by: Andrew Wroblewski
In a matter of a couple of short years, the Google.com search engine has become the world's favorite way to find what they're looking for online.
Now, most of you who are reading this are saying "Duh", but let me ask you this: Do you REALLY know how to use Google and get the most out of this incredible search technology?
Hopefully, these tips will help you find EXACTLY what you want the next time you head on over to "Google Land" and start searching.
To start, unlike most search engines, Google does not care if your search term is in UPPER or lower case. In fact, it can even be MiXeD case and the search results will be identical no matter how you type in your term.
The Google GOLDEN Rule: BE SPECIFIC!
When using the Google search engine, you must be specific in what you ask and HOW you ask it to get the results you desire.
How do you be specific?
Let's say you are interested in finding out more about the field of Spyware Removal. To search for that exact phrase you put "quotes" around the phrase like this: "spyware removal". This forces Google to cough up search results with those exact words in that specific order, only.
If you didn't use quotes and just typed in spyware removal, you would get results that included the words: spyware and removal mixed in with the MORE SPECIFIC results of the precise phrase "spyware removal".
(BTW.......for those of you who are used to searching by putting the word "and" between all your search words, with Google, it's not necessary. Google automatically "thinks" like that by default.)
You can use the "or" feature on Google. For example: "spyware removal program" or "spyware removal software" and you will get combined results for both exact phrases. The word "or" can be replaced with the "pipe" ( | ) symbol (the symbol above the "" forward slash on your keyboard) to achieve the same results.
Now, let's say you want to search for articles written about the subject of Spyware Removal. You can use the Google "require" feature and have a specific word included in the search just by adding a "+" sign in front of the keyword you want included.. For example you would type: "spyware removal" +articles and the results would give you articles about Spyware Removal.
You can also "exclude" a certain word from your searches by using the "-" (minus sign) like: "spyware removal" -commercial which would give results about Spyware Removal excluding "commercial".
Whenever you can, try to combine these three symbols (quotes, plus and minus signs) into a single search to give you even more targeted results.
Now, go practice on Google using these simple tips and meet us back here next time for Part Two when we offer tips about some of the more "advanced" and "juicy" features you can implement to get the most out of your searches On the world’s most frequently used search engine: Google.com