Did you know that there are more specific ways to “Google” something in order to get better search results? These tips not only work for Google’s search but any browser or search engine – so don’t feel left out if you use Bing, Yahoo, Safari, or other search engine.
Here are a few simple but effective ways to maximize your next online search.
Quotation Marks (“”) | What they do: Use quotes to search for those exact words or a specific phrase. This is really helpful when searching things like song lyrics. Example: “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” |
Dash (-) | What they do: Place a dash before a keyword to include it in your search parameters. Example: chameleon-animal |
Tilde (~) | What they do: A tilde before a search term will include results with the terms synonyms as well as exact matches. Example: Halloween~desserts |
Site:query | What they do: This search term will search for your keyword within a specific website. Example: site:latimes.com |
Link:query | What they do: This search term will search for websites that link to the specified website. Example: link:etsy.com |
Related:query | What they do: This search term will search for sites that are related or similar to the specified website. Example: related:Pandora.com |
Two periods (..) | What they do: Using two periods between two numbers expresses your interest for a search over a range (dates, measurements, prices, etc). Example: movies 1978..1981 |
Have questions or need assistance? Contact TeCHS!