Searching Tip

[Skyrys62]

Wasn't sure where to post this, but here will do I reckon.

I wanted to share a tip I learned a long time ago. Many of you may know it, but sharing it may help those who don't.

To search a specific site, such as PoA, you can type the words site:sitename (search words)
Below is an example
Open a search in a browser, such as Google, Yahoo, etc. then type in the following.

site: pilotsofamerica.com best ipad for foreflight
(Note in the example above,I used a space between the colon and the P.
as it kept changing it to so I had to put a space in) You can use a space or not.

This can be used for most any site, and really helps refine the results.
Of course you can use the search feature of the site itself, such as the one here on PoA, but the above method should yield better results.

Hope it helps....

 

[gkainz]

I wonder which is more effective; an external search engine or the built-in on the site itself?
Not being argumentative - just curious. But not curious enough to try to test it.

 

[GeorgeC]

Google used to win hands down, but now that it uses RankBrain, it no longer finds all of the exact string matches that it used to.

 

[Skyrys62]

Google used to win hands down, but now that it uses RankBrain, it no longer finds all of the exact string matches that it used to.

You probably already know this, but putting quotation marks around strings can help some with the exact wording...though it's not a magic bullet by any stretch.

 

[alfadog]

Yes, it is good to learn the syntax for the sites you use, i.e. Craigslist (I use SearchTempest) uses a pipe for OR, ex. Alfa|Alpha Romeo|Romero to find common misspellings; eBay use parentheses and a comma, ex. (Alfa,Alpha) (Romeo,Romero).