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This is great list, but what is the most important in search is not operators. It is context. Every time I work with students and they are stuck, I ask them to

This is great list, but what is the most important in search is not operators. It is context. Every time I work with students and they are stuck, I ask them to Google the issue. 9 out of 10 they will write something like: how to upload an image? Instead, they should first specify the context. Is it an issue on the front end? Are they looking for the correct input type for file upload? Or is it the php method to receive the file on the back end. Or is it in nodejs? Search engines cannot infer the correct context because there are hundreds of correct answers. So we have to specify: - nodejs file upload async (no need to talk to it like a human) - html file upload input type - php file upload tutorial Most likely, the answer will be in the first few links.

djhn 5y ago
Aren't Gen Z and Boomers searching in a conversational style more and more, due to speech interfaces etc.? Both SEO folks and search engines seem to nowadays optimise for that kind of query. Stack Exchange is also question and answer - so often you can just Google whatever you think a stack exchange user would have asked, in a natural question format. What you suggest is what us old school people do, since that's what worked best in the early years of search.
- nicbou 5y ago
  If I walked up to a colleague and asked him "how do I upload an image", they would also expect a bit more context.
animal531 5y ago
I find the same thing with non-technical people at work. They're highly intelligent, but when faced with a problem they don't know how to solve they are unable to effectively use google. Invariably they can't supply the keywords that will bridge their problem to a solution. Also, once they search they'll usually click the top link and if it doesn't work they'll just give up (instead of for example quickly opening the top 3 links in new tabs while you're scanning the results). Sometimes the answer might also be the result of 2-3 different pages each supplying a part of the answer to your context.

djhn 5y ago

Aren't Gen Z and Boomers searching in a conversational style more and more, due to speech interfaces etc.? Both SEO folks and search engines seem to nowadays optimise for that kind of query. Stack Exchange is also question and answer - so often you can just Google whatever you think a stack exchange user would have asked, in a natural question format. What you suggest is what us old school people do, since that's what worked best in the early years of search.

nicbou 5y ago
If I walked up to a colleague and asked him "how do I upload an image", they would also expect a bit more context.

animal531 5y ago

I find the same thing with non-technical people at work. They're highly intelligent, but when faced with a problem they don't know how to solve they are unable to effectively use google. Invariably they can't supply the keywords that will bridge their problem to a solution. Also, once they search they'll usually click the top link and if it doesn't work they'll just give up (instead of for example quickly opening the top 3 links in new tabs while you're scanning the results). Sometimes the answer might also be the result of 2-3 different pages each supplying a part of the answer to your context.