Check
spelling
Make sure your search terms are spelled correctly. The search
engine will attempt to find words that sound similar to your
search terms, but it is always best to try to spell the search
terms correctly.
Use multiple words
Use multiple words when performing your search. The search
results will return more refined results from several words
than from a single word. For example, typing our free service
will yield more relevant results than typing only service.
(Keep in mind, relevant results are returned even if they
don't contain all query terms.)
Use similar words
The more similar words you use in a search, the more relevant
results you will get back.
Example: safe secure privacy security
Use appropriate capitalization
Capitalize proper nouns. Lowercase words will match any case.
For example, typing search will return all documents containing
the words search, Search, and SEARCH. However, typing Search
will only search for pages about Search.
Use quotation marks
Use quotation marks to find words which must appear adjacent
to each other, for example, "our pledge to you."
Otherwise, the search results will include the word our, pledge,
to, and the word you, but not necessarily in that order. The
words may appear anywhere, and in any order, within the document.
Use plus (+) or minus (-)
Use a plus sign when your search term or phrase must appear
in the search results. Use a minus sign to indicate undesirable
term(s). The plus sign tells the search engine that a certain
word or phrase is required in the search results, and a minus
sign indicates that a word or phrase must be absent in the
search results.
Note:
A phrase must be contained within quotation marks. Leave no
spaces between the plus or minus sign and the term.
Use field searches
Field searches allow you to create specific searches for words
that appear in a specific part of a document. A field search
can be performed on body text (body:), title text (title:),
alt text (alt:), meta description (desc:), meta key words
(keys:) or URL (url:). The field name should be in lowercase
and immediately followed by a colon. There should be no spaces
between the colon and the search term.