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Search Tips
To get more specific search results, try using the following tips:
Check spelling
Make sure your search terms are spelled correctly. If Sound-Alike
Matching is turned on, the search engine will attempt to find words that
sound similar to your search terms, but it's always best to try to spell
the search terms correctly. 
Use multiple words
Using multiple words will return more refined results than a single
word. For example, typing our free service will return more
relevant results than typing just service. (Keep in mind that
relevant results are returned even if they don't contain all query terms.)
Use similar words
The more similar words you use in a search, the more relevant your
results will be.
Use appropriate capitalization
Capitalize proper nouns, and remember that lower-case words will match
any case. For example, typing search will return all
documents containing the words search, Search, and
SEARCH. Typing Search, however, will instruct
the search engine to look only for the capitalized word.
Use quotation marks
Use quotation marks to find words which must appear adjacent to each
other, for example, "our pledge to you." Otherwise, the
search results will include the word our,
pledge, to, and the word you,
but
not necessarily in that order. The words may appear anywhere, and in any
order, within the document.
Note: if you are using the Advanced Search Form with radio buttons for
"any," "all," and "phrase," then quotes can only be used when the "any"
radio button is selected. Quotes are ignored if the "all" or "phrase"
radio buttons are selected.
Use plus (+) or minus (-)
Use a plus sign when your search term or phrase must appear in the
search results. Use a minus sign to indicate undesirable term(s). The plus
sign tells the search engine that a certain word or phrase is required in
the search results, and a minus sign indicates that a word or phrase must
be absent in the search results.
Notes: A phrase must be contained within quotation marks. Leave no
spaces between the plus or minus sign and the term. If
you are using the Advanced Search Form with radio buttons for
"any," "all," and "phrase," then plus and minus can only be used when the
"any" radio button is selected. Plus and minus are ignored if the "all" or
"phrase" radio buttons are selected.
Use field searches
Field searches allow you to create specific searches for words that
appear in a specific part of a document. A field search can be performed
on body text (body:), title text (title:), alt text (alt:), meta
description (desc:), meta key words (keys:), URL (url:) or meta target key
words (target:). The field name should be in lower-case and immediately
followed by a colon. There should be no spaces between the colon and the
search term.
Notes: The field searches can only be followed by a word or
phrase.
Phrases must be contained within quotation marks. If you are using the Advanced Search Form with a list box for the
field name, then field names can only be entered before a word or phrase
when the "any" option is selected. Specific field names are ignored if any
other Advanced Search Form field is selected in the list box.
Use wildcards
Wildcard searches can expand the number of matches for a particular
request. The * character is used as the wildcard
character. For instance, searching for wh*
will find the words
what, why, when,
whether, and any other word that starts with
wh. Searching for *her*
will find the words
here, whether, together,
gathering, and any other word that contains her
anywhere in the word.
Wildcards may be combined with the standard plus (+) and minus (-)
modifiers, quotes for phrases, as well as the field search
specifiers.
+wh* -se*ch will find all pages which
have a word that starts with wh and which does not contain a
word that starts with se and ends with
ch.
"wh* are" will find the phrases
where are, what are,
why are, etc.
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