Search Engine: Improving Search Results |
| Date Added: August 15, 2010 02:24:34 PM |
| Author: ryllee13 |
| Category: Computers and Internet: Internet |
| The Web contains millions of pages. Search engines are useful tools aimed at helping Internet users get the best search results. Yet, the downside is that they find too much information. In this article you will learn how to narrow down your search and find exactly what you're searching for. So how do search engines work? Search engines put together a data bank of websites by sending "spiders" or "robots" which crawl through the Web, going from link to link. When spiders get to a website, 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 data bank. Basic search tips - Be specific The more specific you are, the more info you'll find. Type in the search field exactly what you're seeking. For example, if you're searching for science experiments, enter School Science Fair Projects alternatively of science projects. If you know it's a biology experiment, add the word 'biology' to your search. - The + symbol Enter the most significant terms in your search first. To ensure the search engine finds pages containing all the words you're seeking, put the + symbol in front of each word. Fir instance, if you're seeking info on Angelina Jolie and Bred Pitt, then enter +Jolie +Pitt. Only pages containing both words will be found. - The - symbol If you're seeking something specific but don't want tons of other irrelevant info, place the - symbol in front of each term. Fir instance, if you're searching for info on David Beckham but don't want to read about his charity work, simply type David Beckham -Charity Work. - Quotation marks When you put your search words in quotation marks, it's called a "phrase search." The search engine will give you a list of pages that have the words in the exact order as in quotations. For example, if you're looking specifically for a biography on Misha Barton, enter "Misha Barton Bio". - Using a combination of symbols Once you have found out how the above symbols work, combine them for better search results. A better search, than subtracting words, may be to do the following: "Beyonce Knowles" -Irreplaceable -"Album Review" - Booleans Boolean operators (pronounced boo lee ans) can be used in most major search engines providing advanced searching options. The most popular boolean operators are AND, OR and NOT. Boolean operators are similar to 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 searching for information on bags and shoes, enter bags AND shoes. Your search will bring back websites containing both those words. |
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