[the-facts-machine] Twenty Useful Google Search Tips
- From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <the-facts-machine@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2017 15:07:26 -0500
Blank
Here is a page with all the below tips and more. It has examples as print
not graphics. I have been using some of them for years, some were unknown
before. They do help narrow a search very well.
20 Tips To Use Google Search Efficiently
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/20-tips-use-google-search-efficiently.html
20 Tips To Use Google Search Efficiently
Joseph Hindy
Millions of people use Google search every day for a variety of reasons.
Students use it for school, business people use it for research, and millions
more use it for entertainment. Did you know that you may not be using Google
search to its full potential? Here are 20 tips and tricks to maximize your
search efficiency.
1. Use the tabs
The first tip is to use the tabs in Google search. On the top of every search
are a number of tabs. Usually you’ll see Web, Image, News, and More. Using
these tabs, you can help define what kind of search you need to do. If you need
images, use the Image tab. If you are looking for a recent news article, use
the
News tab. It’s rudimentary and most people use the tabs already. If you are
not,
then it’s
highly recommended to get associated with them. They can cut search times
dramatically if utilized properly.
2. Use quotes
When searching for something specific, try using quotes to minimize the
guesswork for Google search. When you put your search parameters in quotes, it
tells the search engine to search for the whole phrase. For instance, if you
search for Puppy Dog Sweaters,
the engine will search for content that contains those three words in any
order.
However, if you search “Puppy Dog Sweaters”, it will search for that phrase
exactly as you typed it. This can help locate specific information that may be
buried under other
content if not sorted out correctly.
3. Use a hyphen to exclude words
Sometimes you may find yourself searching for a word with an ambiguous meaning.
An example is Mustang. When you Google search for Mustang, you may get results
for both the car made by Ford or the horse. If you want to cut one out, use the
hyphen to tell
the engine to ignore content with one of the other.
See the example below.
list of 1 items
• Mustang -cars
list end
This tells the search engine to search for mustangs but to remove any results
that have the word “car” in it. It can be wildly helpful when finding
information about something without getting information about something else.
4. Use a colon to search specific sites
There may be an instance where you need to Google search for articles or
content
on a certain website. The syntax is very simple and we’ll show you below.
list of 1 items
• Sidney Crosby site:nhl.com
list end
This will search for all content about famous hockey player Sidney Crosby, but
only on
NHL.com.
All other search results will be removed. If you need to find specific content
on a particular site, this is the shortcut you can use.
5. Find a page that links to another page
This Google search tip is a little obscure. Instead of searching for a specific
page, you’re searching for a page that links to a specific page. Think
about it this way. If you want to see who cited a New York Times article on
their site, you would use this trick to find all the sites that link to it.
The syntax is below.
list of 1 items
• link:nytimes.com
list end
That will return all pages that link to the New York Times official website.
The
URL on the right side can be practically anything. Be aware, though, that
the more specific it is, the fewer results you’ll get. We know not a lot of
people will likely use this Google search trick, but it could be very useful
for some.
6. Use the asterisk wildcard
The asterisk wildcard is one of the most useful ones on the list. Here’s how it
works. When you use an asterisk in a search term on Google search, it will
leave
a placeholder that may be automatically filled by the search engine later. This
is a brilliant
way to find song lyrics if you don’t know all the
words. Let’s look at the syntax.
list of 1 items
• “Come * right now * me”
list end
To you or me, that may look like nonsense. However, Google search will search
for that phrase knowing that the asterisks can be any word. More often than
not,
you’ll find they are lyrics to The Beatles song “Come Together” and that’s what
the search will
tell you.
7. Find sites that are similar to other sites
This is a unique one that could be used by practically everyone if they knew it
existed. Let’s say you have a favorite website. It can be anything. However,
that website is getting a little bit boring and you want to find other websites
like it. You would
use this trick. Below is the syntax.
list of 1 items
• related:amazon.com
list end
If you search that above, you won’t find a link to Amazon. Instead, you’ll find
links to online stores like Amazon. Sites like Barnes & Noble, Best Buy,
and others that sell physical items online. It’s a powerful Google search tool
that can help you find new sites to browse.
8. Use Google search to do math
As a college student, I can attest that I use this one rather frequently.
Google
search can actually do math for you. This is a rather complex one to describe
because it can be used in so many ways. You can ask it basic questions or some
more difficult
ones. It is important to note that it won’t solve all math problems, but it
will
solve a good number of them. Here are a couple of examples of the syntax.
list of 2 items
• 8 * 5 + 5
• Planck’s Consant
list end
If you search the first one, it’ll return 45. It will also show a calculator
that you can use to find answers to more questions. This is handy if you need
to do some quick math but don’t want to do it in your head. If you search the
second term, it will return the number value of Planck’s Constant. So it
can do math, but it can also help you solve math problems by showing values for
known mathematical terms.
9. Search for multiple words at once
Google search is flexible. It knows you may not find what you want by searching
only a single word or phrase. Thus, it lets you search for multiples. By
using this trick, you can search for one word or phrase along with a second
word
or phrase. This can help narrow down your search to help you find exactly what
you’re looking for. Here is the syntax.
list of 1 items
• “Best ways to prepare for a job interview” OR “How to prepare for a job
interview”
list end
By searching that, you will search both phrases. Remember the quotes tip above?
It’s being used here as well. In this instance, these two exact phrases
will be searched. It can be done by word too, like the example below.
list of 1 items
• chocolate OR white chocolate
list end
This will search for pages that have either chocolate or white chocolate!
10. Search a range of numbers
Searching for a range of numbers is another tip we don’t anticipate a lot of
people using. The people that do use it, though, will probably use it quite
a bit. People interested in money or statistics will find this tip particularly
useful. Essentially, you use two dots and a number to let Google search
know you’re looking for a specific range of numbers. Like the syntax below.
list of 2 items
• What teams have won the Stanley Cup ..2004
• 41..43
list end
In the first instance, the search will toss back the team that won the Stanley
Cup in 2004. The two dots with only one number will tell the search that
you don’t need anything before or after 2004. This can help narrow down
searches
to a specific number to improve search results. In the second, Google will
search for the numbers 41, 42, and 43. It is obscure, but wildly useful if you
happen to need to
search for numbers like this.
11. Keep it simple
Now we’re getting into the general tips. Google search knows how to search for
a
lot of things. What this means is you don’t need to be too specific. If you
need
a pizza place nearby, use this to search.
list of 1 items
• Pizza places nearby
list end
Google search will grab your location and deliver a variety of results about
pizza places that are near you.
12. Gradually add search terms
There will come a time when Google search doesn’t shovel out the results you
expect. In this instance, keeping it simple may not be the best option. As
Google itself suggests, the best method is to start with something simple then
gradually get more complicated.
See the example below.
list of 3 items
• First try: job interviews
• Second try: prepare for job interviews
• Third try: how to prepare for a job interview
list end
This will gradually refine the search to bring you fewer, more targeted terms.
The reason you don’t go straight from the first try to the third try is
because you may miss what you’re looking for by skipping the second step.
Millions of websites phrase the same information in a number of different ways;
using this technique lets you search as many of them as possible to find the
best info.
13. Use words that websites would use
This is a very important one. When people use Google search to hunt the web,
they generally search for things using the same language that they would use
for
speaking. Unfortunately, websites don’t say things the way people do; instead,
they try to use
language that sounds professional. Let’s look at some examples.
list of 2 items
• “I have a flat tire” could be replaced by “repair a flat tire.”
• “My head hurts” could be replaced by “headache relief.”
list end
The list goes on and on. When searching, try to use terminology you would find
on a professional website. This will help you get more reliable results.
14. Use important words only
The way Google search works is to take what you search for and match it with
keywords in online content. When you search for too many words, it may limit
your results. That means it may actually take you longer to find what you’re
looking for. Thus, it
is apropos to use only the important words when searching for something. Let’s
see an example.
list of 3 items
• Don’t use: Where can I find a Chinese restaurant that delivers.
• Instead try: Chinese restaurants nearby.
• Or: Chinese restaurants near me.
list end
Doing this can help Google find what you need without all the clutter. So
remember, keep it simple and use important words only.
15. Google search has shortcuts
A number of commands can be entered to give you instantaneous results. Like the
math example above, Google can immediately give you the information you need
that is displayed right at the top of the search results. This can save time
and
effort so you
don’t have to click a bunch of bothersome links. Here are a few examples of
some
commands you can enter into Google.
list of 6 items
• Weather *zip code* – This will show you the weather in the given zip code.
You
can also use town and city names instead of area codes, but it may not
be as accurate if there are multiple area codes in the city.
• What is *celebrity name* Bacon Number – This is a fun little one that will
tell you how many connections any given celebrity has to famed actor Kevin
Bacon. The popular joke, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, is that no actor is more
than 6 connections away from Kevin Bacon. Mark Zuckerberg has a Bacon Number
of 3.
• The math example posted above is another one.
• What is the definition of *word* or Define: *word* – This will display the
definition of a word.
• Time *place* – This will display the time in whatever place you type in.
• You can check any stock by typing its ticker name into Google. If you search
for GOOG, it will check the stock prices for Google.
list end
These quick commands can take a web search that is usually multiple clicks and
condense it into a single search. This is very helpful for information you need
repeatedly.
16. Spelling doesn’t necessarily matter
Google search has gotten a lot smarter over the years. These days, you don’t
even need to spell words correctly. As long as it’s pretty close, Google can
usually figure out what it means. Here are some examples.
list of 1 items
• If you search “Nver Gna Gve Yo Up” Google will automatically assume you mean
to search for “Never Gonna Give You Up.” If by chance your misspelling was
intentional, Google gives you the option to search for the misspelled term
instead.
list end
This trick is great if you happen to forget how to spell something or are not
altogether sure how something is spelled. It can also be helpful when searching
for obscure words. This applies to capitalization and grammar as well.
17. Use descriptive words
Pretty much everything can be described in multiple ways. Take our namesake,
the
“life hack.” The terminology “hack” refers to a computer programmer breaking
security on a network or system. However, when used in conjunction with the
word
“life”, it alters
the meaning to tips and tricks people can use to improve their lives. If you
have trouble finding what you’re searching for, keep in mind that people may
search or define what you need in a different way than
you do.
list of 2 items
• You may search “How to install drivers in Ubunut?”
• When you really mean “Troubleshoot driver problems Ubuntu.”
list end
There really isn’t a good specific example for this one. If you search for
something and you can’t find an answer, try asking the same question using
different
words and see if that helps the results.
18. Find a specific file
An often forgotten feature of Google search is the ability to search for a
specific file or file type. This can be infinitely useful if you need a specific
PDF or PowerPoint file that you previously viewed or need to use for another
project. The syntax is quite simple.
list of 1 items
• *Search term here* filetype:pdf
list end
In the above example, you simply replace the search term with whatever you’re
searching for. Then use the filetype command and enter the extension of any
file
type you can think of. This can mostly be useful for scholarly purposes, but
business presentations
and other assorted presentations can benefit from this kind of search as well.
19. Money and unit conversions
Google search can quickly and accurately convert both measurement units and
currency value. There are a variety of uses for this, like checking to see the
conversion rate between two currencies. If you happen to be a math student, you
can use it to convert
from feet to meters or from ounces to liters.
Here’s how to do it.
list of 2 items
• miles to km – This will convert miles to kilometers. You can put numbers in
front to convert a certain number. Like “10 miles to km” will show you how
many kilometers are in 10 miles.
• USD to British Pound Sterling – This will convert a US dollar to British
pounds. Like the measurements above, you can add numbers to find exact
conversions
for a certain amount of money.
list end
It’s true that this tip is geared toward math students and international
business people. However, you’d be surprised how often these tips are used by
regular people.
20. Track your packages
Our last trick is to use Google search to find out where your packages are. You
can enter any UPS, USPS, or Fedex tracking number directly into the Google
search bar, and it’ll show you the tracking information about your package.
This
is much easier
than going to the specific sites, waiting for them to load, then searching for
your packages there. No examples are really needed for this one. Just type your
tracking number in and see where your package is.
Google Search wrap-up
Google search is a very powerful search tool. Using the tips outlined above,
you
can find anything and everything you could ever need on the World Wide Web.
Whether it’s avoiding Wikipedia for a school essay project, finding the latest
stock prices, or
even finding song lyrics, there is a way to make Google search work for you.
Other related posts:
- » [the-facts-machine] Twenty Useful Google Search Tips - Steve
