1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000 The web may seem like a vast ocean when it comes to finding something you need. 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:08,000 Thankfully, search engines can help turn oceans of information 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:12,000 into small pools that make finding information easier. 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,000 This is web search strategies in plain English. 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,000 Before we dive in, let's talk a bit about how search works on the web. 6 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,000 Search engines go out and try to account for every word 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,000 on every web page. All this information is then organized for easy reference. 8 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,000 When you search for a word, the search engine finds 9 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:36,000 all the pages where the word appears and displays them in the search results. 10 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,000 Usually, the pages that appear highest in the search results 11 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:44,000 have lots of other web pages linking to them. Each link acts as a 12 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,000 vote to say, this may be a good resource. 13 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,000 The problem is that there are often too many results. 14 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,000 You need a way to reduce the number of results so you can find what you need. 15 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:00,000 Let's look at how this works. Say you're looking for a specific 16 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,000 kind of fish, and these represent all the websites on the web. 17 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:08,000 Searching for fish doesn't help much. There are way too many results. 18 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:12,000 You need to be more specific. Try to imagine the exact 19 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,000 fish and describe it in the search box. You'll see that each word 20 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:20,000 you use gets you closer to what you need. You can do this 21 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,000 for any website by imagining the website that has your answer. 22 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,000 What's the title of the page? What words appear on it? 23 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:32,000 If you put those words in the search box, you'll get closer to finding answers. 24 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,000 But to be a smart searcher, you should know some basic shortcuts. 25 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,000 Let's say you're looking for words that appear together, like a phrase or quote. 26 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,000 An example is a search for information on sand sharks. 27 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,000 If you search for it like this, the search engine looks for pages with sand 28 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:52,000 and sharks. To get better results, put quotes around 29 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,000 the words, like this. It limits the results to the exact phrase. 30 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,000 Here's another shortcut. Words often have multiple meanings. 31 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,000 Consider the word mullet, which is both a fish and 32 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:08,000 a hairstyle. A search for mullet may give you a number of results 33 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,000 about the hairstyle, but fewer about the fish. To remove 34 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:16,000 the results about hair, place a hyphen or minus sign just before 35 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,000 the word you want to exclude, which means, show me the pages about mullet 36 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,000 but take away results relating to hair. 37 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,000 By being specific, and using words and symbols that remove useless information, 38 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,000 you can find exactly what you need and keep the web from swallowing you 39 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:36,000 whole. I'm Lela Fever, and this has been 40 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,000 Web Search Strategies in Plain English, on the Common Craft Show. 41 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,000 One more thing. The Common Craft Store now offers downloadable versions 42 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,000 of our videos for use in the workplace. Find them at 43 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:50,000 com.com.store.