find the most relevant web pages.

Why Google?

Google (http://www.google.com) works as any other search engine. However, the algorithm they use to search for relevance in the results they return is considered one of the best. Additionally, it is the most commonly used search engine on the Internet.

What does Google give me?

When you enter keywords into Google, it returns a list of results ordered from most relevant to least. Here is an example of a specific result:

A link to the web page. The text for link comes from the title of the web page.
Selected text from the body of the page that illustrates the page’s relevance

Note: The bold items in the #s 1-2 are matched keywords

The URL of the web page
The size of the contents of the page
The last updated date
A link to copy of the web page inside Google’s database
Links to web pages with similar relevance

The 5 rules for choosing effective keywords for increased result relevance

In order to find the most relevant web pages to the search subject, the user has to choose good keywords. Often the relevance of the results is directly related to how FEW results there are. Here are the 5 rules for choosing good keywords:

1. Be specific

The more specific your keywords are, the more relevant the results will be.

For example, instead of choosing music, choose The Beatles

2. Use “quotation marks” for a specific word order

When you just enter in words, Google doesn’t discern order or sequence. If you use quotation marks, you are asking Google to search a specific word order.

For example, if you choose all you need is love, you may get back “Need is the only love you use at all”, however if you choose “All you need is love” you will get back results that contain this exact sequence and order

3. Use – for exclusion

If you want to exclude specific keywords from your search put a dash directly in front of a keyword (i.e. –Beatles) to exclude it from the search criteria.

For example, if you choose John Lennon –Beatles Google will return every page that INCLUDES John and Lennon, but DOES NOT INCLUDE the word Beatles

4. Use OR for multiple subjects

If you want to search similar subjects at the same time put OR (Note: O and R are capitalized) inbetween them and Google will return web pages that include either subject or both.

For example, if you choose Lennon OR McCartney Google will return web pages that either include a) Lennon, b) McCartney, or c) Lennon and McCartney.

5. Combine #s 1-4

The best search criteria for Google’s search engine uses all the previous criteria to generate the most relevant results

For example, try “John Lennon” OR “Paul McCartney” –Beatles

What does the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button do?

With a normal search using Google, the user a)types in keywords and presses return (which is the same as clicking “Google Search”), b) clicks on a result link, and c) is taken to a web page. The “I’m Feeling Lucky” button removes step b) and takes user directly to the 1st result on the list. So, if the user thinks the 1st result returned will be most the relevant, s/he should click on the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button.

What else can I search for?

Images - http://images.google.com

Search for images instead of text. The search engine searches for images on relevant web pages based on text near the image and the name of the image. The user can group the results by size (click on Small, Medium, or Large in the upper right)

News - http://news.google.com

Search for news articles based on keywords or dates

Good Prices - http://froogle.google.com

Search for good prices on consumer products from a special list of Internet Resellers. The user can arrange the results by relevance or price (low to high or high to low)