Back Information Overload

'Information overload' refers to the state of having too much information to make a decision or remain informed about a topic. In this day and age, we have access to more information at our fingertips than ever before – and this is largely attributed to the digital online space evolving at a rapid pace.

In 1965, a prediction (now referred to as 'Moore’s Law') made by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, states that the number of transistors on a chip will double about every two years. Almost every measure of the capabilities of digital electronic devices can be linked to Moore's law: processing speed, memory capacity, even the resolution of digital cameras. Digital devices are improving at exponential rates, and this has dramatically increased the usefulness of digital electronics in nearly every segment of the world economy. Moore's law describes this driving force of technological and social change in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

The impact of Moore's Law has implications for every one of us. People want answers instantaneously, and it will be those who know how to search and disseminate information quickly in this age of 'information overload' that will have the advantage.

As a digital company that specialises in Search Engine Marketing, we’re committed to making it easier for companies to be found when people are looking for them. When a potential customer types in a product or service relevant to our client’s business, we make sure they come up on the first page of Google, as close to the top as possible.

So how does one go about finding exactly what they want when searching on Google? Use the convenient tips we've complied below to help you sort through the mounds of information available to find the information you're after more easily. After all, search engines are one of the first places people go when looking for answers. According to Hitwise, more than 50% of all internet research journey's start at Google...

How to use Google to find the information you want quickly.

1. Use words likely to appear on the pages you want. Avoid using words that you might associate with your topic, but you wouldn't expect to find on the designated page(s). For example, queries that include "articles about", "discussion of", "documentation on", and "pages about" are likely to return fewer results since information on the web is rarely labeled with such terms.
   
   
2. You don't have to correct your spelling. There's a good chance that Google will recognise your mistakes and suggest an alternative more common spelling, usually faster than you can look up the term in an online dictionary.
   
   
3. Be brief. For best results, use a few precise words. For example, a program on quitting smoking is more likely to include the terms "quit smoking program" than the words "program on quitting tobacco cigarette smoking addiction."
   
   
4. Google ignores some common words called "stop words", e.g., the, on, where, how, de, la, as well as certain single digits and single letters. Stop words tend to slow down your search without improving the results. Google will indicate if a stop word has been excluded on the results page below the search box.
   
   
5. Google is NOT case sensitive; it assumes all search terms are lowercase. Ignoring case distinctions increases the number of results Google finds. A search for [ Red Cross ] finds pages containing "Red Cros"s” "red cross", or "RED CROSS".
   
   
6. To force Google to search for a particular term, put a + sign in front of the word in the query. Note that you should not put a space between the + and the word, i.e. [ +The Beatles ], not [ +The Beatles ]. The + operator is typically used in front of stop words that Google would otherwise ignore or when you want Google to return only those pages that match your search terms exactly. However, the + operator can be used on any term.
   
   
7. To find pages without a particular term, put a – sign in front of the word in the query. The – sign indicates that you want to subtract or exclude pages that contain a specific term. Do not put a space between the – and the word, i.e. [ dolphins –football ] not [ dolphins – football ].
   
   
8. Specify synonyms or alternative forms with an uppercase OR or | (vertical bar). The OR operator, which you may abbreviate with | (vertical bar), applies to the search terms immediately adjacent to it. Find pages that include either "Tahiti" or "Hawaii" or both terms, but not pages that contain neither "Tahiti" nor "Hawaii". by using [Tahiti OR Hawaii ] or [ Tahiti | Hawaii ]. Note: If you write OR with a lowercase "o" or a lowercase "r", Google interprets the word as a search term instead of an operator.
   
   
9. Want a definition for your search terms? It's just a click away. Google looks for dictionary definitions for your search terms. If it finds any definitions, it shows those words as underlined links or includes a definition link in the statistics bar section of the results page (located below the search box showing your query). Click on the underlined terms or the definition link in the statistics bar to link to their dictionary definition, which also may include information on pronunciation, part of speech, etymology, and usage.
   
   
10. Want to add up a list of numbers, convert from miles to kilometers, or evaluate some other mathematical expression? Instead of using a piece of paper, your calculator, or a computer math software program, you can now solve mathematical problems with Google's built-in calculator function. Simply enter the expression you’d like evaluated in Google’s web search box and click the ENTER key or click the Google Search button.