Why use the + when searching on the internet? Finding what you're looking for on the internet can be tough. It sometimes require you to guess at what you are searching for. It can also happen that you can't seem to find any relevant results. What can you do?

Most search engines today are being hit by spam. Spamming search engines is usually done by tricking the search engine into listing a site high in the listings when it is not relevant. If a search engine doesn't filter these attempts at trickery out, the listings end up filled with garbage.

For this reason and to simply improve the search results, most search engines allow you to fine tune the search listings to find what you are looking for.

The + sign is your friend

The + sign is usually used to tell the search engine to make sure to include that particular term in the search results. Don't return any results that don't include at least one instance of this particular keyword. For example, if you include a search phrase like 'financial +money matters', you are telling the search engine to return all results that have at least one instance of the keyword 'money'. You are also telling the search engine to return all results that include any instances of the other two keywords in any combination.

When searching, use the + sign to narrow your search to the most relevant listings. Put a + sign in front of every keyword that must be present in the documents you are searching. Searching for 'forensic police files' can return different results that 'forensic police +files'. The + sign helps to focus your search like a laser beam.

When general searches don't produce results, using the + sign in front of a keyword may be the answer.

Use the – sign to omit keywords

When you use the – sign in front of the keyword, you are telling the search engine to not include the keyword in the search. This is the classic addition by subtraction. If you are conducting a search and a particular irrelevant keyword keeps you from getting relevant results, simply slap a – sign in front of the offending keyword and it will no longer appear in your search.

Using quotes could focus your search

Putting quotes around a set of keywords will ensure the keyword phrase you typed in is present in the document or website in the exact order you typed it in. Because of speed issues, most search engines will ignore prepositions like 'or' 'and' and the like. By slapping quotes around the phrase, you can include these common words.

Why use the + when searching on the internet? Because you can find what you are looking for that much easier.