Easy searching 

The way to improve your search results!  
These tips work for nearly all search engines.

1.  Be specific

Use exactly the words for what you want.

2.  Use the + symbol to add

When you want to find pages with all the words you enter, not just some of them, use the + symbol.

eg. if you want to find pages on Star Trek, put in

star +trek

Only pages that contain both words will appear in your results. 

The + symbol is especially helpful when you do a search and then find yourself overwhelmed by information.

3.  Use the - symbol to subtract

When you want to find pages that have one word on them but not another word. The - symbol lets you do this.

For example, imagine you want information about Captain Cook but don't want pages relating to Captain Cook Cruises. You could search this way:

captain +cook -cruises   try it - it works!

In general, the - symbol is helpful for focusing results when you get too many that are unrelated to your topic. Simply begin subtracting terms you know are not of interest, and you should get better results.

4.  Use quotation marks to link terms

By putting quotes around the words in a phrase, you make sure that the search engine looks for them in exactly that order, rather than scattered throughout the page.

Remember this? star +trek - putting quotes around the words may work better, because that exact phrase probably appears on the sites.  So try "star trek"

5.  Combining symbols

Once you can add, subtract and use quotes, you can combine them to easily find what you want.

eg: "captain cook" -cruises

6.  Tips:

• don't use capitals

• try different search engines from the search engine page to find the one you like, then read their advanced searching tips to refine your searches.

Adapted from Search engine math - visit the site to learn more.