Google is a search engine that was used to search 9.1 billion times in March 2009, according to comScore. A lot of people think they know how to search on Google, when in fact they don’t. I think it would be best to have a basic search 101 on how to use Google. First, let’s begin with what is a search engine? Wikipedia states that a search engine is a tool used to search the Internet. Google is the largest search engine, earning about 63% of online search engine usage. Google states the benefits of their search engine as being fast, free, and easy to use.
Let’s begin learning how to use Google by going to Google.com.
Google has a basic home page, which is intentional. The main components that a searcher should be interested in is the field box below the Google logo and the “Google Search” button below that. The first step in searching is to enter a relevant keyword of what you want to search. We will use “swine flu” as our topic. Most people will start off by searching “flu”. That’s a good start. If you notice when you enter the word “flu” into the Google search box, you get a drop down of related “flu” terms. That feature is called Google Suggest and introduced in August 2008. The link to the Google Blog post tells about the features of Google Suggest.
The second step in searching on Google is you want to read and evaluate results. Read the snippet, the text blurb of each search result. The snippet is a preview text of what the search result is about.
If you read through all the snippets on the page, none reference swine flu, but result 6 from Yahoo news would have been close. That story is about the swine flu effecting Mexico. At this point, it would be best to search again for “swine flu”
The third step in how to use Google is to refine and repeat your search, as necessary. Researching “swine flu” on Google, you get more relevant results. Specifically 1 & 2 results leave you with exactly what you want. Both the CDC & Wikipedia give you information on “swine flu”. Wikipedia normally shows up on search results because Google gives it love as an “authority site” based on Google’s ranking algorithm.
For new information, such as the swine flu, to be indexed by Google is truly amazing. Google is truly a fast service. As everyone can see, you must follow 3 steps to find what you need. Search with a relevant keyword or phrase. You then continue by reading and evaluating the current search results. Lastly you refine and repeat as necessary. These are the 3 basic steps on how to search on Google. Learning to search for things on Google with help everyone with daily life improvement.
xavier :: May.06.2009 ::
Google ::
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