Constructing Basic Queries

 
The most important factor in conducting a search in Google is to understand if your search criteria has enough specific information for Google to determine unambiguously what you're seeking. If your query is too vague, it's unlikely to return relevant results.

When constructing a query, try to include words that are likely to appear in the pages you want.

Consider the search query: [ Bruins ].

What do you suppose Google includes in the first page of results for the above query? A hockey team that plays in the city of Boston? A website dedicated to grizzly bears? A football team that plays for UCLA? The key is to be specific in your search criteria but also keep the phrase to only the optimal precise words. The above [ Bruins ] query can be re-written as [ Boston Bruins ], [ Bruins Bear ], or [ UCLA Bruins ] to narrow the search results to return relevant websites.

Avioding Questions as Queries

Since Google searches on wild-cards as a default, you should avoid using a question or phrase as a query.

For example, the query [ where can i find the lowest priced wedding dresses in arizona ] instructs Google to find pages containing ALL the terms in the phrase. That is, any website containing all the words in any order anywhere on the page will be returned in the search results. Most likely, a query such as this won't be much use in finding what you want. A more appropriate query would be [ lowest priced wedding dresses arizona ].

The above search can further be narrowed by constructing your search query within double quotes. A query with terms in quotes returns pages containing the exact quoted phrase. So, we can modify the example to [ "lowest priced wedding dresses in arizona" ]. This will return a result set with the EXACT query phrase in the results.

NOTE: Quotes are especially useful when searching for proper names.
 
Getting to Know Google Back To Index Constructing Advanced Queries