Tuesday’s Tip: Expand Your Google Search Horizons

The default number of results per page that Google returns is 10. But how often do you click through to the ensuing pages? When you’re searching for someone on the web from their Ancestry.com profile, if this setting is the default, often 10 results is all you get. You can fix this though.

You will have to make a choice. Is it more important to you that Google tries to guess what you’re typing and brings up results as you key in your search terms? This is called Google Instant and you must turn off this feature in order to return a higher number of results per page.

To do so, click on the little gear on the Google homepage (it’s next to your name, if you’re logged in to Gmail or another Google service). Select ‘Search Settings.’

Under Google Instant, select the radio button for ‘Do not use Google Instant.’

Now you should be able to select how many search results you’d like to have appear under the Number of Results section. I selected 100. Think about how many more results you may peruse and discover if they’re all on one page!

Note: I first learned about this trick from super-sleuth Cynthia Hetherington at one of her training sessions and changed my search preferences accordingly several months ago. I noticed that with the recent Google redesign, the number of search results per page defaulted back to 10 per page, so I changed it back. Now, when I search for someone on the web from their Ancestry.com profile, I get lots more results at my fingertips.

One thought on “Tuesday’s Tip: Expand Your Google Search Horizons

  1. It is a good tip to search through more than the first ten results. I have found relevant links 30 or 40 results deep. Thanks for sharing!

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