Boolean Searches

Boolean and You

- Tips on effective web searches

You might be one of the millions of people on this planet that get 1,000’s of results for a single search request; and you also might be wondering how you can narrow your search? Well, search no further. I’ve got the results you’re looking for…

Boolean searching allows you to narrow down your search by using special terms before your keywords. It’s useful because it can help you make sure you don’t get those thousands of results when you search. Below are a few tips that implement the Boolean method of refined searching.

Tip #1: Know what you want
Before you type anything in the search box ask yourself, ‘What am I looking for?’ The internet is a big place, with billions of pages. Don’t be too general!

Tip #2: Keep it simple
So let’s say you want to go to a movie in Huntington, NY just type exactly what you want - don’t add any waffle. So, in your search box, just type:

Movies Huntington, NY

Tip #3: Two to Five
Aim for between two and five keywords in each search. If you just put in one word you’ll end up with far too many search results; put in too many you may not find any results at all.

Tip #4: Using + and -
Imagine you want to search for a cocktail that includes Scotch, Whiskey and Grenadine. The best way to do this is to type:

cocktail +scotch +whiskey +grenadine

Now let’s say that you don’t want your search result to include the word Gin because you don’t like it. The best way to do this is to type:

cocktail +scotch +whiskey +grenadine -gin

Basically using the plus sign before a word means that it must be included in the results and using the minus sign before a word means it must be excluded from the results.Tip #5: Using Quotation marks
Let’s say you want to search for a phrase, which is a couple of words together, you can use quotation marks to stick the words together. Now, let’s say you want to add orange juice to your cocktail. The best way to do this is to type:

cocktail +scotch +whiskey +grenadine -gin +”orange juice”

The reason it is important to stick them together is so that the search engine doesn’t look for orange and juice separately. If it did that it might bring up lots of results about other sorts of juice. Always use quotation marks when searching keyword phrases.Tip #6: Big or small letters
Often on the internet, it’s not that important if you forget to use capital letters. However, when you are searching, always use the correct big or small letter (upper or lower case). That’s because some names, like ‘Bill’ are actually also words, as in ‘newspaper bill’ or ‘dollar bill’. The general rule is to use capital letters for names of people, places and also books, or magazines.

Tip #7: It’s not just you
Remember, search engines are meant to be easy to use. If you are not happy with the one you are using - change and try another one. You can then choose the one you feel is giving you better results. Searching is often a frustrating business and it’s all quite a new science. So, if you can’t find what you want don’t assume it’s you - it could be them!

- Dan Temburni
Crystal Coding Concepts

One Response to “Boolean Searches”

  1. You might be one of the millions of people on this planet that get 1,000’s of results for a single search request; and you also might be wondering how you can narrow your search? Well, search no further. I’ve got the results you’re looking for!Boolean searching allows you to narrow down your search by using special terms before your keywords. It’s useful because it can help you make sure you don’t get those thousands results when you search. Below are a few tips that implement the Boolean method of refined searching.Read all 7 tips

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.