When you are new to computers and the internet, finding what you are looking for amongst the billions of web pages on the world wide web can be difficult, time consuming and frustrating. That is until you learn a few good search tips. This months search tips aims to help you understand more about searching the world wide web and how you can quickly locate the information, resources and services you are looking for using what is known as a search engine.
There are many search engines you can use to search for what you are looking for on the world wide web. The most well known search engines are Google, MSN, Yahoo and AOL. There are also hundreds of smaller speciality search engines.
If you cannot find what you are looking for in one search engine you may find it by using a different search engine. This is because none of the search engines alone cover every sinlge webpage that is available on the world wide web.
For the next few months we will focus on the most well known search engines Google, MSN, Yahoo and AOL because they do cover most of what can be found on the world wide web. This month we will start by learning about Google.
To locate the Google search engine you type the following web address into the address bar of you Internet browser. http://www.google.com.au
Your Internet browser is also known as the Icon on your desk top with Mozilla written under it, or the blue E Icon on your desk top that has Internet Explorer written under it.
I recommend using the Mozilla Internet browser because it is less vunerable to virus and spyware activity. If you do not have the free Mozilla Internet browser installed you can visit the club drop in centers for more information and support.
Once you have typed in Google’s address you will be directed to their main search enquiry page. You will need to click in the search box under the Google Australia colour heading to enable you to type in what you are looking for. This is known as typing a search term, phrase or search keyword.
When searching for any information, service or product it is best to use a search phrase. An example of a searm term or keyword that would be commonly used when searching for homes for sale on the Sunshine Coast would be Real Estate. Now an example of a search phrase that would be commonly used would be Sunshine Coast Real Estate.
If you had used the first search keyword Real Estate than you would have been displayed results from all over Australia, plus you would get served results for Real Estate Agents, Real Estate Brokers, Real Estate Loans etc. The more specific you can be the more specific the results will be. By using a search phrase containing many keywords that are relevant to what you are looking for, you will be served more specific results. Sunshine Coast Real Estate used as a search phrase will return more specific results but still this phrase will also serve some results we are not looking for.
Note: If you want to see results from Australia make sure to select pages from Australia in the space provider below the Google search box. Please be aware that this does not always mean you will get pages from Australia. If there no pages available from Australia under your selected search term then pages from the USA will be displayed instead.
Next month we will look at search tips to fine tune our search results in Google further. Links to the other search engines mentioned in this article are, http://www.yahoo.com.au http://www.aol.com.au http://www.msn.com
Jay Leboutillier is a web site designer and search engine marketing specialist. His web site address is
(c) 2007 Jay Leboutillier
