Searching the Internet
Find exactly what you are looking for online - learn search tricks that will save you time and frustration.
Can You Guess?
Which search will give you better results?
How search engines work (the simple version)
When you search, Google (or any search engine) isn’t searching the live internet - it’s searching its own copy of billions of pages, organized and ranked.
What affects what shows up first?
- Relevance - How well the page matches your search
- Quality - How trustworthy and well-written the page is
- Popularity - How many other sites link to it
Basic searching
The address bar is your search box. Just type what you want to know.
Good search habits
| Instead of… | Try… |
|---|---|
| “stuff about cooking" | "easy dinner recipes for beginners" |
| "Paris thing" | "Eiffel Tower history" |
| "that movie with the guy" | "Leonardo DiCaprio movies Titanic” |
Can You Guess?
You want to find the opening hours for your local library. What's the best search?
Reading search results
When you search, you’ll see a list of results. Here’s how to read them:
Council Library - Opening Hours & Location
www.council.gov.au › library ← This is the website address
The Council Library is open Monday to Friday 9am-6pm,
Saturday 10am-4pm. Located at 123 Main Street... ← This is a previewWhat to Look For
| Part | What It Tells You |
|---|---|
| Title (blue/purple) | What the page is about - click this to visit |
| URL (green/gray) | The website address - is it a site you trust? |
| Description | A preview of what’s on the page |
Can You Guess?
You search for "COVID symptoms" and see results from both webmd.com and random-health-blog.com. Which should you trust more?
Search Practice
These are called “instant answers” - Google tries to answer without making you visit a website.
Advanced search tricks
Here’s where it gets fun. These tricks work on Google and most other search engines:
Exact phrase: Use quotes
Search: "to be or not to be"
This finds pages with that exact phrase, in that exact order.
Can You Guess?
You want to find the source of a quote but only remember part of it: "The only thing we have to fear is ___." How would you search?
Exclude words: Use minus
Search: apple -iphone -mac
This searches for apple (the fruit) while excluding results about Apple products.
Search a specific site
Search: climate change site:bbc.com
This only shows results from BBC’s website.
Fill in the blank
Search: "the * of Christmas"
The asterisk (*) acts as a wildcard. Google will find “the night of Christmas,” “the spirit of Christmas,” etc.
Quick reference: Search operators
| What You Want | How to Search | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Exact phrase | ”words in quotes" | "chocolate chip cookies” |
| Exclude a word | word -exclude | jaguar -car |
| Specific site | site:example.com | recipes site:bbcgoodfood.com |
| Fill in blank | use * for missing words | ”life is like * of chocolates” |
| Either/or | word OR word | recipe vegetarian OR vegan |
| Number range | number..number | laptop $500..$800 |
Advanced Search
Try these searches:
“Jane Smith” - see what comes up about you (or people with your name)headphones $50..$100pasta recipe site:delish.comGoogle’s special searches
Type these directly into Google for instant answers:
| Type This | What You Get |
|---|---|
| weather Sydney | Weather forecast |
| 100 USD in EUR | Currency conversion |
| 5 feet in cm | Unit conversion |
| define serendipity | Dictionary definition |
| timer 5 minutes | A countdown timer |
| flip a coin | Heads or tails |
Evaluating what you find
Not everything on the internet is true. Here’s a quick checklist:
Can You Guess?
A search result promises "LOSE 20 POUNDS IN 3 DAYS - DOCTORS HATE THIS TRICK!" Should you click it?
Signs a source might be trustworthy
✅ Known organization or publication
✅ Author is named and has credentials
✅ Information matches other reliable sources
✅ The site looks professional
✅ Dates show it’s recent (for current topics)
Red flags
❌ No author or organization listed
❌ Sensational headlines (“SHOCKING!” “You won’t believe!”)
❌ Spelling and grammar errors throughout
❌ No other sources confirm the information
❌ It’s trying very hard to sell you something
When you can’t find what you need
Try this
- Rephrase your search - Use different words
- Be more specific - Add details like location, date, type
- Be less specific - Remove words if you have too many
- Try a different search engine - DuckDuckGo, Bing, or Ecosia
- Ask your question directly - “What is the capital of Australia?” works!
Key Takeaways
- ✓ Clear, specific questions get the best results
- ✓ Use quotes for exact phrases: "like this"
- ✓ Use minus to exclude words: -likethis
- ✓ Look at the source before trusting information
- ✓ Google can answer many questions directly without visiting a website
- ✓ If you can't find something, try rephrasing
Next up: Managing multiple pages with tabs and saving your favorite sites with bookmarks
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Lesson: Searching the Internet