Top Ways to Search the Web Better
A great deal of information on almost any subject can be found on the Web. The trick is to learn how to conduct an effective search that produces useful information right away. Whether you're researching a project for school or are trying to find a restaurant for dinner tonight, there are several ways to make a Web search easier.
First, attention to keywords is one of the most important elements of a Web search. For instance, a person who is looking for information on how to train a basset hound makes the process more efficient by typing the keywords into a search engine in order of pertinence. The word train should be typed first, followed by the words basset hound. When superfluous words are typed into a search engine, the results pages display a bunch of websites that are not helpful to the search.
A search for information that involves several keywords is helped along by the use of quotes. For example, if a person is searching for information on a certain book or song, typing the exact title within quotation marks assists the search engine in keeping irrelevant websites out of the results. A search using a statement in quotes will bring up a group of results pages that contain that exact phrase within most of the websites. The placement of quotes around a single word is not as efficient if the word is a general one like the word fun. One general word in quotes will yield results pages with websites that contain the word in one fashion or another. It's likely that a lot of those websites will have little relevance to what someone is ultimately in search of. By using specific words in quotes a person narrows a search even before the words are typed into the engine.
The use of search operators gives a person who is seeking information on the Web the opportunity to specify a search to an even greater degree. A search operator serves as a signal to the search engine on how certain keywords should figure into the results. For instance, the basic search information from Google suggests that when someone types a plus sign in front of a keyword it signals the search engine to find results containing that exact word. Alternatively, if a person types a minus sign before a keyword, that word is taken out of the search. Also, typing the word OR between two keywords in the search engine will bring up results that display either one of the keywords. A simple addition to a set of keywords goes a long way to making a Web search easier.
There are shortcuts that a person looking for information can use with different search engines. When using the search engine Google use specific keywords. If a person is looking for a straightforward fact such as a population statistic they should type the word population followed by the name of the place. Answers for many facts like this can easily be found in this way on Google.
The search for a word's definition is made easy with the Yahoo! search engine. A person simply types in the word define followed by whatever word they are interested in learning more about. The same technique can be used to find news, maps, weather, and more.
A person who is using the search engine Bing to travel directly to a particular website should type in the word site followed by its name. This search engine also offers a summary of the content of each website displayed on a results page. A person can use this time-saving option to get an idea of what a website is all about before choosing to visit.
- Tips on Making the Most of a Web Search
- Suggestions for a Successful Web Search
- Ideas on How to Search the Web
- Web Hosting Reviews
- Easy-to-Follow Ideas on Conducting an Internet Search
- An Evaluation of Search Engines