Ask Joanne's eNews

Summary:
What's the best search engine to use to efficiently find what you are looking for?

Finding what you're looking for: I used to be an all-Google girl. Once I knew how to use "quotes" to get an exact phrase match (eg "how to iron a shirt") and the + and - signs to add and subtract search terms, I was able to find whatever I was looking for on Google.

Then came Google's new algorithm: Google's new algorithm relies heavily on Page Rank (how many incoming and outgoing links there are to a site). In some cases this is wonderful. Used to be, when searching for information about the Avatar Course, Google would return lots of results, but none of them very relevant to the course. Now when I search for "avatar course" (using quotes for exact phrase) on Google, I get very relevant results (including the main home page for the Avatar Course).

However, page rank can be a problem when you are looking for NEW information. That's because a new site probably hasn't had much opportunity to gain lots of incoming links. For instance, you're looking for a Doctor that uses the Interactive Metronome in New York City. If you type: "interactive metronome" new york city (using quotes for exact phrase) on Google, you do get information about the interactive metronome, but the top listings are not providers, rather other data about the interactive metronome.

Using Yahoo! a search on "interactive metronome" new york city returns more relevant information about Interactive Metronome providers in New York City. (The #3 listing, Dr. Mark Goldenberg is a Search Engine Optimization client of ours.)

In Conclusion: Over all, Google is still an excellent search engine to use. It indexes more pages (over 4 billion) than any other search engine. But when you are searching for new or breaking information, give Yahoo! a try as well.

If you'd like more information about searching the internet, or about search engine optimization, please