How to Write a Good Search

Finding the right combination of keywords is an important skill to develop. It's possible to generate millions of matching web pages for keywords that seem to be fairly limiting. Let's go through an example using Google. In this search, we'll look for Restaurants in Tempe, Arizona.

Here's my first attempt using the phrase, "Restaurants in Tempe."

Notice that the search ignored the word "in." It's a common word that doesn't add anything to the search. In fact, in some searches it can cause problems. When you search, you should leave out the connecting words. Stick with just the KEY words.

Look at how many matches I got from that search. 2, 820! That’s a huge number. Here are some ways that I could narrow down my search. For example, I can make sure that I’m only getting restaurants in Tempe, Arizona and not some other Tempe (or a restaurant that happens to be on Tempe Street, or owned by Mr. And Mrs. Tempe.). Also, I can narrow down what kind of food I’m looking for. Let’s try Italian!

As you can see, I have narrowed down my search to 274 sites. This is still a lot, but I can see a couple of good possibilities in the first two listings.