Search Mastery

On this page, you'll get an overview of search engines and an introduction to using them well. You'll see that the more thoughtful you are about your information needs in advance, the better you'll be at generating relevant results and navigating those search results to find reliable information that fulfills your information needs. 

This section of the guide will help you: 

• Explain how search engines rank and present results
• Describe "click restraint" and why it is important
• Formulate search terms well-suited for your information needs

Note: This section and those that follow it focus heavily on Google because there are many resources available on using it wisely. However, you have other options for search engines, including Bing and Duck Duck Go. As you research your options, consider the different privacy settings available. Search engines including Google use tracking data (including your web activity and location history) to, they say, improve customization. You can change your preferences to limit what information is collected, and you can also choose to use a different search engine. 

Click through each section below to learn more about how search engines work.

Watch this overview of how search engines work, featuring search engineers from Google and Bing.

As you watch, considering the following question: 

• What factors do search engines consider when they rank the results you see?

This video was produced by code.org, a nonprofit organization that creates programming and advocates for computer science education.