Google is an influential tool that has the ability to access a vast amount of knowledge within seconds, but it is only effective when used correctly. Many individuals fail to maximize the potential of Google, and the purpose of this blog post is to educate you on the proper methods of utilizing Google.
Be Specific
When you input a general term in a search engine, a broad range of results are displayed. In order to access the most useful information, be as specific as possible. For example, instead of inputting “how to make pasta”, try “how to make homemade Italian pasta.”
Use Quotation Marks
Placing quotation marks around a group of words will tell Google to consider the exact words in that exact order without any change. For example, searching for ““chocolate chip cookie”” will yield results about that exact phrase.
Use Hyphens
If you wish to exclude a word from the search results, use a hyphen before the word. For instance, if you’re looking for books about jaguars but not the car brand, type “jaguar -car” into the search bar.
Use the Site: Operator
Using the ‘site:’ operator can help narrow down results by searching only within a specified website. For instance, site:wikipedia.org “World War II” will return pages pertaining to World War II within Wikipedia.
Use the Asterisk Wildcard
The asterisk, *, is a wildcard, which means it can stand for anything. This can be useful if you’re trying to find a specific phrase, but can’t remember a certain word. Google will try to fill in the blank. For example, “when you * a star” will bring up the song lyrics for “when you wish upon a star”.
Use Google Search Operators
Google search operators can refine your search in advanced ways, beyond what’s normally possible in the basic Google search box. Here are a few examples:
"weather *": This will display the weather in your current location. "stocks *": This will show the current stock market details. "movie *": This will show information about current movies. "books *": This will show information about books.
The possibilities with Google search are practically endless. These are just a few tips on how to Google the right way. Happy Googling!
