The beginners’ guide to Search Engines is part 2 of our ongoing series of beginners guides which we will be looking to publish Every Monday.
In this guide, a search engine is a search tool that searches the internet and lists web pages containing the information the user is looking for. Then we will walk you through the process of searching for something using the world’s most popular search engine Google.
What is a Search Engine?
A search engine is a tool within a software system that allows you to find or retrieve information from within that system. For this guide, I’m defining a search engine as a tool that will enable the user to search the World Wide Web and display a list of web pages containing the information we are interested in.
There are many search engines available for us to use. If you are interested, Wikipedia has an entry on search engines with a detailed listing and history of the internet search engines.
In the same article, I mentioned above. Wikipedia states that as of April 2021, Google had over 92% share of the world’s search engine market. So you won’t be too surprised to discover that we will be using Google to walk you through the process of using a search engine.
How to Search The World Wide Web With Google?
For the following step-by-step instructions, I have to select an example you and I can use to search Google. The web contains a large number of recipes, and seeing as I’m Cornish. I have decided to search for the Cornish pasty recipe.
Enter www.google.com into the browser address bar or click on the link to open the Google home page.
In the text box containing the magnifying glass, type in the recipe for a cornish pasty. As you are typing, you might notice a list of possible searches appearing as Google tries to predict what you are searching for. Once you have typed in your search, either press the enter key on your keyboard or click the Google Search button.
Google will quickly identify web pages that contain the information we are looking for, in this case, Cornish Pasty. What Google considers to be the closest match to your requirements will appear at the top of this list.
In many search results, some of the suggested pages pay Google for advertising. Results paid for by advertising are identified by the Ad prefix clearly displayed at the start of the displayed result. In my experience, the advertised result, in most cases, matches what you are looking for. If I notice an advertised result, I usually scroll down and consider what result I will click.
To visit the returned result, click on the hyperlink. My beginner’s guide to the Internet explains what a hyperlink is.
Conclusion
Since writing this beginner’s guide to search engines, I have also written the beginners guide to the World Wide Web. I strongly recommend that you read both guides together.
If you have any further questions about search engines, please feel free to ask them below in the comments.
If you have only recently started using the Internet, we have a range of beginner articles for you. If you enjoyed this article, please click on the like below.