20 Tips for More Efficient Google Searches

21 Tips for More Efficient Google Searches

 

For millions of people, Google is an indispensable search tool that they use every day, in all facets of their lives. From work or school, research, to looking up movies and celebrities to news and gossip, Google is the go-to search engine. But instead of just typing in a phrase and wading through page after page of results, there are a number of ways to make your searches more efficient.

Some of these are obvious ones that you probably know about. But others are lesser-known, and others are known but not often used. Use this guide to learn more about, or be reminded of, some of the best ways to get exactly what you're looking for, and quickly.

 

1.      Either / or. Google normally searches for pages that contain all the words you type in the search box, but if you want pages that have one term or another (or both), use the OR operator. [dining atlanta OR miami]

 

2.      Quotes. If you want to search for an exact phrase, use quotes. ["quick brown fox"] will only find that exact phrase. [quick “brown fox] will find pages that contain the word quick and the exact phrase "brown fox".

 

3.      Not. If you don't want a term or phrase, use the "-" symbol. [-quick brown fox] will return pages that contain "brown" and "fox" but that don't contain "quick."

 

4.      Similar terms. Use the "~" symbol (upper left corner of the keyboard) to return similar terms. [~quick “brown fox” -quick] will get you pages that contain "fast brown fox" and "rapid brown fox" but not "quick brown fox".

 

5.      Wildcard. The "*" (asterisk) symbol is a wildcard. This is useful if you're trying to find the lyrics to a song, but can't remember the exact lyrics. [can't * me love lyrics] will return the Beatles song you're looking for (Can’t Buy Me Love). It's also useful for finding stuff only in certain domains, such as educational information: ["quick brown fox" research *.edu].

 

6.      Numrange. This little-known feature searches for a range of numbers. For example, ["best books” 2002..2007] will return lists of best books for each of the years from 2002 to 2007 (note the two periods between the two numbers).

 

7.      Site-specific. Use the "site:" operator to search only within a certain website. [site:ewingseniornet.com courses] will search for the term "courses" only within the Ewing SeniorNet site.

 

8.      File types. If you just want to search for .PDF files, or Word documents, or Excel spreadsheets, for example, use the "filetype:" operator followed by the type of file you want to find.  For example, [“car care” filetype:ppt] will deliver PowerPoint presentations about car care.

 

9.      Location of term. By default, Google searches for your term throughout a web page. But if you just want it to search certain locations, you can use operators such as "inurl:", "intitle:", "intext:", and "inanchor:". Those search for a term only within the URL, the title, the body text, and the anchor text (the text used to describe a link).

 

10.  Links. The "link:" operator will find pages that link to a specific URL. You can use this not only for a main URL but even for a specific page. Not all links to an URL are listed, however.

 

11.  Advanced search. If you can't remember these operators, you can always use Google's advanced search for all of them and more.

 

12.  Vertical search. Instead of searching for a term across all pages on the web, search within a specialized field. Google has a number of specific searches, allowing you to search within blogs, news, books, and much more:

 

o        Blog Search - http://blogsearch.google.com/

 

o        Book Search - http://books.google.com/

 

o        Scholar - http://scholar.google.com/

 

o        Catalogs - http://catalogs.google.com/

 

o        Code Search - http://www.google.com/codesearch

 

o        Directory - http://www.google.com/dirhp

 

o        Finance - http://finance.google.com/finance

 

o        Images - http://images.google.com/

 

o        Local/Maps - http://maps.google.com/maps

 

o        News - http://news.google.com/

 

o        Patent Search - http://www.google.com/patents

 

o        Product Search - http://www.google.com/products

 

o        Video - http://video.google.com

 

 

13.  Definitions. Use the "define:" operator to get a quick definition. [define:dumb] will give you a whole host of definitions from different sources, with links.

 

14.  Calculator. One of the handiest uses of Google, type in a quick calculation in the search box and get an answer. It's faster than calling up your computer's calculator in most cases. Use the +, -, *, / symbols and parentheses to do simple equations.

15. Movies. Use the "movie:" operator along with a zip code or town and state to search for a a list of movie theaters in the area and show times.  It can also be used to find a movie title, actors credits or scenes in a movie.  [movie:08638] will find movies currently showing around that area code.  [movie:”john wayne”] will find movies in which John Wayne appeared. 

16. Music. The "music:" operator returns content related to music only.

17. Unit converter. Use Google for a quick conversion, from yards to meters for example: [12 meters in yards], or tablespoons to ounces [6 tsp in oz].  Google will also do simple currency conversions: [15 usd in euros] as well as more complex ones such as [1 gbp in malaysian money] or even [2.83 usd per gallon in euros per litre].

18: Types of numbers. Google algorithms can recognize patterns in certain numbers you enter, so you can search for:

·         Telephone area codes

·         Vehicle ID number (US only)

·         Federal Communications Commission (FCC) equipment numbers (US only)

·         UPC codes

·         Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airplane registration number (US only)

·         Patent numbers (US only)

·         It can also track USP, FedEx and USPS packages by their tracking number

19. Stock Quotes and Weather Forecasts.  Enter a stock symbol to get current pricing and other information.  Use the “weather:” operator plus a zip code to get a five-day forecast

20. Cached pages. Looking for a version of a page the Google stores on its own servers? This can help with outdated or update pages. Use the "cached:" operator.

21. Travel Information. To see delays and weather conditions at a particular airport, type the airport's three letter code followed by the word "airport." For example, Newark Liberty International Airport updates can be found by searching for [ewr airport]. To check the status of a U.S. flight, type the name of the airline followed by the flight number. For example, to see the status for United Airlines flight 24 search for [United 24].

22. One more for good measure: Answer to life, the universe, and everything. Search for that phrase, in lower case, and Google will give you the answer.