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Search Engine Basics

Steps
Start at the Top
Search Engine
Basics
If you look for
anything on the
Web, youll end
up using a search
engine. Well look
at the top ones and
some ways to help
improve your search
results.

1. Google.
www.google.com
Google is a crawler-based engine. It goes searching for information on the Internet and
adds it to its database. This search engine is so popular that its name is now a verb for
doing a search. To help improve your searches, it uses PageRank technology which is
its own algorithm to determine the relevancy of a page. In addition, it also uses
personalized search which bases your current search on what youve searched for before.
The site launched in 1997 and is available in 123 languages. Try this search engine. Select
a few keywords and see how relevant what you find is.
NOTE: YouTube is also considered a search engine for video. Overall, it functions as the
third largest search engine online and is owned by Google.
2. Yahoo.
search.yahoo.com
Originally, Yahoos search results werent gathered by them. They owned the interface. It
has been around since 1995. Today, they use Bing to power their search. Eventually, you
will see a Powered by Bing tag on the page. It is available in 40 languages and is the
second most popular search engine online. Try this search engine with the same keywords
you used above and compare the results.
3. Bing.
bing.com
Bing is Microsofts search engine. It launched in 2009. You can use it through the start
screen on Windows 8. It is available in 40 languages. Try this search engine with the same
keywords you used above and compare the results.
4. Ask.
ask.com
Originally, the site was known as Ask Jeeves. The search engine is a question / answer
search engine which works in everyday, natural language. It launched in 1996 and is
available only in English. Try this search engine with the same keywords you used above
and compare the results.
5. Dogpile.
www.dogpile.com
Dogpile is one of many search engines that searches other search engines for results.
It fetches from Google, Yahoo! and many others. Try this search engine with the same
keywords you used above and compare the results.

6. Wolfram Alpha.
www.wolframalpha.com
Launched in 2009, Wolfram Alpha is a computational knowledge engine. It answers factual
queries by computing the answer from external data rather than providing a list of pages
that might contain the answer. For example, searching for Pythagorean theorem gives
you a single page with a statement explaining the theorem defines a right triangle with
legs a and b with the hypotenuse c as well as the equation a2 + b2 = c2. Take a look at this
unusual search engine.
7. Topix.
www.topix.net
Topix is a news aggregator. You can choose your specific town / zip code and it will
provide news for you. Check out your area and see whats happening now.
8. The Internet Archive.
archive.org
The Internet Archive was founded in 1996 and is a non-profit site. It provides free public
access to collections of digitized materials, including Web sites. It works to preserve the
public web. You can search for items or, if you have a URL for a defunct site, you can use
the Wayback Machine to pull saved information from when a site existed. Explore this site.
9. So many more.
There are literally hundreds of search engines. From those that search the Web on their
own to those that pull from other search engines to those that focus on a single type
of material, you can spend more time looking for the right search engine than actually
searching. Start your own bookmark set of search engines and define what they help you
search for.

Improve Results
10. Be specific.
When youre looking for something online you need to be specific. Dont look for dogs,
instead specify a breed. This may seem silly to mention, but be aware that the more
specific you are, the more relevant your searches will be.
11. Keywords.
Searching for a single word will get you a lot more results. Try to keep your search to
phrases of 5-7 words to help narrow your search. For example, if you search for scouts,
youll find Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, scouting for sports, Spiral Scouts, clip art sites, council
sites, etc. Youll not find what you are specifically looking for. Pick a phrase of 5-7 words.
Do a search and see what kind of results you get. Slowly remove a word each time to see
how the results you get change as you search.
12. Narrow your results.
By adding a minus or plus sign followed immediately by a number or word, you can help
narrow your results. For example, if youre looking for information on a specific season of
a television show, +2 would direct the search engine to look for those with 2 only, usually
the second season or second episode. In addition, putting the name / phrase in quotes
will make the search engine look for the entire phrase in the order you specify instead of
individual words. Use the phrase from the step above and put quote marks around it. See
how it changes your search results.

Enrichment
Project
larajla.com

13. Shortcuts.
There are other shortcuts you can use with search engines. Note that these might not work
on all search engines. Try a few of these and see how your results change.

OR Putting the word between two words or phrases will look for either word

$ Adding a dollar sign and amount will help you find items for sale

# Find popular hashtags

* The asterisk functions as a placeholder for unknown / wildcard terms

(think DOS)
14. Suggestions.
Some search engines will try to offer additional ways to phrase your search. For example,
look at the bottom of Googles results page. Check it out to see if there are additional
terms or phrases that will help narrow your search.

Sites to Explore
See the links above for specific search engines.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_search_engines
websearch.about.com/od/web20searchtools/f/all-search-engines.htm
websearch.about.com/od/enginesanddirectories/tp/search-engine-list.htm
whatis.techtarget.com/reference/Search-Engine-Cheat-Sheets
www.makeuseof.com/tag/13-alternative-search-engines-that-find-what-google-cant
www.makeuseof.com/tag/guide-internet-searching
blog.kissmetrics.com/alternative-search-engines
www.gcflearnfree.org/internet101/5/print
computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/search-engine.htm

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Enrichment
Project
larajla.com