Important Information This presentation was created by Patrick Crispen.This presentation was created by Patrick Crispen. You are free to reuse this presentation provided that youYou are free to reuse this presentation provided that you –Not make any money from this presentation. –Give credit where credit is due.

Google 101: Stop Searching and Start FINDING a presentation by Patrick Douglas Crispen

Our goals today... Discover the biggest mistakes made by most Internet users:Discover the biggest mistakes made by most Internet users: –Typing search terms in the wrong box. –Using the wrong tool at the wrong time. Talk about the differences between directories and search engines (and when to use each.)Talk about the differences between directories and search engines (and when to use each.) Learn some advanced Google searching techniques.Learn some advanced Google searching techniques. DO ALL OF THIS IN ENGLISH!DO ALL OF THIS IN ENGLISH!

The Biggest Mistake Typing search terms in the wrong box

Top 15 search terms of Sex 2.Hotmail / hotmail.com / 3.Yahoo / yahoo.com / 4.Porn / porno / pornography 5.Chat / chatrooms 6.MP3 7.Horoscopes / horoscope 8.Ebay / ebay.com / 9.AOL / aol.com / 10.Games 11.Map / maps 12.Pokemon 13.Nude / nudes 14.Music 15.XXX -- Courtesy Alexa Research

What most parents notice 1.Sex 2.Hotmail / hotmail.com / 3.Yahoo / yahoo.com / 4.Porn / porno / pornography 5.Chat / chatrooms 6.MP3 7.Horoscopes / horoscope 8.Ebay / ebay.com / 9.AOL / aol.com / 10.Games 11.Map / maps 12.Pokemon 13.Nude / nudes 14.Music 15.XXX -- Courtesy Alexa Research

What *I* notice 1.Sex 2.Hotmail / hotmail.com / 3.Yahoo / yahoo.com / 4.Porn / porno / pornography 5.Chat / chatrooms 6.MP3 7.Horoscopes / horoscope 8.Ebay / ebay.com / 9.AOL / aol.com / 10.Games 11.Map / maps 12.Pokemon 13.Nude / nudes 14.Music 15.XXX -- Courtesy Alexa Research

wordtracker.com Did you notice that my list of top search terms is two years old?Did you notice that my list of top search terms is two years old? A “live” list of today’s top search terms can be found at wordtracker.comA “live” list of today’s top search terms can be found at wordtracker.com More people are typing addresses as search terms than even before.More people are typing addresses as search terms than even before.

The Second Biggest Mistake Using the wrong tool at the wrong time

Three questions Where would you find the telephone number or address of the Bama Six theatre?Where would you find the telephone number or address of the Bama Six theatre? –A telephone book Where you would find the definition of the word “pestilence?”Where you would find the definition of the word “pestilence?” –A dictionary (or an Auburn University sorority photo album) Where would you find the name of the war that the Treaty of Westphalia ended?Where would you find the name of the war that the Treaty of Westphalia ended? –An encyclopedia

What would happen if you tried to look up the definition of the word “pestilence” in the telephone book?

YAHOO ISN’T A SEARCH ENGINE!... it is a directory.

Directories Usually human- compiled guides to the web, where sites are organized by categoryUsually human- compiled guides to the web, where sites are organized by category Major directories:Major directories: –MSN –Yahoo –Netscape ODP

What directories are good for... “What is the Web page address for some company, organization, or entity?” (or “who makes product X?”)“What is the Web page address for some company, organization, or entity?” (or “who makes product X?”) “Where can I find a list of Web pages that focus on a particular, ‘universal’ topic?”“Where can I find a list of Web pages that focus on a particular, ‘universal’ topic?” In other words, directories are GREAT for “telephone book” searches.In other words, directories are GREAT for “telephone book” searches.

What directories AREN’T good for... Directories are horrible for “encyclopedia” or “dictionary” searches.Directories are horrible for “encyclopedia” or “dictionary” searches. The only exception is if the topic is so universal that the directories have no choice but to link to a page or two that discuss that topic (and even then the selection will be slim.)The only exception is if the topic is so universal that the directories have no choice but to link to a page or two that discuss that topic (and even then the selection will be slim.)

Search Engines have three parts: 1.A spider (also called a "crawler" or a "bot") that goes to every page or representative pages on every Web site that wants to be searchable and reads it, using hypertext links on each page to discover and read a site's other pages.

Search Engines have three parts: 2.A program that creates a huge index (sometimes called a "catalog") from the pages that have been read.

Search Engines have three parts: 3.A program that receives your search request, compares it to the entries in the index, and returns results to you. -- Courtesy searchenginewatch.com

Directories v Search Engines Directories are human-compiled and have a small number of pages in their databases (usually in the low millions)Directories are human-compiled and have a small number of pages in their databases (usually in the low millions) Search engines are machine-compiled and have a HUGE number of pages in their databases (usually in the hundreds of millions or even the billions)Search engines are machine-compiled and have a HUGE number of pages in their databases (usually in the hundreds of millions or even the billions)

The Second Biggest Mistake -- Restated Using a directory as if it was a search engine... and then not understanding why you can’t find anything!

Top search sites – January MSN 2.Yahoo 3.Google 4.AOL 5.Ask Jeeves 6.LookSmart 7.Infospace 8.Overture 9.Netscape 10.AltaVista -- Courtesy Jupiter Media Metrix

Which ones are directories? 1.MSN 2.Yahoo 3.Google 4.AOL 5.Ask Jeeves 6.LookSmart 7.Infospace 8.Overture 9.Netscape ODP 10.AltaVista

Secondary results Most directories use a search engine as a backup (Yahoo and Netscape use Google, almost everyone else uses Inktomi)Most directories use a search engine as a backup (Yahoo and Netscape use Google, almost everyone else uses Inktomi) Why add the extra step?Why add the extra step?

How the sites stack up Most directories (like MSN and AOL) link to 2 or 3 million pages.Most directories (like MSN and AOL) link to 2 or 3 million pages. Most search engines (like AltaVista and Google) link to hundreds of millions of pages.Most search engines (like AltaVista and Google) link to hundreds of millions of pages. -- Courtesy searchenginewatch.com

Why do people predominantly use directories when search engines have more stuff? Because no one ever takes the time to teach us how to use a search engine!

The Third Biggest Mistake Not knowing how to use directories or search engines to actually FIND stuff

searchenginewatch.com A LOT of what you are about to see comes straight from Danny Sullivan’s “Search Engine Watch” Web site.A LOT of what you are about to see comes straight from Danny Sullivan’s “Search Engine Watch” Web site. We’ll talk about this site in a minute.We’ll talk about this site in a minute.

Search engine rule #1 Be specific... because if you aren’t specific, you’ll end up with a bunch of garbage!

Search engine rule #2 Use quotes to search for phrases. “patrick crispen”

Use quotes for phrases This works on every search engine and directory but Direct Hit, LookSmart, and MSN Search.This works on every search engine and directory but Direct Hit, LookSmart, and MSN Search. BUT, quotes do work for LookSmart's Inktomi results.BUT, quotes do work for LookSmart's Inktomi results. At MSN Search, it’s unpredictable about when this works.At MSN Search, it’s unpredictable about when this works.

Search engine rule #3 Use the + sign to require. crispen +pepperdine

Use the + sign to require This works on every search engine and directory but LookSmart.This works on every search engine and directory but LookSmart. But, the plus sign does work for LookSmart's Inktomi results.But, the plus sign does work for LookSmart's Inktomi results.

Search engine rule #4 Use the - sign to exclude. crispen -roadmap

Use the - sign to exclude This works on every search engine and directory but LookSmartThis works on every search engine and directory but LookSmart But, the - sign does work for LookSmart's Inktomi results.But, the - sign does work for LookSmart's Inktomi results. Also, the - sign will not work for preprogrammed results to popular queries at MSN Search.Also, the - sign will not work for preprogrammed results to popular queries at MSN Search.

Search engine rule #5 Combine symbols as often as possible (see rule #1). +”patrick crispen” –roadmap +pepperdine

The five rules 1.Be specific... because if you aren’t specific, you’ll end up with a bunch of garbage! 2.Use quotes to search for phrases. 3.Use the + sign to require. 4.Use the - sign to exclude. 5.Combine symbols as often as possible (see rule #1).

Advanced Google Searching Made Easy It’s easy as long as you remember a few, simple commands.

Google Advanced Search

Title searches at Google Lets you search for pages that have a particular word or phrase in their title.Lets you search for pages that have a particular word or phrase in their title. Great way to “cast a narrow net.”Great way to “cast a narrow net.”

Title searches at Google intitle:terms intitle:moon intitle:”Moon Landing”

Site searches at Google Lets you limit your search to only pages within a specific site or domain, or to exclude pages from a specific site or domain.Lets you limit your search to only pages within a specific site or domain, or to exclude pages from a specific site or domain. You’d use this in combination with another search term.You’d use this in combination with another search term.

Site searches at Google site:domainname apollo site:nasa.gov apollo –site:nasa.gov

URL searches at Google Lets you search for pages that have a particular word or phrase in their URL.Lets you search for pages that have a particular word or phrase in their URL. This works great when you can only remember one word in a long URL.This works great when you can only remember one word in a long URL.

URL searches at Google inurl:url inurl:apollo

A sample Google search +inurl:apollo +moon –”john young” +site:nasa.gov Of course, this would all be on one line

Related searches at Google Lets you search for pages that are similar to another page.Lets you search for pages that are similar to another page. For example, you can do a related search to find pages similar to my netsquirrel.com pageFor example, you can do a related search to find pages similar to my netsquirrel.com page

Related searches at Google related:url related:netsquirrel.com

searchenginewatch.com FREE search tutorials!FREE search tutorials! “Search Engine Math”“Search Engine Math” “Power Searching for Anyone”“Power Searching for Anyone”

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Our goals today... Discover the biggest mistakes made by most Internet users:Discover the biggest mistakes made by most Internet users: –Typing search terms in the wrong box. –Using the wrong tool at the wrong time. Talk about the differences between directories and search engines (and when to use each.)Talk about the differences between directories and search engines (and when to use each.) Learn some advanced Google searching techniques.Learn some advanced Google searching techniques. DO ALL OF THIS IN ENGLISH!DO ALL OF THIS IN ENGLISH!

Google 101: Stop Searching and Start FINDING a presentation by Patrick Douglas Crispen