The internet is a host to billions of web pages, and searching for the right information can be hard. Google search, being the most popular search engine, uses a complex algorithm to make search results as relevant as possible. However, there are various Google Search tricks that can help you narrow down your searches further and find the most relevant results quickly.
Here are seven tips and tricks to help you improve the accuracy of your Google searches:
1. Use quotation marks to search for exact phrases
Using quotation marks is an effective Google search trick for finding exact phrases. It tells Google to only display results that contain the exact phrase you’re looking for, rather than separate results for each word.
To use quotation marks, simply type the phrase you’re looking for in between two quotation marks (“). For example, if you’re searching for information about “climate change effects in Kenya,” type “climate change effects in Kenya” into the Google search bar. This will bring up results that include the entire quote, rather than the pages that contain only “global warming.”
2. Use the “site:” operator
Using the “site:” operator is a useful Google Search trick if you want to find information on a specific website. To use the “site:” operator, type the word “site” and then a full colon (:) followed by the website’s URL and the search term at the end. For example, if you’re looking for information on a particular topic, say “online safety” only techguy.co.ke, you can search for “site:techguy.co.ke online safety”. This search will only return results from the specified website, www.techguy.co.ke.
3. Restrict search to a particular file type
This is a Google search trick that involves using the “filetype:” operator to search for specific file types, such as PDFs or Word documents. To use the “filetype:” operator, type your search query then the word “filetype”, followed by a colon and then the type of file you’re looking for. For example, if you’re looking for a PDF about “resume writing,” you can type “resume writing filetype:pdf” into the Google search bar.
4. Use Google’s advanced search options
Google Advanced Search offers additional search options to help you find the most accurate results. To access it, click on the Settings icon on your Google search results page and select “Advanced search.” Here, you can filter your results by language, region, time and date, etc. You can also use more specific operators such as “exact phrase” and “all these words” to make your search more precise.
5. Use the minus sign to exclude words
Searching for something specific and wanting to exclude certain results? Using the minus sign can be a useful Google Search trick here. To use the minus sign, type the word you’re looking for followed by a minus sign (-) and then the word you want to exclude. For example, if you’re searching for information about apple pie, but don’t want to see results related to recipes, you can type “apple pie -recipe” into the Google search bar.
6. Use specific keywords
Using specific keywords is another Google Search trick for accurate results. Specific keywords help narrow down your search and improve the accuracy of results. For example, if you are searching for used cars in Nairobi, don’t search for “cars for sale,” be specific. Instead, search for “used cars for sale in Nairobi.” This search phrase is more specific and is likely to return more relevant results. Using specific keywords can also save time by filtering out irrelevant search results.
7. Use Wildcards
Using wildcards is a useful Google Search trick when searching for information but unsure of a specific word or phrase. A wildcard is represented by an asterisk (*) and can replace any word in a search phrase. For example, you can search for “how to * a bike,” and the wildcard will replace any word in the phrase, such as “fix,” “assemble,” or “maintain.”
Conclusion
These Google search tricks are some of the most important you can use to get better search results—there are a lot more you can try. You can use them to find relevant information quickly without sifting through irrelevant search results. So, next time you need to search for something on Google, remember these tips and make your search quick and more efficient.
