Search Like A Geek

people search the Web like a Neanderthal standingrule follows the law of diminishing returns
before the Library of Congress steps grunting,however. So searching using 25 words will
“Me want food!” While other, moreprobably get you little or no results. So there is a
sophisticated searchers, act more like a person“sweet spot” you’ll have
actually entering the Library of Congress,to discover for any given search, but it is almost
approaching the librarian, and saying,always using more than 1-2 words.
“Pardon me, please lead me to yourUse more than one search engine.
books on agriculture and growing food, and whileWhen I search on the Web, I use more than one
you’re at it, please show me your booksbrowser and more than one search engine or
on fine dining in the Washington D.C. area.”.directory. The difference between the two is that
Who would you rather be?search engines are run automatically while
Back in high school there was thedirectories are run by humans. Google is a search
‘in-crowd’, often populated by theengine and show search results of websites that
jocks, and then there were the geeks, amongno one has actually looked at in advance.
other social clicks. Today, many of thoseDirectories on the other hand contain websites
‘geeks’ are wildly successful; whilethat have actually been reviewed by a person.
some of those unfortunate others are asking us ifTherefore, the results you get will differ. A good
we’d like fries with our burgers.list of directories can be found at
So it’s not so bad being a geek today,Open up your browser and click on
especially since so much of our lives and economy‘File’ in the top left of your
are dominated by computers, software and thebrowser and select ‘New’ >
Internet. It is wise to learn how to use the‘Window’. Do this a couple of
Internet as best you can. By understanding howtimes until you have three or more browsers
search engines and directories work, like manyopen on your desktop at the same time. Choose
geeks already do, you will find the informationyour search words carefully, use more than two
you’re looking for more easily, quickly andwords and try the same exact phrase in Yahoo,
with a lot less frustration. Knowing how to pinpointMSN, Google, and a favorite directory using a
specific bits of information quickly will give you andifferent browser for each. That way you can
advantage over most other people who do notcompare results to find the best ones. You can
have these skills. And this advantage can turn intoalso try a new site I found called which lets you
big money by saving you time in your day to dayperform a simultaneous search on both Google
business. And learning about how to search willand Yahoo.
help in your search engine optimization efforts ifUse modifiers in your searches.
you run your own website too.Going back to the tickets example, let’s
So, I invite you to pull up your pants to makesay I wanted to find airline tickets, but each time
high-waters, apply some masking tape to theI performed a search on tickets, most of the
bridge of your eye glasses, and insert a pocketresults had to do with sports and theater tickets.
protector in your front shirt pocket, and join meI could weed out all those irrelevant results by
in learning how to search like a geek.using the minus (-) sign next to the word
The more appropriate words you use the better.‘theater’.
Let’s say I want to find tickets to a newBad search: tickets
Broadway musical show called Wicked nextBetter search: tickets to New York
weekend in New York City. If you just type theEven better search: airline tickets to New York
word ‘tickets’ into–theater
Google’s search box, you’ll getSo if you are getting a lot of extraneous results
99.6 million results, which is very unwieldy. Thein your searches, try adding a minus sign to
first result is It took 4 clicks for me to get towords you don’t want showing up in your
their listing of Wicked tickets, but they were outresults.
of inventory up to 6 weeks from now, so it wasAnother good tip is using quotes around your
a dead end since I want to go next weekend.phrases. By doing this you are telling the search
The next result was Tickets.com, and when Iengine to find the exact phrase and in the order
searched for Wicked on their site I found ticketsyou are specifying. By adding quotes, you are
available to Wicked in Toronto only. Another deadbeing much more specific. You’ll get very
end, I need tickets to the NYC production.different results using quotes. If you searched for
The third result only sold airline and cruise tickets,‘2005 NBA playoff tickets’
not what I’m looking for either. After(without quotes) you are asking the search engine
clicking on another 4 websites, I still hadn’tto look for sites that have the words 2005, NBA,
found what I was looking for. I was gettingplayoff, and tickets associated with them. So you
frustrated, impatient and was just about ready towill probably come up with airline tickets, football
toss my PC out my window and give up totally.playoff information, NBA history and so forth. If
If instead, I used a few more appropriate wordsyou put quotes around your phrase you’ll
in my search, my results would have been muchget much closer to what you want.
better. I tried typing the words ‘new yorkUse the ‘Find’ function.
city broadway wicked musical tickets’ inTrust me; this one suggestion is worth the price
the Google search box and came up with 230,000of admission alone. You will save lots of valuable
results instead of 99 million, which is slightly moretime if you do this. Ever get to a Web page that
manageable.has a lot of text on it, and quickly scanning the
The first result was which offered ‘Ticketpage doesn’t immediately produce what
Tips - Wicked on Broadway, Seating info’.you’re looking for? In fact, the scanning
So I clicked on that and learned a number ofjust makes you dizzy.
things about purchasing Broadway tickets, NYCTry this: while holding down your
travel tips and other information on Wicked the‘Ctrl’ key hit your
musical.‘F’ key (this works on PCs only).
The next two Google results were and and theyA ‘Find’ dialog box should pop up.
both offered tickets for the Broadway musicalSimply type the word or phrase you’re
Wicked in New York City on the weekend Ilooking for in the box and hit
wanted. So by carefully choosing appropriate‘Enter’ and it will immediately find
words to search with and using more than one oreach and every instance of it on the Web page
two words, I found what I was looking for muchyou’re on. This will truly save you time if
more easily and quickly than just searching usingyou remember to use it.
the word ‘tickets’.One can get lost on the Net. There is so much
I am not suggesting you use lots and lots ofinformation, and almost all of it is not applicable to
words willy nilly. The best method is to think ofwhat you want at any given time. If you use the
very specific words related to whatNet for your business, pinpointing appropriate and
you’re looking for, be a little creative, andrelevant information quickly will put you ahead of
watch what order you put the words in.the pack every time. By following these simple
Searching for ‘broadway wicked musicalsuggestions, you will find more accurate results
tickets’ and ‘tickets broadwaywhich will reduce your frustration, save you time,
wicked musical’ will give you differentand give you an edge over others who are still
results.searching for information like a caveman at the
Never search using one word. Avoid only usingsteps of a library.
two words. Try to use 3-7 words. This search