What's in a Domain Name?

Now that you've narrowed down your search results using the Boolean Logic, you still need to decide which links to select. Does it really matter which links you click? Actually, it does. Some websites are posted because they paid Google space to represent their product. Some websites are posted because one word in your results shows up in a comment feed. There are many reasons why different websites appear in a search, which is why it is important to understand the different parts of a results page.

Sticking with the pumpkin pie search, the following illustrates a search page with the different parts labeled.

Figure 1.11

1. Search Result - The entire web result of your search.
2. Title - The title of the webpage.
3. Text Snippet - A brief excerpt of the search term in the context of the website.
4. Web Address - The web address of the search result's webpage.
5. Paid Advertisements - Company paid advertisements for their websites marked by the green "Ad" label.

After identifying the different parts of a web result, now you have a decision. You must decide which sources will provide you the necessary information. To determine that, Google recommends you ask yourself some questions before clicking on a website.

Google's Tips for Understanding Web Addresses *

1. Have I heard of the domain name? Google's search provides many results, stick with the websites you recognize before you venture off to unknown websites. Example: nytimes.com vs. lostagoognews.com
2. What type of domain is it? Different types of domains mean different things. Below are the four most popular domain extensions.
   • .com - stands for "commercial" which includes many businesses and companies. Example: www.google.com
   • .edu - stands for "education" and is associated with universities and places of higher education. Example: www.owl.english.purdue.edu/owl
   • .org - stands for "organization" and is primarily a non-profit organization. Example: www.npr.org
   • .gov - stands for "government" and is used for government associated websites. Example: the Library of Congress is www.loc.gov.
3. Does the address tell what kind of file it is? For example: "PDF" stands for Portable Document Format , "XLS" stands for Microsoft Excel Sheet, and "JPG" or "JPEG" stands for Joint Photographer Experts Group (in short, pictures). Select the type of file that will provide the best results.

Google also provided a helpful flowchart to follow when conducting website investigations.

Choose the Best Result *

Figure 1.12

Once you find the site that promises the best information, click on it and explore!

Click the button below for the final section on Google Searches called "Advance Google Searches."

*List and flowchart was adapted from the Google Search Education Group on February 22, 2017 retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/gwebsearcheducation/lessonplans.