In a matter of a couple of short years, the Google.com search engine has become the world's favorite way to find what they're looking for online. Now, most of you who are reading this are saying "Duh", but let me ask you this: Do you REALLY know how to use Google and get the most out of this incredible search technology?
Hopefully, these tips will help you find EXACTLY what you want the next time you head on over to "Google Land" and start searching.
To start, unlike most search engines, Google does not care if your search term is in UPPER or lower case. In fact, it can even be MiXeD case and the search results will be identical no matter how you type in your term.
The Google GOLDEN Rule: BE SPECIFIC!
When using the Google search engine, you must be specific in what you ask and HOW you ask it to get the results you desire.
How do you be specific?
Let's say you are interested in finding out more about the field of Spyware Removal. To search for that exact phrase you put "quotes" around the phrase like this: "spyware removal". This forces Google to cough up search results with those exact words in that specific order, only.
If you didn't use quotes and just typed in spyware removal, you would get results that included the words: spyware and removal mixed in with the MORE SPECIFIC results of the precise phrase "spyware removal".
(BTW.......for those of you who are used to searching by putting the word "and" between all your search words, with Google, it's not necessary. Google automatically "thinks" like that by default.)
You can use the "or" feature on Google. For example: "spyware removal program" or "spyware removal software" and you will get combined results for both exact phrases. The word "or" can be replaced with the "pipe" ( | ) symbol (the symbol above the "" forward slash on your keyboard) to achieve the same results.
Now, let's say you want to search for articles written about the subject of Spyware Removal. You can use the Google "require" feature and have a specific word included in the search just by adding a "+" sign in front of the keyword you want included.. For example you would type: "spyware removal" +articles and the results would give you articles about Spyware Removal.
You can also "exclude" a certain word from your searches by using the "-" (minus sign) like: "spyware removal" -commercial which would give results about Spyware Removal excluding "commercial".
Whenever you can, try to combine these three symbols (quotes, plus and minus signs) into a single search to give you even more targeted results.
Now, go practice on Google using these simple tips and meet us back here next time for Part Two when we offer tips about some of the more "advanced" and "juicy" features you can implement to get the most out of your searches On the world's most frequently used search engine: Google.com
Three Ways To Index Your Site With Google Sitemaps [Difficult, Hard, And Easy]
Google has recently implemented a program where any webmaster can create a Sitemap of their Site and submit it for indexing by Google. It is a quick and easy way for you to keep your site constantly indexed and updated in Google.
The program is appropriately called Google Sitemaps.
In order for you to best use Sitemaps, you must have an XML generated file on your site that will transmit or send any updates, changes, and data to Google. XML (Extensible Markup Language) is everywhere these days, you have probably seen the orange XML logo on many web sites and its often associated with Blogging because Blogs use XML/RSS feeds to syndicate their content.
Today RSS is known mostly as 'Really Simple Syndication' but its original acronym stood for 'Rich Site Summary'. XML is only simple code like HTML and it is used to syndicate your content to all interested parties.
And the interested party in this case is Google. By creating Sitemaps Google is really asking webmasters to take charge of the indexing and updating of their sites. Basically, doing the Googlebot's job!
This is a 'Good' thing! With the steady influx of new web sites growing rapidly, indexing all this material will become a challenge, even with the resources of Google. With Sitemaps, websmasters can now take charge and make sure their site is crawled and indexed.
Please note, indexing your site with Sitemaps WON'T improve your rankings in Google. You will still be competing with the other sites in Google for top positions. But with Sitemaps you can make sure all your pages are crawled and indexed quickly by Google.
There are some other big advantages of using Google's Sitemaps - mainly you have control over a few key variables, attributes or tags. To explain this as simply as possible, your XML powered sitemap file will have this simple code for each page of your site:
Along with 'urlset' tags at the beginning and end of your code, and an XML version indication - that's basically your XML file! File size will depend on the number of webpages you have.
Taking a closer look at this XML file:
location - http://www.yoursite.com - name of your webpage
priority - you set the priority you want Google to place on that page in your site. You can prioritize your pages: 0.0 being the least, 1.0 being the highest, 0.5 is in the middle. This is ONLY relative to your site. It will not affect your rankings. Why is this important? You have certain pages on your site that are more important than others, (home page, high profit page, opt-in page, etc.) by placing high priority on these pages, you will increase their importance in Google.
last modified - when you last modified that page, this timestamp allows crawlers to avoid recrawling pages that haven't changed.
change frequency - you can tell Google how often you change that particular page. Never, weekly, daily, hourly, and so on - if you frequently update your page this could be extremely important.
Why do I need a XML Generator?
In order for this XML sitemap file on your site to be constantly updated, you need a Generator that will spider your site, list all the urls and automatically feed them to Google. Thus constantly updating your site in Google's massive index or database. Keep in mind, Google also gives you the option of submitting a simple text file with all your URLs.
Now there is already a flood of these generators popping up! Different ways of generating your XML powered sitemap file. More are probably appearing as you read this. For your convenience, three ways to generate your XML Sitemaps file are listed below:
Difficult - Google's Python Generator
That's a relative term, if you know your server like the back of your hand and installing scripts doesn't scare the bejesus out of you, you're probably smiling at the word difficult. Google supplies a link to a generator which you can download and set up on your server. It will cough up your sitemap XML file and automatically feed it to Google. https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/docs/en/sitemap- generator.html
In order for this Generator to work, Python version 2.2 must be installed on your web server - many servers don't have this. If you know what you're doing, this will probably be a good choice.
You don't need a Google Account to use Sitemaps but it's encouraged because you can track your sitemap's progress and view diagnostic information. If you already have another Google Account gmail, Google Alerts, etc. just use that one to sign in and follow directions from there.
To submit your Sitemap using an HTTP request, issue your request to the following URL:
This is a php generator that you can place on your server. This generator will spider your site, and produce your XML sitemap file. Download the phpSitemapNG and upload it your server. Run the generator to get your XML sitemap file and send it to Google. http://enarion.net/google.
Again, this is only hard to do if you don't know your way around PHP files or scripts.
Easy - Free Online Generator
These Generators are popping up everywhere, and Google now keeps a list of these 'third party suppliers' of generators on their site. Find them here: http://code.google.com/sm_thirdparty.html
One of the easiest to use is http://www.xml-sitemaps.com, and you can index up to 500 pages with this online Generator very quickly and it will give you the sitemap XML file Google needs to index your site. It will go into your site, spider it and index all your pages into an XML sitemap of your site. You can download this file, Compressed or Non- compressed and make minor changes such as setting the priority, changing frequency, etc.
Then upload this file to your site as sitemap.xml to the root directory of your server i.e. where you have your homepage. Then notify Google Sitemaps of your XML file and you're in business.
Of course, the only drawback, if you constantly add pages to your site you will need to also add these pages to your XML sitemap file. This won't be much of a problem unless you're daily adding pages to your site - then you will need something like the PHP or Python generator to do all this for you automatically.
Google is still the major search engine on the web so getting your pages indexed and updated quickly is the major reason to use Google Sitemaps. If you want your site to remain competitive it's probably the wisest route to take.
Both Andrew Wroblewski & Titus Hoskins are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Andrew Wroblewski has sinced written about articles on various topics from Advertising Guide, Kitchen Home Improvement and Family. When not on his soapbox, Andrew Wroblewski is doing battle with the thousands of spyware programs that can affect you via his and. Andrew Wroblewski's top article generates over 8100 views. to your Favourites.
Titus Hoskins has sinced written about articles on various topics from Personal Desktop, RSS and Computers and The Internet. ---- To learn more about the different Services and Programs offered by Google click here: ? 2005. Titus Hoskins's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.