Effective Search Engine Use

The Internet is a wonderful place full of resources that can be really helpful for us.

The best way for finding information is through a virtual search engine. A search engine explores the resources on the Internet and gives results relating to your queries. Search engines allow keyword searches and use crawlers to locate sites or pages that match requests.

However, finding the information that is relevant for you is a challenge. Everyday more sites come into existence. A simple query like "web hosting" on Google returns 15,100,000 results. Now how does the user know which site is useful for them, thus creating an "Information Overload" of sorts. How is the user assured of the quality of the information?

The thing about search engines is that they generally display all the web pages that contain any or both of the words contained in the search query.

So comes the question: how do we find the information we are looking for?

There are various techniques that you can use to make your search query better which will then help to achieve more relevant results.

For instance if you use the "+" operator and restructure your query to "web hosting" + Windows it will show only those sites that offer Windows hosting. You can also use the "AND" Boolean operator, depending on what you are comfortable with.

You can use the "-" operator and key in "web hosting" - Linux thereby telling Google to make sure that it does not display Linux related hosts. This is the same as using the "NOT" Boolean operator.

There are also keywords like ADJ, NEAR etc. that are used by some of the search engines. The NEAR operator looks for keywords specified in the query within certain proximity of each other i.e. it makes sure that both the keywords "web" & "hosting" are present on the same page and are placed nearby to each other in the text.

The ADJ operator is a stricter filter and returns only those pages where the keywords are next to each other i.e. it will only return pages where the keywords "web" and "hosting" are mentioned together.

Another technique to make sure you get better results is to use a sensible query. Make use of words that you think will be contained on the site you are looking for: "web hosting" is better then "I want web hosting".

Also remember that search engines normally ignore certain words like "a', "for", "of", "in", "at" etc.

Another important thing to remember is that most search engines have a 'tips' page that specifically contains information on how to make better searches on the search engine. It is always good to read these tips.

Most search engines have an advanced search option that is really useful if you are not proficient at using operators while searching.

Searching and finding what you are looking for is easy if you are armed with the know-how of how to do it.

Ashish Jain : M6.Net : http://www.m6.net

---

Search Engine Optimization With Sitemaps

I just wanted to share a little Search Engine Optimization... Read More

How To Really SEO Your Site

Search engine optimization is one of most popular online marketing... Read More

An Ethical Alternative to Doorway Pages

Definition: A doorway page is content created specifically for the... Read More

SEO #1: Choosing THE Keywords to Optimize for

This is the first lesson out of 6 that teaches... Read More

Monitor Your Visibility in Google, MSN, and Yahoo with these DIY SEO Tools

This is the second part of an article series in... Read More

How to Choose Keywords to Theme Your Pages and Boost Your Traffic

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is... Read More

Twelve Steps to Higher Search Engine Placement

Recent studies suggest that more than 80% of new visitors... Read More

Press Release + PRWeb = Top Google Rank... True or False?

I've always been a big time press release aficionado.And up... Read More

Link Building: To Link, or Not to Link, That is the Question

Lately, there have been a lot of heated discussions regarding... Read More

Promoting Home Business: Tips to Increase Web Site Sales

You've selected an appropriate Online Business Opportunity. That is not... Read More

The Business Case for SEO

It's interesting how potential clients have preconceived notions about which... Read More

Shopping Carts and SEO

Shopping and the Web. They go together like Mr. and... Read More

Do Search Engines Like Your Web Site?

Between 75% and 98.8% of visitors to Web sites come... Read More

Why SEO Will Make or Break You, Part 1

Today's article is about the wonders of SEO. SEO is... Read More

How To Get Listed in Yahoo!

Getting listed in Yahoo! (The Very Top Search Engine/Index) is... Read More

The Need of Popularity

In very simple words, the link popularity of your site... Read More

Search Engine Optimisation - Getting Targeted Traffic

Getting SEO right is an art and it's based on... Read More

?Google Friendly? Solutions to Graphic-Intense Sites

We all know that the search engines can't "see" or... Read More

Search Engine Optimization Tip: Dont Buy Anything Before You Learn More!

Thinking about purchasing that premium SEO software that will hyper-optimize... Read More

Every Search Engine Robot Needs Validation

Your website is ready. Your content is in place, you... Read More

Website Promotion: 10 Search Engine Optimization Blunders to Avoid

If you want to develop a successful search engine optimization... Read More

Two Myths About the Search Engine Listing

Getting top search engine listing is perhaps one of the... Read More

Agressive Linking Strategies Help To Get Your Site Noticed

A good link building strategy has become an essential part... Read More

What is Your Sales Message?

So you built a website, you have a product, but... Read More

Copywriters: Make Friends with Search Engine Optimization

I don't know about you, but I felt a lot... Read More

How Real SEO Analysis Works

If you're serious about SEO, you need to know how... Read More

Increase Your Link Popularity for Free

Among the many things you need to worry about for... Read More

Make The Search Engines Love Your Site

Most webmasters have no idea on how to make a... Read More

How Do I Improve My Web Site Conversion Rate? Part 3

Question 1How do keywords effect your conversion rate in terms... Read More

Google ? A Bit of History

The first question most people have is, "What the heck... Read More

How to Make Better Use of Web Site Page Titles and META Data

We got down to the basics with web site page... Read More

Search Engine Success & The Google-Vision Secret

Want to know the secret to great search engine listings?... Read More

How to Prevent Duplicate Content with Effective Use of the Robots.txt and Robots Meta Tag

Duplicate content is one of the problems that we regularly... Read More