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. The following sections give more tips on searching:
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".
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:
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:
~ OR ~
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.
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.
Sometimes what you're searching for has
more than one meaning; "bass" can refer to fishing or music.
You can exclude a word from your search by putting a minus sign ("-")
immediately in front of the term you want to avoid. (Be sure to include
a space before the minus sign.)
For example, to find web pages about bass
that do not contain the word "music", type:
Search for complete phrases by enclosing
them in quotation marks. Words enclosed in double quotes ("like this")
will appear together in all results exactly as you have entered them.
Phrase searches are especially useful when searching for famous sayings
or proper names.
Google supports the logical "OR" operator.
To retrieve pages that include either word A or word B, use an uppercase
OR between terms.
For example, to search for a vacation in
either London or Paris, just type: