Trying to find a website with the aid of Google or any of the other search engines can often be a chore. The search phrase chosen seems simple enough and yet after scrolling down through a dozen pages and after clicking on dozens of links we still have not found what we are after. The search providers have done an amazing job of collecting, sorting and displaying as much data as they have and in maintaining that collection. Sifting through it on our end can still provide much frustration.

The major search providers recognize "Boolean search commands", but they can be a little complex and more than what most of us are ever going to need. Some of the simpler commands though might help, as well as some oddity basics. I have placed below the more common options with the easier to remember and most likely to use at the top of the list. Give them a try, you might be impressed with better results.

Narrowing it down a bit.

Add a word or two to the search. If you type "veneers" you will get listings for home remodel, wood working, the debut album of a Swedish born minstrel José González, a magazine, a dental procedure, definitions from dictionary sites and much much more. If you are looking for the dental procedure then search for "dental veneers" or "porcelain veneers". If you are looking for a local dentist who specializes in the service then add a location, such as "seattle porcelain veneer".

Order of Words.

The search engines factor the order of words into their algorithms. Searching for "Seattle porcelain veneers" and "porcelain veneers Seattle" and "veneers Seattle porcelain" all provide a different order of listings. The first word is emphasized more than the subsequent words, but the order of words contained on the site also make a difference as the search providers will treat an exact match between site wording and search phrase as more important than not. Play around with the order of your search keywords if you are not getting what you are after.

The above example will should provide a listing for seattle dentists who provide the service of veneers at the top of the listings, but you will also receive some odd results the further down you scroll. A few pages into the search you will still be finding wood working websites. To minimize the total results and provide better filtering the further suggestions should be used.

Quotation Marks.

Some words are made to go together. Placing quotes around these words ensures that these words are to appear next to each other and in a particular order only.

Positive Search.

Similar to the quotation marks is using the word "and" or the plus character "+". These two options perform the same task. This tells the search provider that a word must be on the page.

Negative Search.

You can subtract words from your search. For instance, type "veneers -wood" to receive search results that contain the word "veneers" but are not about "wood". The Boolean argument of "-" or "not" will work the same way.

Capitalization.

It does not matter. "PorceLain VeNeEr" and "porcelain veneer" are the same.

Common Words.

Some small and common words are omitted by the search providers. A search of "a porcelain veneer for teeth by a dentist" is the same as "porcelain veneer teeth dentist".

Word Forms.

Google treats different forms of the same word as, well, the same. Tooth or teeth are treated mostly the same. Veneer or veneers are treated mostly the same. The exception to this is when your keyword phrases matches a website wording, then a minimal amount of positioning adjustment might take place. At the same time, the same word can mean different things. "Apple Tart" and "Apple Computer" are going to return totally different subject based results, as we saw above with the word "Veneer".

Other Options.

"Or" in combination with other tricks, such as quotes and the and operative, can be a powerful option. For instance; "porcelain or veneer" and "teeth" will return pages that contain teeth and either porcelain or veneer; "porcelain teeth" or "tooth veneers".

"Near" assures that words will be found on pages where they are in close proximity to each other.

I keep trying to find evidence of "nand", "nor" and "xor" but have failed thus far. I would not rule this out in future updates for no other reason than that these are fun to type.

Here are a few Google specific options, although some have been found to work with other search engines. To use these place them in front of the text that is being searched for. In some cases the text will be a website name.

intitle: Finds pages that have the phrase in the HTML title element. Can be combined with other search terms.

inurl: Finds pages that have the phrase somewhere in the URL (host name, path, or filename). This can be combined with other search terms.

allintitle: Finds website pages that have the phrase in the HTML title element; that which appears in the top section of the browser window.

link: Finds pages which contain hypertext links to the exact specified website; specifically it URL or domain name.

allinurl: Finds pages and websites that have the phrase somewhere in the URL (host name, path, or filename).

site: Finds pages from the designated website.

allinanchor: Finds pages that have the phrase somewhere in the links to the page or website.

related: Causes GoogleScout to find other pages similar in linkage patterns to the given URL and at a comparable hierarchical level.

 

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