Tips on How to Use a Search Engine the Right Way

Posted by Worth Godwin Computer Training on Dec 2, 2011

I thought I’d share the following infrographic (Image courtesy of HackCollege) which gives you tips on how to use Google and other search engines more effectively.

The guide has a bunch of good tips, many of which I share in my related video lessons in my Easy Internet course (see links below image). 

I do have to mention that I disagree with one part of the information below: they say never to google questions, but that CAN be useful sometimes.

The times you want to type questions into a search engine is when you’re looking for a forum or discussion where someone has asked the same question that you have — you will often find your question has been answered in the discussion!

So while they’re right that you don’t need to phrase your searches as questions, it can be helpful sometimes.

The guide is written with students in mind — it turns out about 75% of students have no idea how to use Google properly — but has tips most computer users will find useful.

Something else to keep in mind: if 3/4ths of college students, all of whom grew up using computers, don’t know how to use a search engine correctly, it kind of puts to rest the stereotype that “all young people know how to use computers”.

I mention this because many of my older students who grew up before home computers were widespread (or before they even existed) often think they’ll never learn to use the computer as well as their kids or grandkids because of this.

The fact is, from what I’ve seen, the majority of people do not really know how to use their computer that well, regardless of age.

This isn’t a criticism, just a simple fact. People who grew up with computers have the benefit of feeling more comfortable using them, but that doesn’t make them any better automatically.

It can help because they have fewer limiting beliefs about their ability to learn, which can make a big difference, but it can actually make things worse because it’s very common for those people to assume they know far more than they do.

Take a look at the infographic (instructional image) below and see what tips you can learn about how to use Google to search more effectively: ...


Click the link for the full computer training post:
 Tips on How to Use a Search Engine the Right Way
(481 words, 1 image, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

How to Undo Computer Mistakes in Microsoft Windows

Posted by Worth Godwin Computer Training on Jun 5, 2010

The intro before the step-by-step part of the video is important for people to watch if they are computer challenged and need the extra help, but if you want, you can jump to the step-by-step part of the video by fast-forwarding to about 3:25 (depending on your Internet connection speed you may need to wait a few moments before you can do this). ...


Click the link for the full computer training post:
 How to Undo Computer Mistakes in Microsoft Windows
(446 words, 2 images, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)