If youre new to the web, one of the first places youll want to go is Google. Youve heard your friends talk about it, heard it in the news, and likely heard some of the catch phrases associated with it, like Googling, Googlers and Google it. If youve already been there, youve just started to realize how big the web really is. And its pure excitement from that point, those first few hours at Google digging through search results, learning about things you never even knew existed (or wished did not exist), and wondering why you didnt get online sooner.
Whether youre a newbie or an old pro, you might not be aware that there are many other ways you can use Google other than general web searching. Below are just a few of the handy and interesting features you can find at Google to improve your online searches and find the stuff that really matters to you. There are far too many list all of them, so weve picked out the most popular to get you started.
Google Search - http://www.google.com
The starting point for most people searching the web and the main page, which offers a great customizing feature too. You can add content from popular sites all over the web, such as news, recipes, articles and more. You can also customize & expand your search results pages by clicking on preferences, which is where youll want to go to set filters that remove adult content.
Google Image Search - http://images.google.com
Want to look at pictures of your favorite celebrity Identify what chicken pox looks like Google images is a great place to find photos and images on your favorite topics. A warning comes with this though. Keep in mind that these images originate from sites all over the web and may be copyright protected. If there is an image you want to use for something, you should contact the site where the image came from.
Google News - http://news.google.com
Bored with local news and the same old stories run over and over again on the tv Google news connects you to the world on any topic that you want to know about. It gathers news from 4500 different English language news sources around the world and is updated every 15 minutes. In addition to that, you can set up free news alerts which can be sent to your email address.
Google Groups - http://groups.google.com
If you want to meet new people and talk about things that interest you, Google groups is the place to start. With groups, you need to be aware though that everything you type will be available for everyone else on the planet to see, including your name and email address. Its a good idea to use a separate email address and a nickname when signing up for groups so that you can maintain a certain level of privacy.
Froogle - http://froogle.google.com
Froogle (pronounced: frugal) is a smart search tool which allows you to easily shop for products and find the best deals. You can also view ratings on different merchants and products.
Google Blog Search - http://blogsearch.google.com
Ok, dont feel bad. Youre not the first person to have no idea what a blog is. Lets resolve that now - a blog (short for web log) is a online journal of commentaries, news, thoughts or rants which is updated regularly and allows the public to participate. Google blog search allows you to search blogs on topics of interest. Want your own blog Go to: http://www.blogger.com
Google Catalogs - http://catalogs.google.com
Searching and browsing through mail-order catalogs is easy with Google Catalogs. Results are returned as catalog image shots which when clicked on, allow you to explore the pages of each.
Google Earth - http://earth.google.com
Put on your astronaut pants and hop on board as Google Earth takes you takes you on a virtual tour of the earth. Now you too can fly through space and around the world through stunning satellite imagery, right from the comfort of home.
Google Advertising Products - http://www.google.com/ads/
Google offers two key advertising models designed for advertisers and website publishers. If you own a website or business, then Google Adwords offers you a program for advertising your products and services on their website and throughout their advertising network. This program is called Adwords. For website owners, there is another program called Adsense which allows you to place advertiser ads directly on your website and earn commissions for every click you send. This has become the king of affiliate programs, and is highly recommended .
Want more Google tools You can find more tools like the ones above at: http://www.google.com/options
There are also many other search features Google offers to make life easy. Look up stock quotes, do math, convert figures, translate text, look up phone numbers, find definitions and more. A whole list of Google goodies and tips can be found at: http://www.google.com/help/features.html
To catch up on cool new tools, services and downloads at Google, stop by Google Labs: http://labs.google.com
Google is a massive site, so if you need help or get lost, you can stop by the support center at:http://www.google.com/support
For more areas of interest on Google, visit: http://www.google.com/about.html
Before long, youll be an expert at using Google to retreive information and Im willing to bet youll suprise a few of your friends who have been surfing for years with your newfound tips and tricks.
Enjoy your Googling!
Carole Nickerson has been a writer and web developer since 1998, writing articles and content on various topics of interest for magzines, the web and other publications. For more information, visit:
Raising your websites position on the Search Engines is increasingly important as thousands of new websites are created each day and many may be in competition with yours. The more sites added to the World Wide Web, the more expensive advertising costs will be. Dont get trapped into spending hundreds of dollars per day, per week or per month for advertising.
The purpose of optimizing your website is so that Search Engines can easily search your site, navigate throughout and categorize it. As well as creating a graphically appealing informative site for your visitors, you need to concentrate on building a strong keyword-based theme throughout the site.
Search Engines are large databases of Web sites that are automatically generated. These Internet search engines use a software robot or spider that seeks out and indexes Web sites. Yahoo, Google, MSN, Excite, AltaVista, AskJeeves are some of the popular Search Engines. To produce accurate search results, search engines must keep their ranking algorithms (formulas) secret.
Search engine optimization begins with choosing keywords and key phrases. This is an important first-step and goes hand-in-hand with developing your website theme and choosing a domain name. Before choosing your key phrases, you should check out your competing websites. You cannot optimize your website to reach its highest position without understanding exactly how your competitors websites reached theirs. Your website should have a clear theme. And your keywords must describe the theme of your site, as well as help your website reach the highest results when queried on the search engines. This is so important for two reasons. One, is because Pay-Per-Click Advertising can be extremely costly. Two, is because the majority of the people who are looking for a product or information on the search engines do NOT click on the sponsored ads. Instead, they click on the freely placed non sponsored websites. Your goal should be to reach the top 10-15 placements in the non sponsored websites.
Before choosing a domain name for your website or company, think about the keywords you may be targeting. While you may think you have a great domain name now, it may not include your important keywords in the URL. Sites with the keyword in the domain tend to rank higher than domains without the keywords.
The next step is to gather material for your website and put it all together so it is graphically appealing, not only for site visitors but for search engines as well. This step may take quite a lot of time, and is usually ongoing, as it is important to continually add, edit and update your site. Every piece of text you add to your website should be supporting the sites overall theme.
Now it is of paramount importance to spread the word about your website and create high-quality optimized links to and from your website to help increase your websites page rank.
Holly Mann is a veteran of the U.S. Army and served as a Journalist and Photographer. She is now A Successful Entrepreneur and sells a Make Money Online Ebook that has helped thousands of people change the way they do business online.