Author: owner

It’s quite easy to make your searches with Google© more relevant.
Follow these basic tips when using Google on www.google.co.uk
To find out more about how to use the basic features do either of the following:
EITHER:
Type www.google.com/help/basics.html into the address bar of your browser
OR
Type “Google search basics” into Google and pick “Google Help: Basics of Search” from the results.
The Essentials of Google Search
Doing a search on Google is easy. Simply type one or more search terms (the words or phrase that best describe the information you want to find) into the search box and hit the 'Enter' key or click on the Google Search button.
In response, Google produces a results page: a list of links to web pages related to your search terms. The most relevant link appears first, then the next, and so on.
Here are some basic tips to help you maximize the effectiveness of your search:
CONTENTS
Choosing search terms
Capitalization
Automatic "and" queries
Exclusion of common words
Phrase searches
Word Variations
Negative terms
I'm Feeling Lucky
1. Choosing search terms
Choosing the right search terms is the key to finding the information you need.
Start with the obvious – if you're looking for general information on Hawaii, try Hawaii.
It's often a good idea to use multiple search terms; if you're planning a Hawaiian holiday, you'll do better with holiday Hawaii than with either holiday or Hawaii by themselves.
Holiday Hawaii golf may produce even better results.
You might also ask yourself if your search terms are specific enough. It's better to search for luxury hotels Maui than on tropical island hotels. But choose your search terms carefully;
Google looks for the search terms you chose, so luxury hotels Maui will probably deliver better results than really nice places to spend the night in Maui.
2. Using Capital letters
Google searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case.
For example, searches for george washington, George Washington, and gEoRgE wAsHiNgToN will all return the same results.
3. Automatic "and" queries
Normally, Google only returns pages that include all of your search terms.
There is no need to include "and" between terms. Keep in mind that the order in which the terms are typed will affect the search results.
To restrict a search further, just include more terms. For example, to plan a holiday to Hawaii, simply type holiday hawaii.
4. Leave out common words
Google ignores common words and characters such as "where" and "how”.
It also ignores certain single digits and single letters, because they tend to slow down the but not give any better results.
Google will tell you if a common word has been excluded. After you search - on the results page details of excluded words are shown below the search box.
If you think a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can include it by putting a + sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the + sign.)
Another method is to put quotation marks “ around two or more words, this will search for the complete phrase.
Common words in a phrase search (e.g., "where are you") are included in the search.
For example, to search for Star Wars, Episode I, use:
or
5. Phrase searches
Searching for people’s names, song lyrics, famous sayings etc.
Sometimes you'll only want results that include an exact phrase.
In this case, simply put quotation marks around your search terms.
Phrase searches are particularly effective if you're searching for:
proper names "George Washington"
lyrics "the long and winding road”
other famous phrases "This was their finest hour"
6. Word variations – searching for similar words
Google now uses stemming technology. So it will search not only for your search terms, but also for words that are similar to some or all of those terms.
If you search for pet lemur dietary needs, Google will also search for pet lemur diet needs, and other related variations of your terms.
Any variants of your terms that were searched for will be highlighted in the to show you that Google searched found a variation.
Negative terms – avoiding unwanted meanings
If your search term has more than one meaning (bass, for example, could refer to fishing or music) you can focus your search by putting a minus sign ("-") in front of words related to the meaning you want to avoid.
For example, here's how you'd find pages about the fish bass, but not bass-heavy music:
Note: when you include a negative term in your search, be sure to include a space before the minus sign.
And finally... "I'm Feeling Lucky" – Google’s idea of the most relevant website
After you've entered your search terms, you might want to try the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button, which takes you straight to the most relevant website that Google found for your query.
You won't see the search results page at all, but if you did, the "I'm Feeling Lucky" site would be listed on top.
For example:
if you're looking for the Stanford University homepage, just enter Stanford and click I'm Feeling Lucky instead of the Google Search button. Google will take you directly to www.stanford.edu.

Hawaii

Holiday Hawaii golf

Holiday hawaii

Holiday hawaii

"Star Wars Episode I"

Star Wars Episode +I

“the long and winding road”

Bass –music

Stanford

2.2.1.2 [HANDOUT] GOOGLE BASICS.pub
Page # of 5