Search Tips On Google

It seems that many people do not know how to use Google effectively. So, if you're interested, here are some tips which I use with my students:

• Break down your search using simple words, no articles, no prepositions (of, with, to, on, for, in). Pretend you're a caveman! :) I mean, if you're looking for cheap recipes, type that in. Cheap Recipes, frugal recipes, budget recipe ideas will all pull up some good sites.

• Good words for most of us here: budget, thrifty, frugal, cheap, free

• If you're looking for specifics make sure you include that in your search, but don't include unnecessary words. For instance, I'm a teacher, and I often look online for ideas. If I was looking for a free, printable worksheet about the American Revolution, I would type "American revolution worksheet printable free" into Google, and then all of the sites that didn't include all of those words would be precluded from the answers.

• To know what kind of site you're looking at you need to look at the last three initials on the web address. Each one signifies something different, and usually:

  .gov = US government websites
  .org = non-profit agency
  .edu = educational institution
  .com, .net, and .biz= commercial websites
  .stateinitials.us = state website or school district (.ma.us)
  .uk = United Kingdom site
  .au = Australian site,
  etc.

I hope this helps. I know a lot of us out there are internet whizzes but a lot of us aren't, and I know it's hard sometimes to get the info you need. Google is really easy, and is often the fastest way to go.

By Veronica from MA