Question

Some people can find anything they are looking for with Google. What is the trick to having successful Google queries?

Answer 1

This document will highlight the more advanced features of Google Web Search. Have in mind though that even very advanced searchers, such as the members of the search group at Google, use these features less than 5% of the time. Basic simple search is often enough. As always, we use square brackets [ ] to denote queries, so [ to be or not to be ] is an example of a query; [ to be ] or [ not to be ] are two examples of queries.

Some basic facts

• Every word matters. Generally, all the words you put in the query will be used. There are some exceptions.
• Search is always case insensitive. Searching for [ new york times ] is the same as searching for [ New York Times ].
• With some exceptions, punctuation is ignored (that is, you can't search for @#$%^&*()=+[]\ and other special characters).

Guidelines for better search

• Keep it simple. If you're looking for a particular company, just enter its name, or as much of its name as you can recall. If you're looking for a particular concept, place, or product, start with its name. If you're looking for a pizza restaurant, just enter pizza and the name of your town or your zip code. Most queries do not require advanced operators or unusual syntax. Simple is good.
• Think how the page you are looking for will be written. A search engine is not a human, it is a program that matches the words you give to pages on the web. Use the words that are most likely to appear on the page. For example, instead of saying [ my head hurts ], say [ headache ], because that's the term a medical page will use. The query [ in what country are bats considered an omen of good luck? ] is very clear to a person, but the document that gives the answer may not have those words. Instead, use the query [ bats are considered good luck in ] or even just [ bats good luck ], because that is probably what the right page will say.
• Describe what you need with as few terms as possible. The goal of each word in a query is to focus it further. Since all words are used, each additional word limits the results. If you limit too much, you will miss a lot of useful information. The main advantage to starting with fewer keywords is that, if you don't get what you need, the results will likely give you a good indication of what additional words are needed to refine your results on the next search. For example, [ weather cancun ] is a simple way to find the weather and it is likely to give better results than the longer [ weather report for cancun mexico ].
• Choose descriptive words. The more unique the word is the more likely you are to get relevant results. Words that are not very descriptive, like 'document,' 'website,' 'company,' or 'info,' are usually not needed. Keep in mind, however, that even if the word has the correct meaning but it is not the one most people use, it may not match the pages you need. For example, [ celebrity ringtones ] is more descriptive and specific than [ celebrity sounds ].

Source

Answer 2

Knowing what you're really looking for.

Don't just put the first words that come into your head in. Think about it for a moment.

Make use of advanced operators (apple OR orange, if you hate mixing fruits, for example)

If you find something you looked for for ages and couldn't find, write a blog, or tweet about it. Won't help YOU find it, but if everybody did it, it would serve to further mesh the net together, making interesting things easier to find.

Answer 3

Practice, as much as anything else. I don't mean, just go Google a bunch of stuff: 4 sets of 12 reps, one query each!

What I mean is, you learn over time how to refine your query for better results, and how to leave out words from your query that you suspect will only clutter the result. If I want to find a recipe for angel food cake, I would leave out query words like 'baking' or 'fluffy'. Those words are likely to only cause hits that aren't related to what I'm looking for.

Another technique that's simple enough is to use the '-' operator to explicitly reject certain results.

Here's a contrived example: I want to find information about "Venetian rooms" for an interior design project. But my search results are cluttered with online travel agent results for the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. I'd update my query to "Venetian rooms -hotel" or -vegas or something.

Answer 4

Being able to specify exactly what you are looking for is extremely useful. Check out the Google Cheat Sheet for help on limiting your queries.

Answer 5

google guide is your friend... http://www.googleguide.com/advanced%5Foperators%5Freference.html

Answer 6

I just gave an interview that partly answers this question, so perhaps it will be of interest to you!

Answer 7

One big trick is to not think of your question, rather think of words that are likely to appear in your answer and search on those.