Chapter 4: Building Simple, Effective Queries
In the chapter:
- Entering search terms
- Using simple operators
- Working with Google wildcards
- The advanced search page
- How Google presents search results
Content from the chapter
Crafting Better Searches
There’s a craft to finding the right search terms for answering a research questions. As with any craft, after a while you get a feeling for the best way to do things. In the meantime, these suggestions will help:
- Pose answerable queries: This one seems obvious, and even a little circular--how do you know if there will be search results without first searching? What I mean is that you should make sure that your search terms are unambiguous. Have you given Google enough information to answer your query? For example, what about a search for lemon? Do you mean lemon tree, lemon cake, lemon candy, the color of a lemon, a car that is a lemon, Lemon laws, or other alternatives?
- Google can do many things, but it can’t read your mind. If you need help being specific,
try answering the question “What kind of. . . ?” (For example, “What kind of lemon?”)
- Don’t describe; use keywords: Google search terms should not be a description of what you want to find, so don’t search for round yellow fruit if you’re looking for information about how well lemon trees grow in Wisconsin. Rather, consider the words that a Webmaster might use. For example, if you’re looking for a good lemon tree that won’t die in the winter, you might want to search for lemon tree climate gardening.
For more tips about effective searching, please see Chapter 4...
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