Understanding Search EnginesThe Keys To Search City

Web Search Lesson PlanModule A3

How Search WorksAn Introduction

Questions About Search

What does it mean to search an index of

the web?

What are spiders? How do they help build

Google's index of the web?

How does Google search its index when

you enter a search query?

How does Google decide what search

results you really want?

How Search Works

Google engineer Matt Cutts explains how Google Search decides which search results to give you, based on your search query.

What Does Google Do When You Search?

Search the index: When you click the Google Search button, Google races through its billions of web pages to find every page that contains the word or phrase or group of words you've used.

Analyze the web pages for relevance: Google screens web pages in the index to see which ones are most likely to have what you're looking for.

Evaluate each site's reputation: Google looks at how often other websites link to these pages to determine how popular or useful each one is.

Rank the web pages: Having scrutinized the web pages in terms of their relevance to your search words, Google presents your results, with what we believe are the most useful pages at the top.

Understanding Search

Finding the Right Keywords to Use

What Matters In My Search Query?

Think of a topic or question you would like

to search for.

Pick three or four keywords to use in your

search query.

What happens if you reorder them? Add

capitalization or punctuation? What if you

take out a word?

What Matters In My Search Query?

1 Every word matters.

Try searching for [who], [the who], and [a who]

2 Order matters.

Try searching for [blue sky] and [sky blue]

3 Capitalization does not matter.

Try searching for [barack obama] and [Barack Obama]

4 Punctuation does not matter.

Try searching for [red: delicious! apple?] and [red delicious apple]

* There are some exceptions!

Can you think of any? Click here for a few examples.

Keyword Search

How do you come up with the right words to

search for? Can you remember a time when

you had trouble finding what you were

looking for? What makes certain searches

hard?

Tips For Better Searches

Use descriptive, specific words. Avoid general or common words.

3

Think of how the page you want will be written. Use words that are

likely to appear on the page.2

Keep it simple. Describe what you want in as few terms as

possible.1

Think Before You Search

What am I looking for?

How would I talk about this?

How would someone else talk about this?

What keywords could I use in my

search query?

Which of these keywords are common or

general words? Which would be more

specific? Are there better words I could

use?

What kind of results am I looking for?

Do I want a definition, a database, a list, a

map, an image, a video, or something else?

How can I describe this

better?

What do I want? What am I trying to

find? What am I trying to find out?

Give It A Try!

Remember:

Keep it simple.

Use descriptive words.

Think of how the page you

want will be written.

And most importantly:

Think before you search!

Pick a topic you want to find out about and brainstorm keywords to use in your search query.

This lesson was developed by:Trent MaverickTasha Bergson-Michelson

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