Search engines are the best thing the Internet has given us - they're like the index of a book, the telephone directory service, the customer service center and your friendly guide to the vast expanse of the web space all rolled into one!
The key to good searches is finding what you can fastest, with minimal iteration. So how do you make your searches relevant? How do you get to what you really want without having to click through reams of useless information?
A few simple pointers will make your searches smarter and more efficient and save you time and effort, so you can get more out of the Internet!
Get the search engine toolbar onto your browser or desktop. Why type up the url each time when you can have it available always?
Keep it specific. Search engines are so good at finding information; they will sometimes give you too much if you aren't specific. The more descriptive words you add to your search the better your results are likely to be. For instance, if you are looking for a good hotel to stay at in Italy but would like to see some other people's opinions on it as well, then search for "Hotels Italy reviews" rather than just "Italy hotels". Better yet, if you know your budget runs to 4 star hotels and you intend visiting Rome run the search: "Four star hotels Rome Italy reviews". Mentioning Rome and Italy both is also important; else you may get results for hotels from Rome, USA!
Make it up to date. Adding a year or date to your search usually helps ensure your information is up to date and current. If you're looking for information on the latest motoring news in a city (let's assume London), then rather than searching for "Motoring news" or "Motoring news London" type up a search for "Motoring news London 2007" to get the latest reports from London.
Use logic. Think about what you are searching for, would there be more than one way to describe it? Then use the word 'OR' between the 2 words.
Increase relevance using the 'with' and 'without' functions. If you've mastered the basic search, you can do even better with advanced searches. Use the function 'without' to eliminate web pages which you feel may appear in error. For instance, when searching for the Ford Model Management agency you would not want to see millions of pages about cars by Ford. So putting in the 'without' and listing 'cars', 'automobiles' and 'trucks' against it, might help weed out the irrelevant sites. Similarly, you could use the function 'with any of the words', to list out words which increase relevance like 'fashion' or 'catwalk'. You can use + to denote 'with' and - to denote 'without' on google.
Use 'exact' matches. When you're hunting for a book or a movie or the lyrics from a song to which you know the first line, using an exact match often helps. Enter the phrase or words you're searching for and select the 'exact' match function. You can usually do this on engines like google by just typing the search string inside double quotes like this "Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away."
Restrict the domain. If you want information from universities only, then add the words 'site:.edu' to the end of your search string. You can do the same for any domains, like .com, .org and so on.
Use a translator. Once you have your search results, if you find most of the results are in a foreign language, you can use a translator available online. If you're on google just click on the 'translate' link appearing near the url.
There's plenty you can do with some smart searching. These engines come with a lot of logic built in; it’s up to you how far you want to take them! Happy hunting!
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