Search Basics
The Basics of Google Search
To enter a query, type in a few descriptive words and press
Enter (or click the Search button) for a list of relevant web
pages. Since Google only returns web pages that contain all
the words in your query, refining or narrowing your search is
as simple as adding more words to the search terms you have
already entered. Your new query will return a smaller subset
of the pages Google found for your original "too-broad" query.
Choosing Keywords
For best results, it's important to choose your keywords wisely.
Keep these tips in mind:
- Try the obvious first. If you're looking for information
on Picasso, enter "Picasso" rather than "painters".
- Use words likely to appear on a site with the information
you want. "Luxury hotel dubuque" gets better results
than "really nice places to spend the night in Dubuque".
- Make keywords as specific as possible. "Antique lead
soldiers" gets more relevant results than "old metal
toys".
Automatic "and" Queries
By default, 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 vacation to
Hawaii, simply type: vacation hawaii
Automatic Exclusion of Common Words
Google ignores common words and characters such as "where" and "how",
as well as certain single digits and single letters, because
they tend to slow down your search without improving the results.
Google will indicate if a common word has been excluded by displaying
details on the results page below the search box.
If 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 for doing this is conducting a phrase search,
which means putting quotation marks around two or more words.
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: Star
Wars Episode +I
~ OR ~ "Star Wars Episode I"
Capitalization
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.
Word Variations (Stemming)
To provide the most accurate results, Google does not use "stemming" or
support "wildcard" searches. In other words, Google
searches for exactly the words that you enter in the search
box. Searching for "book" or "book*" will
not yield "books" or "bookstore". If in
doubt, try both forms: "airline" and "airlines," for
instance.
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