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Welcome to Search Engines Made Simple


Hopefully this page will help you find what you are looking for on the internet/World Wide Web.

Last updated on April 24th 2003

OK, I'm going to just start at the beginning and answer the question:
"What is a search engine?"
This is not to insult your intelligence, but like I said, I'm starting at the beginning.


Very simply, a search engine is a computer program that will search documents (such as webpages) for certain keywords (which you enter into the search box) and then returns a list of documents containing the words entered.

Most search engines also have an "advanced search" where one can enter even more specific search criteria based upon individual needs.

For a little more information, please refer to the following link from PC Webopedia on: Search Engines


Besides web-based search engines, there are also similar (but different) web directories. A web directory is pretty much like a search engine in the end, but actual people go out onto the internet, find webpages, and categorize them with other similar webpages.   This way, you can find webpages of similar topics together, without having to wade through tons of unrelated websites often found within search engine results.   A disadvantage?   Well, if the editors of the web directory haven't yet found a great website in which you may be interested, it won't be listed in the web directory!   Search engines give you more options, if you are willing to keep searching.

Some good examples of web directories would be

Yahoo!   and   DMOZ Open Directory Project


A few people get a little confused on what to enter in the search box.   Remember, you are entering words not webpage addresses such as
http://jonu235.tripod.com/webtv.html

If you already know the webpage address, then you don't need to use a search engine.   Just press your "Go To" button on your keyboard and type the address into that box.   Then you'll be taken right to that webpage (as long as you have typed the address correctly).   One wrong misspelling and you're out of luck, so be careful.


So far it sounds easy, right?   However, when you consider that there are over a billion (with a B) webpages out there, and every day thousands are being created, deleted, or moved; then you start to run into some problems.

I'll just add a little note right here to make sure we all know the difference between websites and webpages.   One single website, such as CNN, for example, can have many thousands of webpages.   The webpage you are looking at is within Tripod's website, which has a huge number of webpages.

So what I am getting at is that there are far more webpages out there than websites.   So when you read those statistics and studies about internet size & growth, make note of whether they are counting sites, or pages... 8-)


So due to the sheer size of the internet/world wide web, if you go to the Google Search Engine ,for example, and type in WebTV, chances are you are not going to find what you are looking for unless you get really lucky.


So now we come to
Jon's first rule for finding what you want out of those several billion+ webpages:


BE AS SPECIFIC AS YOU CAN WHEN YOU ENTER YOUR KEYWORDS


Basically, this means typing in more than one word related to what you are looking for.   Just keep that thought in the back of your head that there are over one billion webpages out there, and the search engine is going to give you Every webpage out there that contains that word, if you only enter one.


So if you want to find webpages with pre-made signatures for your e-mail, for example, you'll at least need to type in
webtv signatures or
pre-made sigs or
signatures webtv siggies sigs or
sigs siggies webtv signatures or
signatures for webtv e-mail or
pictures and sounds in webtv e-mail or

Any combination of the above words and/or variations I haven't thought of in the above examples.


As you can see from the above, searching for a webpage still requires some thought and a little luck, due to the sheer number of pages out there.   But with some patience and thought, you are starting to turn the tide in your favor.


OK, so now you know what you have to do to at least find a webpage in the ballpark of what you are looking for.   So now we'll just jump right in and go to
Jon's second rule for finding what you want out of those one billion+ webpages:


THE USE OF QUOTATION MARKS AROUND YOUR KEYWORDS


This is a biggie for narrowing your search to what you are looking for, folks!   Let's say that you are looking for, oh I don't know, how about my webpage Everything WebTV.   So now you go to your favorite search engine and you type in everything webtv.   Chances are you might find my webpage (I did, so this is probably a bad example, but oh well), but you will want to consider this:

Without the quotes, the search engine results will include Every webpage with the words everything AND webtv in them, no matter where those words occur on that webpage.

So if the first word on a webpage happens to be everything and the last word on the webpage happens to be webtv (As in "Powered by WebTV" seen at the bottom of some webpages), then that page will be included in your search results.

But if you search for "everything webtv", your search results are more likely to result in webpages which have the words everything and webtv right next to each other.

Some other examples where you may want to use quotes could be:

"webtv scanner"
"word processors for webtv"
"webtv movies"
"webtv printable stuff"
"karaoke for webtv"
"webtv radio"
"webtv music"
"webtv word processors"
"Quick Sigs"
"webtv printer"
"webtv karaoke"
"ready-made quick signatures"
"Webtv Personal Tv"
"webtv sig pages"
"ready made sigs"
"webtv ircs"
"webtv radio stations"
"Quick Signatures for webtv"
"webtv audio"



I must admit that you shouldn't always use quotes, since by using them you may be limiting yourself by excluding related pages without that exact phrase in them.   So to simplify the above, try your search with and without the quotes.

A really good use for quotes would be when you remember the title of a webpage but not the webpage address (the "http://").   Then you really should use quotes around the webpage title in your search for the best results.


So really, that's about it.   "What do you mean, that's it, Jon?"   What about Boolean searches using NEAR AND OR NOT??   What about using + and - to include or exlude words in my search results??   You call this a help page?? 8-)


Quite frankly, I've almost never really had a use for those.   If you use quotes where you should and you use good keywords in your search, you should do just fine.   Not to mention there are other webpages which will help you out lots more than I can on "really advanced" searches!

Here's the "Big Help" links:


The Spider's Apprentice
A Helpful Guide to Search Engines


The Guide to Effectively Searching the Internet


Welcome to Search Engine Watch


Google Web Directory: Searching The Internet
By the way, this is a great site for websearching.   I basically use this website almost exclusively for web "surfing", along with   Google's Search Engine


In conclusion, I'd like to think this page helped at least a few people.   I'll probably be adding some more content here in the future, since this page is pretty lame so far.   You can also get to some more search engine help links by going to my main Everything WebTV page in the
Search Section


Remember, use a variety (and more than one at a time) "key words" to help you in your search, and use quotes if needed.   Go to some of the resources I have listed, or find your own search help pages, and learn as much as you need.   Also, having pleasant thoughts while searching seems to help sometimes.

Don't worry, you're not alone in your search frustrations.   It's a never ending battle between all those webpages being moved, created, and deleted all the time; the huge number of new webpages created every day; the ability (or lack thereof) of search engines to find all these webpages; and of course how much luck you are having today.


My Other Pages

Cut, Copy, Paste Tutorial & WebTV Tips	Everything WebTV	Other Great WebTV Pages
All About Newsgroups	My Recipe Page	Everything Astronomy
My Guide to St. Louis	Best of the Best of the Internet	Everything Outdoors! Camping, hiking, backpacking, other resources!

smart searchers have slogged through this page.

Sorry, but this is as far as I dare go with this page, for fear of falling off the edge of the world wide web into the abyss of cyberspace.... 8-)