The InfoStride Forum

Searching for the right information online can be challenging sometimes when you do not know exactly how to go about it the right way. One of the fastest and most effective ways of achieving this is with help of the search engines. This is because they (search engines) can easily query several millions of Webpages online to get you the exact information that you are looking for.

Few months ago, one of the leading search engines (Google) organized a free tutorial on how to effectively search for information using Google. According to Dr. Dan Russell, a research scientist at Google who anchored the tutorial, he said and I quote: "Sometimes you have to try a couple of different queries to focus in on the information you want, trying different combinations of keywords.  Keywords are the most important words in your idea or question—they tell the search engine what you are seeking. They can also be called search terms."

Before you can effectively achieve this, he suggested these few lines as quoted: "When you get ready to type in a query, think for a moment about what you really want to find. One way to do that is to consider what words you think will appear on the page that would have the perfect answer. Imagine that page for a moment. How would someone else write about it? That is actually an important skill: how do you put yourself in the mindset of the author who wrote your perfect page?
So, consider three things:
•   Think about what you are trying to find.
•   Chose the words that you think will appear on the page.
•   Put yourself in the mindset of the author of those words--what words would he or she use? "

In the video below, Dr. Dan Russell, thought about how you can imagine words that will appear on a webpage, using only the most important words and selecting the right synonym. In summary, he said: "When you pick the words to use in a query, think about how the page you want to find would talk about your idea. Using those words can give Google reliable cues to finding the information you desire."     
Enjoy watching!