Search tips

How to get better results from keyword search

You can increase the accuracy of your search by using a search string rather than just keyword.

Here are some tips on how to construct a search string.

For example

Word searches

By default, the search engine will find all extensions of the word. This string would match all ads with the words: floor, flooring, floors. The most common extensions are: er, ing, ly, ed, s.

For example

Word*searches

The star (*) character will match all sub-strings of your word. For example, a search for mech* will find mechanic, mechanism, mechanically.

For example

Phrase searches

If you want to find an exact phrase, surround your keyword with quotes ("f").

For example

"or" and comma searches

Words separated with a space, comma and "or" will find matching results with either the word timber or flooring in it. Results with BOTH words will appear at the top of the results list.

For example

"and" searches

Words separated with an "And" will find matching results with the words timber AND flooring. Only these results will be displayed in the search results list.

For example

"and not" searches

"and not" is an excellent way of excluding those results you don't want. For instance, you may not be interested in Plywood flooring.

For example

Bracket ( ) grouping searches

Brackets ( ) will tell the search engine what is more important. In this example the search engine will look for results with the words 'timber' OR 'flooring' but exclude those results with the word 'plywood'.

The brackets ( ) are needed because the search engine places more importance on "and" than on "or".

If you were to omit the brackets ( ) from the above example, the search engine would display all results with the word timber AND all results with the word flooring and not the word plywood.

More tips…

Capitalisation is ignored. The search words "Plumber", plumber" and "PLUMBER" will return the same sets of results.
Results are prioritised. Results matching the exact phrase will be listed higher than results that include all the words in the page.
Complicated search strings may not return any results. Often you may be too restrictive by using complicated search strings. If your search returns no results, try broadening your search by using less complicated search strings.