Locating Genealogical Websites

Google has become the byword as a search engine on the Internet. In the United States, 49 percent of all Internet searches are done using Google. Their mission is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally useful and accessible.”

Can Google help with an ever more-important question being asked by users: How do I find the most helpful websites available to find data on my ancestor? The answer is “yes.” The problem is that most users have only scratched the surface when using Google.

There are 1.5 million total URLs organized and nested by categories in the Google Directory. For example, "genealogy" is grouped under “Society,” and "newspapers" are grouped under “Media.” But the user does not have to be knowledgeable of these terms and categories.

To locate the popular links to genealogical research, the user should use the “Advanced Search” option found next to the search window that is located on Google’s homepage. By putting “genealogy links” in the search window, the following website comes up: http://www.genealogylinks.net/. This site provides over 50,000 genealogy links for specific locations worldwide. By putting in “genealogy websites” in the search window, the following website came up and provides the “Top Ten” most popular websites for genealogy research: http://www.familychronicle.com/webpicks.htm. In addition, there are other options in the Advanced Search, such as “Page-Specific Search” and “Topic-Specific Searches.”

Google even offers help. The user may scroll to the bottom of any search results page and select “Search Tips.” Also, from the homepage, the user may choose to select “About Google” next to the search window and then “Help.”