Helpful Search Techniques: PART I

How Search Engine Math Works

Most users have trouble getting what they want from online searches. Our simple, useful tips will help optimise your searches. Most sites offer basic and advanced search options.

In a basic search, you just enter a keyword without using any pull-down menus of additional options. Advanced search options differ from one search engine to another. They typically include the ability to search on more than one word and to exclude words that might be confusing. You might also be able to search on proper names, phrases, and words that are found in proximity with other search terms.

To improve their searching prowess, most people need to know basic 'search engine math'. Lets learn how to add, subtract and multiply and thus do better searches. This works for most of the major search engines. It's worth mentioning that the more specific the search is, the more likely that the exact results will show up.

For example, if you need something on Windows 2000 utilities, search for 'Windows 2000 utilities' and not 'Windows'. Going further, search for exactly what you want: 'I want to organize my mail in Windows 2000.' You'll have a greater chance of success this way.

If you want a search engine to find pages that have all the words you enter and not just a few of them, use the '+' symbol. For example, if you want to find pages that refer to both Yashwant Sinha and UTI on the same page you could search this way:
+yashwantsinha+uti. The + symbol is of great help when you find yourself bombarded with information after a search.

The '-' symbol is convenient to use when you want a search engine to find pages that contain a specific word but keep getting related information as well it. Suppose you are looking for information specifically about Hyundai Sonata, but keep hitting pages on Hyundai Accent or Hyundai Santro, you could refine your search like so:
Hyundai Sonata -Accent -Santro

Multiplying terms by means of a 'phrase search' can be a more resourceful way to get the right answers. Suppose you search for Bob+Marley+song+lyrics. All the words you added together would appear on this page, but it still might not be what you are looking for. Using a phrase search solves this problem. You ask a search engine to give you pages where the terms appear in exactly the same order as specified by you. This is done this by using quotation marks around the phrase like "Bob Marley song lyrics"

After you get the hang of adding, subtracting and multiplying, you can combine symbols to create personalised searches. Some of the search engines allow you to use Boolean operators to refine your search. These are logical terms like AND, OR, NOT, and proximity locators like NEAR and FOLLOWED BY.

• AND means that all the terms you specify must appear in the document.You could use this if you don't want common pages that are irrelevant to your query. Example: 'heart' AND 'attack'
• OR means that at least one of the terms you specify must show up. Example: bronchitis, acute OR chronic.
• NOT means that at least one of the terms you specify must not appear in the documents. Use this if you expect results that would be totally vague. Example: honey AND bees, NOT love.
• NEAR means that the terms you enter should be within a certain number of words of each other.
• FOLLOWED BY means that one term directly follows the other. ADJ, for adjacent, does the same thing.

Related Reading:

1. Time For The Search Dividend; Abigail Weiss
2. Being Search Boxed To Death; Kurt Woos

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