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Google Search is the most-used search engine on the Internet. And rightfully so. Whatever I search will give me lots of search results. And I usually find exactly what I need. However, I recently read a few articles about Google’s search results getting worse. Why does someone come up with this? And how?

Is Google Search getting worse?

I can’t answer why someone wants to paint a dark picture about Google’s search engine. Maybe the guy doesn’t like to see ads. I could understand that if the ads were not relevant. But the guy used the keyword “T-Shirts” to prove his point and then complains about getting ads about T-Shirts. He also complains about getting maps for stores, where you can buy T-Shirts.

What did the guy expect? From my perspective, he got relevant results for his keyword. If those results do not apply to him, maybe he should have used a better keyword or keyphrase.

Getting results

Reading the above story will, of course, have you ask about how to search correctly. This is not rocket science. It is simply a matter of common sense. Think about what you are looking for, and now, put that into a keyphrase. A simple keyword like “T-Shirts” does not give any search engine enough information. Therefore, you will get tons of results that might not be relevant to you.

For example, if you messed up your T-Shirt and want to know how to clean it, look for exactly that. Imagine, you say to your mom, dad, wife, or husband, “Hi, T-Shirt.” They would look at you as if you are from outer space and maybe respond with, “Okay, I get you one.” Only with a lot of luck would they guess what you want and suggest a way to clean it.

Google Search wants Keyphrases

As a decent human being, you would, of course, ask a question like “How do I clean my T-Shirt?” instead. This makes sure you get the correct answer from whoever you asked. That’s precisely what Google Search wants, too. It wants keyphrases containing relevant keywords.

Use a keyphrase like “how to clean t-shirts” (the keywords here are “clean” and “t-shirts”), and voila, you get what you want. If you can make your search even more precise, do it. Need to remove stains? Try “how to remove stains from t-shirts.” Do you know what stains? Add that information as well, like in “how to remove red wine stains from t-shirts.” I tried, and I got a recipe for how to do that as my first search result. It can’t get any better.

Google Advanced Search

If you need to find results containing specific keywords/keyphrases or web pages that should NOT contain those keywords/keyphrases, you might want to try Google Advanced Search. This advanced version of the search engine also lets you search by language, region, file types, and more.

Conclusion

My experience is that you get great search results in 99% of all searches if you ask the right question. A simple keyword is rarely enough. Google needs keyphrases with the correct information (keywords) to find what you are looking for.

Note: There are a lot of other great services from Google. Here are my favorite tools: