My friends call me Oracle. The main reason for this is that I can find information on the web very fast and with great precision and best of all it is easy! You too can become a Google wizard with a few simple keystrokes and these helpful tips.
[h]Search Terms[/h]
The better your search terms the better your results. I tend to be more specific at first and only if I am not finding the results I’m looking for, then I broaden my search. Use strong specific words that you think the site you will be looking for will have on them. If you are looking for learning aids for your children a phrase like “award winning early learning” searches out much better results than “really good early learning tools”.
[h]And Then?[/h]
With Google, you don’t have to put “and” between search items. The search engine will only return pages that contain all of your search terms. So the more words you use, the tighter the search. The order you put the words in does matter. Searching for “diaper rash cures” will get you different results than “cures diaper rash”.
[h]Capitalization[/h]
Friends of the Caps Lock key, rest easy. Google is not case sensitive. Searches for “PLAYPEN”, “playpen”, and “PlayPen” would all come back the same.
[h]Common Words[/h]
Google ignores some common words when you are searching. Words like “where” and “how” as well as certain single digits and letters. That’s because some words like those will slow down your results and not improve your search. Think of all the websites with the word “Where” in them. If one of your words falls under this “common” category you will be notified on the page before the search results.
[h]You can quote me on that![/h]
Using quotation marks is probably one of my most used tools when searching Google for whatever information I need. If you need to search for a phrase “Four score and seven years ago” quotes will bring you the results you need. If you need to search for a proper name “Abraham Lincoln” is the way you want to search. Heard a new song on the radio and can’t get the chorus out of your head, but you don’t know what the song is called? Use the quotes to help you find the full lyrics and artist name.
[h]Sometimes a plus sometimes a minus[/h]
If you need to search something and the common word removal is interfering you can use the quotes like I mentioned above or you can use the plus (+) sign. The example given by Google is a search like Star Wars Episode I. You can do it with quotes “Star Wars Episode I” or you can type in Star Wars Episode +I.
But what if you are searching a term that has multiple meanings and your results are coming back with sites that you don’t need. Billy needs to do a report on Cougars but all you see are car sites. You can try a search like this “cougar –mercury”. Searching with the minus sign will give you the sites that have the first term but not the second. Always make sure to have a space before the plus or minus sign.
Those are the basics of using the Google search engine to your full advantage. There are many search engines out there and we all have our own personal preference. What search engine do you use first when you need to find something?
I will also leave you with a fun game I picked up in school a few years ago. It’s called “Cooking with Chef Google”. Once you have a list of your ingredients on hand, type them into Google and hit the search key. Chances are you will find a recipe to make something from all of those ingredients. Playing this game has given me some unique food experiences. You could also check out our wonderful food blog and the many tasty recipes and tips posted there.