More About Keywords and Queries

Now that you know a little bit more about how Google searches through Web pages, determines relevancy, and PageRank, it’s time to understand a little bit more about the most fundamental part of doing a Web search, the keyword.

A keyword is a significant or descriptive word that defines the topic on which you are searching. In other words, keywords define the core of your search. To best find content on the Web you must use the most efficient keywords. Using more keywords narrows your search but doesn’t necessarily make it more efficient. You are limited to using a maximum of ten keywords. When you narrow your search, fewer search results are returned, but you may make the search so narrow that you miss what you were looking for. It is sometimes better to group keywords into a search phrase, as described in the first part of this chapter or by creating a search expression.

Introducing search expressions

A search expression is a set of keywords and operators such as and, or, +, and −. Using search expressions can often help you narrow your search most effectively. Here is a sneak peak at the more detailed discussion in Chapter 2. Use the + sign before any word to tell Google that this word must be in the results. This can be particularly important because Google often leaves out common words that it considers unimportant to the meaning or context. Common words such as who, what, when, where, and how are often ignored when included as keywords. When a common word must be considered, precede it with the plus sign like this: +how +now brown cow.

Without the plus signs, Google may have ignored the keywords how and now.

Tip 

You can forget about capitalizing words. Google ignores all capitalization.

Another useful way to affect the way Google understands keywords is to tell Google what to ignore. Precede keywords that you specifically don’t want to see in your results with a − (minus sign). For example, if you are searching on old M.A.S.H. TV shows and using the keyword potter, and don’t want to see an endless stream of pages about Harry Potter, you can precede the word harry with a minus sign like this: −harry potter mash tv.

Whether using the + or − sign to affect how Google handles your keywords, make certain there is a space before either of these characters when following another keyword.

The query

Type your keywords into the Google Search box as shown in Figure 1.3. You can begin your search by pressing Enter or by clicking Search.

Figure 1.3: Type your search term into the Google Search box.

Tip 

Don’t be afraid to get extra help by clicking the Search Tips link at the bottom of each Google results page.

Google Search boxes have become ubiquitous. They are everywhere. Google has given the ability to include its search box on any Web page that wants to have one. You don’t necessarily have to be on the Google home page to perform your query. Be advised that many of the Google Search boxes that appear on other sites have the ability of searching the entire Web or just that site. Normally, the Web page informs you of any search limitations.

Warning 

Google searches are not secure. Never enter personal or financial information into a Google Search box, particularly one that is on a page other than the Google home page.

The missing word query

Earlier in this chapter you learned how to create a phrase by enclosing keywords within quotes. Another useful tool is the * (missing word wildcard), which is used only within phrases. This is particular great when you are searching for things like song lyrics and can’t remember all the words. For instance, “If you could * my mind love” as a search phrase will return the words from the Gordon Lightfoot song that begins, “If you could read my mind love.”

Using the missing word wildcard is also great when you need answers. Here is an example: “the circumference of the Earth is * miles” returns “the circumference of the Earth is 24901.55 miles in the first result.” Of course, you could have typed the phrase “the circumference of the Earth is” without the wildcard and the word miles and you might receive different results including the circumference in kilometers or feet. It is a little-used feature but can help you narrow your search.

One last useful feature of the missing word wildcard is that Google does not count this wildcard when calculating whether or not you have exceeded the ten-keyword limit. You might find it useful when too many search terms have become a problem.