How to Google

Google is the most popular search engine on the internet. If you want to know anything about anything, you simply need to Google it. You have probably heard in a conversation or on TV someone say I "Googled" someone or something and found links to the subject in which they were interested. Using Google is very easy and after visiting the Google website you will find lots of free tools, utilities and applications to make your internet experience more fun, productive and easy to use.

Now lets get started with the wonderful world of Google. Go to http://www.google.com and take a look around. If you just want to search for information all you have to do is type in a keyword in the search bar and click on the button that says Google Search. For example, type in jl5080 and click on the Google Search button. The first link that the search will return is the link to my eHow page. You can click on that link to read my articles and see my friends. Pretty easy right?

Now that you know how to perform a Google search, let's take a look at some of the other great things that Google will let you have for free. Go back to http://www.google.com and look at the upper left hand side of the webpage. You will see some words that are underlined like Web, Images, Maps, News, Shopping, Gmail and more. Click on images and then you can search for images the same way you ran your earlier search for jl5080. You can further refine your image search by choosing what size image you are looking for and what type of image such as images from News, clip art, faces, etc...

The underlined word beside Images is Maps. Google Maps is an extremely popular tool that has really evolved over the years. Go ahead and click on Maps. You will see a picture of the United States and a search bar at the uppper left hand side of the page. Type in your home address and click on Search Maps. You can zoom in and out and move around. You can even get driving directions by clicking on the "Get Directions" link. If the address you searched on is in a larger city, you will probably even get a picture of the address instead of just a map. For example, search on 200 North Tryon Street Charlotte NC. Notice that the map came appeared and a little window that says street view. Click on it and it's like you are there! In my opinion this is one of the coolest tools you will find on the internet.

Now go back to http://www.google.com and click on News. Here you will find all the latest news from around the world. You can view by Top Stories, World, Business, Sci/Tech, Entertainment, Sports, Health or Most Popular. You can also sign up for news feeds or feeds to your mobile phone.

Now go back to http://www.google.com and click on Shopping. This page is set up just like a google web search. Simply type in the search bar what you are looking for and clcik on Search Products. Below the search bar is a listing of items recently found with the Google Product Search that you can use for some shopping ideas.

Now go back to http://www.google.com and click on Gmail. Here you can sign up for free email service from Google. This is an excellent mail service similar to Hotmail or Yahoo mail but I think a little better. Gmail has an excellent anti-spam feature and you can chat in Gmail with people already in yoiur address book. There are lots of other nice features in Gmail that you can investigate further at your leisure.

Now go back to http://www.google.com and click on more. You have lots of choices here and if you click on "even more" you will find links to well, even more! So go and explore and have fun. This article would take all day to read if I attempted to discuss all the great things to see and do with Google.

I  would also like to mention Google Earth, Google Toolbar and the Google Chrome browser. Google Earth is so cool to use. You know when you watch the news and they show a map and then zoom all the way in to rooftop level? Well most of the time they are using Google Earth to do this and you can zoom in to your own rooftop or the Cliffs of Dover or 30 Rock in New York City, all for free.

The Google Toolbar is a browser add on that is designed to make searching with Google easier. It has a Smart Search Bar, easy bookmark button and you can add buttons to your toolbar for quick access to gadgets and widgits.

Google Chrome is the latest innovation from Google. It is a web browser just like Internet Explorer and Firefox. It has a pretty slick interface and is faster and more secure than some of the other browsers. It is also free so check it out!

Make sure you type http://www.google.com. Some very common mistypes are: