You probably know google is powerful search engine and you probably know that the rootsweb message boards are chock full of useful information about your ancestors and the locations they lived.

Did you know that you can combine them easily?

In the google search bar type site:<url of the site> like this:

Then add in your search query.  Let’s say I am looking for Adam Snavely in Wythe, Virginia. I can try something like

Notice that I put double quotes around adam snavely.  That tells google that if adam and snavely don’t appear right next to each other don’t show me the result.  But you’ve probably seen more than a few posts that use surname, first name so you might want to try

You’ll notice that I have 30 results instead of 14.

You can try this with any site that is indexed by google, which is a pretty lengthy list.  Give it a try — you never know what you might find with a new search technique!