| Search engines are aimed at helping users find exactly what they need. Search engines put together a database of websites by sending "spiders" or "robots" to crawl through the Web, going from link to link. Once they get to a site, they index most of the words on the available pages. The engine scans its data bank of sites to match your keywords to those same keywords in pages in the database.
How to make the search more effective?
- Be specific
The more specific you are, the more information you'll find. Tell the search engine exactly what you're looking for. For example, if you're seeking science experiments, enter School Science Fair Projects instead of science projects. If you know it's a chemistry experiment, add the word 'chemistry' to your search.
- The + symbol
The most significant terms in your search should be placed first. To make sure the search engine finds pages containing all the words you're seeking, use the + symbol in front of each word. For example, if you're searching for info on Jennifer Lopez and Mark Antony, then enter +Lopez +Antony. Only pages that have both words will be found.
- The - symbol
When you're seeking something specific, place the - symbol in front of each term. Fir instance, if you're searching for information on David Beckham but don't want to read about his charity work, simply type David Beckham -Charity Work.
- Using quotation marks
When you put your search words in quotation marks, it's called a "phrase search." The engine will show pages that have the words in the exact order as in quotation marks. For example, if you're searching specifically for a biography on Victoria Beckham, enter "Victoria Beckham Biography" and see what comes up.
- Boolean operators
Boolean operators can be applied in most major search engines when they allow some kind of advanced searching. The most popular boolean operators are AND, OR and NOT. Booleans are 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 looking for info on music and dancing enter music AND dancing. Only pages containing both words will be on the list of search results. |
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