As a webmaster, I look through the lists of search terms that visitors type into
the Google on-site search. This is a normal part of Webmaster's tools; it
doesn't track visitors' information but shows me what people search for on my
websites.
Based on that info, I thought I'd give some basic search tips you could use
on my sites.
SEARCH TIPS
1. All the ways that you can use on regular Google, you can use on the
on-site search. The plus sign + is useful if you want to narrow the
results to pages that contain "this" plus "this". For
example, type in school as a search term and you'll get all pages that contain
the word "school". But if you want to find all images of
schools, try searching with school+image or school+images
2. You don't need to surround search terms with quotes, unless you want
instances where the words appear side by side on the page.
3. Searching for a surname is better than searching for a first name only.
However, you'll get all instances of that surname.
4. Try all alternate spellings for a name, even if not used by your
family. Newspaper editors often misspelled first and last names. In
newspaper articles, BRINKMAN could easily be BRINKMEN, CONLEY might appear as
CONNLEY, etc. If a surname could have a double consonant, try that letter
singly and as a double. (CRUMY, CRUMMY; DILON, DILLON; etc) Editors
made frequent mistakes with the letter 's', 'm', 'n', 'r' and 't'. Editors
also dropped letters, so DRUGMAN may appear as DUGMAN; try dropping the 2nd
letter when a surname has a double consonant at the beginning. Add a
matching consonant if the surname has one consonant in the middle, such as MATER
vs. MATTER. The more ways you try in searches, the better the
possibilities.
5. Think like a Webmaster. Now, that sounds impossible--no one is a
mind-reader. But as a Webmaster, I try to think like a Visitor to create
pages that have words that most people will use in Search. Visitors should
think about HOW an item might be described, especially historically.
Search engines only find what I (or other Webmaster) write on a page. No Webmaster can
accurately predict HOW a Visitor will search, so think of synonyms for what you want.
If I say "Deed" or "Deeds" the search engine won't find "property".
Try words you know might be in ALL similar records, such as:
For Deeds, try: Grantee, Grantor, Indenture, Mets, bounds, bounded by, acres, perches
For Wills: Being of sound mind, last will and testament, bequeath.
For "car": Google won't find "car" if a webmaster writes "automobile"
on pages. Most early newspapers use the words "automobile" and
"motor", such as, "The couple took a motor trip to Lake
Erie." "Car" is a later term.
For "fashion, try: clothing, dress (females), suit (men and women). I use descriptive words, trying to accurately describe an item. For
1900 fashion articles, I might use on the same page the words "fashion",
"dress", and "clothing".
For newspapers: article, notice, item, column. Newspapers in the 1800s to 1940s
always had some type of "Social" column. On my webs, you can get
global results for all newspapers by searching for the words "from
the" because I always cite the newspaper name, city, date (example: "From
the Record-Outlook, McDonald, PA" date, page.
For births, try: born, "a son" or "a daughter" (plus the
surname)
For deaths, try: Obituary, died, passed away, the deceased, was buried,
officiated
For marriages, try: married, "quietly married", "united in
marriage", eloped, elopement, "interesting event", bride,
bridegroom, bestman (one word or best man), mother of the bride,
"pretty" "prettily", "covers were laid for",
attired, officiated, officiating
For info on Priests, Pastors, try: "The Rev. Fr.", "The
Reverend Father" (with or without abbreviations), "Pastor of",
Rector, Rev.
For who-went-where, try: visited, visiting, visitors, entertained, returned
home
For social events, try: party, parties, entertained, fraternity, sorority,
lunch, luncheon, dinner, supper, "a good time was had by all"
6. Watch for accidental misspellings. A quick example I've seen
on searches is Wahington instead of Washington. If you don't get a result,
check how you entered the search on your first try; maybe it's a spelling error.
These words and phrases were frequently used in newspaper articles.
7. Newspapers - You can search for a newspaper name, especially if unsure of a name or
year. Washington County had many small and 2 larger papers. On my
webs, I mostly have these papers:
WASHINGTON AREA
The Observer
The Reporter
The Observer-Reporter
McDonald, PA
The Record
The Outlook
The Record-Outlook
For Washington PA, The Examiner had only a few issues survive. I don't
have anything from The Examiner or from any of the other small towns except
McDonald PA.
If you have found successes with using certain search terms on websites, let
me know so I can add them here.
