google search - tips and tricks

Google SearchTips and Tricks

R&D Tools and Techniques

By Naji El Kotob

[email protected]

Rev. 1.3

DOTNET HEROESwww.dotnetheroes.com


Outlines

Google search results page How to search on Google Samples of Quick answers Punctuation & symbols Operators Search Google by Image Filter your search result Tips and Tricks Advanced Search What Next!


Google search results page

1. Top of the page

2. Search filters & settings

3. Search results & ads

4. Bottom of the page

For more info https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/35891?hl=en

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/35891?hl=en


How to search on Google

Keep it simple

Tired of Typing! Search using your voice.

Choose words carefully. E.g. Instead of saying , say

Don’t worry about spelling and capitalizing e.g. Dcument iMaging whether or not you spell it correctly Google uses the most common spelling of a given word.

Quick answers E.g. Weather, Dictionary, Calculations, Unit conversions and more.


Samples of Quick answers


Weather - Quick Answers


Unit conversions – Quick Answers


Dictionary – Quick Answers


Calculations – Quick Answers


Flight schedule – Quick Answers


Time


Punctuation & symbols

Even though the symbols below are supported, including them in your searches doesn’t always improve the results.

Note: When you search using symbols, don't add any spaces between the symbol and your search terms. For example, a search for -dogs will work, but - dogs will not.


Punctuation & symbolsSymbol What you can use it for

+ Search for Google+ pages or blood types Examples: +Chrome and AB+

@ Find social tags Example: @agoogler

$ Find prices Example: nikon $400

# Find popular hashtags for trending topics Example: #throwbackthursday

- Remove wordsWhen you use a dash before a word or site, it excludes results that include that word or site. This is useful for words with multiple meanings, like Jaguar the car brand and jaguar the animal.Examples: jaguar speed -car and pandas -site:wikipedia.orgConnect wordsWhen the dash is in between multiple words, Google will know the words are strongly connected.Example: twelve-year-old dog

_ Connect two words like quick_sort.Your search results will find this pair of words either linked together (quicksort) or connected by an underscore (quick_sort).

" When you put a word or phrase in quotes, the results will only include pages with the same words in the same order as what's inside the quotes.Note: Only use this if you're looking for an exact word or phrase, otherwise you'll exclude many helpful results by mistake.Example: "imagine all the people"

* Add an asterisk within a search as a placeholder for any unknown or wildcard terms. Use with quotation marks to find variations of that exact phrase or to remember words in the middle of a phrase. Example: "a * saved is a * earned"

.. Separate numbers by two periods without spaces (..) to see results that contain numbers in a given range of things like dates, prices, and measurements. Example: camera $50..$100


Operators

Use search operators to narrow down results

Tip: When you search using operators, don't add any spaces between the operator and your search terms. A search for site:nytimes.comwill work, but site: nytimes.com will not.


Operators

Operator What you can use it for

site: Get results from certain sites or domains. For example, you can find all mentions of "olympics" on the NBC website, or any .gov websites.Examples: olympics site:nbc.com and olympics site:.gov

link: Find pages that link to a certain page. For example, you can find all the pages that link to google.com.Example: link:google.com

related: Find sites that are similar to a URL you already know. If you search for related sites to the time.com, you'll find other news publication sites you may be interested in.Example: related:time.com

OR If you want to search for pages that may have just one of several words, include OR (capitalized) between the words. Without the OR, your results would typically show only pages that match both terms.Example: world cup location 2014 OR 2018

info: Get information about a URL, including the cached version of the page, similar pages, and pages that link to the site.Example: info:google.com

cache: See what a page looks like the last time Google crawled the site.Example: cache:washington.edu


Punctuation, symbols & operators

For more info about Punctuation, symbols & operators go to https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en&rd=2


Search Google by image

You can use a picture as your search to find related images from around the web.


Filter your search results


Tips and Tricks


Less is more

few words will give you the broadest results. After that, refine your results by adding more words.


Use the auto-complete list


The vs keyword

vs lists (auto-complete) the competitive services or products


Search with an exact phrase

Put quotation marks around words e.g. “Computer Security" to search for an exact phrase in an exact order.


The * Operator

Use *, an asterisk character, known as a wildcard, to match one or more words in a phrase


The minus - operator

Use the minus - sign to specify particular items you don't want in your results e.g. -laboratory


Don't worry about punctuation

Search ignores punctuation. This includes @#%^*()=[]\ and other special characters.


More tips and tricks…

Check for more tips and tricks at http://www.google.com/insidesearch/tipstricks/all.html

http://www.google.com/insidesearch/tipstricks/all.html


Advanced Searchhttp://www.google.com/advanced_search

http://www.google.com/advanced_search


What Next!


Discover the power of Google Alerts at https://www.google.com/alerts

https://www.google.com/alerts


Q&A

Please send your feedback to naji [@] dotnetheroes.com


References

Inside Search http://www.google.com/insidesearch/

Search Help https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/134479?hl=en

Advanced Search http://www.google.com/advanced_search

http://www.google.com/insidesearch/

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/134479?hl=en

http://www.google.com/advanced_search

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