Search engines work by using a complex mathematical algorithm to identify relevant web pages and return them to the user. They mine data from open directories and databases of real-time information. Each search engine has its own proprietary algorithms which are closely guarded secrets and are constantly being modified and revised. Despite this, there are some basic techniques that can be applied across the board. These will help you to get more relevant results and save you time and stress.

The first step is to convert your research question into a query which is the text entered into the search engine’s search text box. The query should contain at least one keyword and may be a single word, a short phrase or an abbreviation. A good query will also have a theme or context so that the search engine knows what type of information to return.

Once the query has been entered, the search engine will scan its index and identify relevant web pages based on the keywords in the query and the content of those pages. It will then use an algorithm to rank those pages in order to show the most relevant results at the top of the page. The search engine will also take into account the age and freshness of the pages and the number and quality of links to that page from other websites.

There are some elements that a search engine will consider to be more relevant than others, such as the frequency and location of the keywords in the content on the page. However, this can be abused by those wishing to manipulate the results by keyword stuffing. This is known as spamdexing and search engines are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their attempts to discourage it. Another important factor is the relevance of the words in a search query to the subject matter at hand, for example, a search for Joe Bloggs jeans will return results which include both the name Joe and the word jeans but not ones that simply mention Jeans.

You can narrow your search results by using quotation marks around your query, for example, “brown horses”. This will ensure that only those pages which contain the exact text you have specified appear in the result set. However, it is generally better to start with a wider search and then narrow it if necessary by removing words from the search.

You can further narrow your search by searching in specific fields such as title, author, image or link. Many search engines also allow you to restrict the language of your searches and will return only those results which can be found in the selected language. This can be useful if you are conducting research in a particular region or country. In addition, many search engines will detect your location and offer you results in the local language. This can be particularly helpful if you are conducting searches while on the go.