Get better search results - some tips
Alex Parsons who heads up Search for 9MSN here in Australia sent me his top tips and tricks for getting the best search results using http://www.live.com
Check them out :
- Try to avoid typing questions. Instead, use words that you would expect to find in the websites. For example "Cheap flights London" will return a better results than "where can I find cheap flights to London on the internet?".
- You don't have to type the word “AND” between your search words. By default, all searches in live automatically include this
- Use the words;
- “OR” (a search keyword that you can use to find results that contain either of the search terms that you specify)
- “NOT” (A search keyword that you can use to find results that don't contain a search term you specify.) to combine or exclude words. For example, if you use “dogs OR cats NOT poodles”, you will get results for dogs or cats, but not for poodles.
- Vary your search terms. A different word or phrase will return different search results. Use fewer descriptive words, or try words that have a different but similar meaning. For example, try “Gold Coast holiday” instead of “Gold Coast break”.
- Search for exact phrases by placing quotation marks around the search term. For example "Australian School Holidays".
- Use Instant Answers which appear at the top of the search results. Instant Answers can recognise popular search terms to offer immediate, useful answers to everyday questions or topics of interest. You can find answers to many types of questions by typing your keywords in the search box. For example, if you are looking for a video of Andrew Rieu, add the word “video” to the query and you will get video results returned with the rest of your search results.
- Tick the “only from Australia” box if looking for an Australian site, business or Australian specific information.
- Narrow your search results by using the Related Searches box on the right of the results. These suggestions are based on the searches made by other Australians and can help you find the information much more quickly.
- Use the SafeSearch options to control what results are returned. Live Search defaults this to “moderate” but you can increase this by setting it to “strict”. This will even further reduce the chance of inappropriate images or video appearing.
- Visit the Live Search tour for information on our latest features (http://livesearchtour.ninemsn.com.au)
