Search tips

posted by Scott Andrew Bird

Finding what you want quickly, using major internet search engines.

Select one of the major search engines. I generally begin with Google.

Recursive method

Start with a general search, such as the surname only

bird

Refine the search criteria based on the results, perhaps by adding or removing locations.

bird +england -america

Refine further as necessary. In this case I wish to remove activities which do not refer to the surname, such as birder and birding.

bird +england +australia -america -birding -watcher -pet

Refine further by adding terms such as family, name, history etc.

bird family +england +australia -america -birding -watcher -pet

Refine further by using names of particular people or places.

bird family birmingham alfred +england +australia -america -birding -watcher -pet

As you learn more about specific names of people and places, feed these back in.

bird family alfred digbeth birmingham chemist

If the search results are too limited, or there are none at all, simply move back to a previous search and try using different words to refine the search.

Things to remember

Many of the major search engines, such as Google, restrict searches to 10 keywords.

The sequence of keywords is important. Those which will refine the search the greatest should be placed at the start of the list.