How to Google Effectively

Do you find yourself wading through pages and pages of results when you do a Google search? There are a number of ways to make your search more efficient and find exactly what you’re looking for 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. For example - book OR video how to fix things

2. Quotes
Search for an exact phrase, using quotes. "BBQ chicken recipes" will only find results with that exact phrase. BBQ "chicken recipe" will find pages that contain the word BBQ and the exact phrase "chicken recipe".

3. Wildcard
The "*" 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. For example - can't * me love lyrics will return the Beatles song you're looking for.

4. 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 a simple equation. For example 8 * 7 – 5.

5. Site-specific
Searching within a site can often be helpful, but not all sites have search bars built in. Use the "site:" operator to search only within a certain website. For example site: cooks.com artichoke will search for the term artichoke only within the website.

6. Operators
You can also use other operators such as the "movie:" operator to search for a movie title along with either a postal code or city and province to get a list of movie theaters in the area and show times. The "music:" operator returns content related to music only. Use the "define:" operator to get a quick definition. [define: ultrabook] will give you a whole host of definitions from different sources, with links.

7. 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 images, maps, videos and more. Choose a field from the left side of the results page.

• Web
• Images
• Maps
• Videos
• News
• Books
• Places
• Blogs
• Flights
• Discussions
• Applications
• Patent

8. Unit converter
Use Google for a quick conversion, from yards to meters for example, or different currency: [5.83 kg in pounds]

9. File types
If you just want to search for .PDF files, or Word documents, or Excel spreadsheets, for example, use the "filetype:" operator. For example - computer backup filetype:pdf OR filetype:doc

10. 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). For example inurl: fitness

Lastly if you forget any of these tips, you can always use the advanced search option on the bottom of your results page.


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