Tips To Google Better
Business Technology | November 30, 2012
You have used Google for years, and you know how to use it, right? You generally find what you are searching for, right? Maybe not, there are several tricks you can utilize to make your Googling skills more effective and efficient. After learning about some of these trick in articles from the How-To Geek website and the Atlantic we decided to share the few we found to be helpful.
Operators are key
If you are hoping to find very specific information through a Google search, operators are the most useful way to find what you are looking for. The example that the How-To Geek site used is as follows. Say a user wishes to find stories only published by the New York Times relating to college test scores. That is very specific and seems like it would take a lot of digging. Not if you utilize operators. By inserting the operator “site:” in front of the words “nytimes.com,” Google will only search in that site. Then by adding quotation marks around exact phrases they are looking for, in this case “test scores,” Google will search for that exact phrase only. If the user wants to add a date range, they can add 2008..2010 and it will narrow the search further.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is fantastic if you are trying to do very deep research. It only searches academic and scholarly work. As an example, if you’re looking for a specific research paper written by anthropologist Dr. Forcella about snake mythology, you would merely input the operator “author:” in front of “Forcella” followed by the phrase “snake mythology” into Google Scholar.
Control F
The Atlantic story highlights the “Control F” feature on Google search. This can be a particularly helpful tool. Say you’re searching Google for “Thanksgiving dinner” recipes, and you’re mostly interested in appetizers. After completing your “Thanksgiving dinner” search, hold your computer’s “Control” key after which hit “F.” Once you do, a small bar will appear on the top or bottom of your computer screen near the word “Find.” You can then type in a specific word or phrase — such as “appetizer.” When you do, those words or phrases will be highlighted in your Google search results, helping you find those results that pertain exactly to what you are looking for.
You have used Google for years, and you know how to use it, right? You generally find what you are searching for, right? Maybe not, there are several tricks you can utilize to make your Googling skills more effective and efficient. After learning about some of these trick in articles from the How-To Geek website and the Atlantic we decided to share the few we found to be helpful.
Operators are key
If you are hoping to find very specific information through a Google search, operators are the most useful way to find what you are looking for. The example that the How-To Geek site used is as follows. Say a user wishes to find stories only published by the New York Times relating to college test scores. That is very specific and seems like it would take a lot of digging. Not if you utilize operators. By inserting the operator “site:” in front of the words “nytimes.com,” Google will only search in that site. Then by adding quotation marks around exact phrases they are looking for, in this case “test scores,” Google will search for that exact phrase only. If the user wants to add a date range, they can add 2008..2010 and it will narrow the search further.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is fantastic if you are trying to do very deep research. It only searches academic and scholarly work. As an example, if you’re looking for a specific research paper written by anthropologist Dr. Forcella about snake mythology, you would merely input the operator “author:” in front of “Forcella” followed by the phrase “snake mythology” into Google Scholar.
Control F
The Atlantic story highlights the “Control F” feature on Google search. This can be a particularly helpful tool. Say you’re searching Google for “Thanksgiving dinner” recipes, and you’re mostly interested in appetizers. After completing your “Thanksgiving dinner” search, hold your computer’s “Control” key after which hit “F.” Once you do, a small bar will appear on the top or bottom of your computer screen near the word “Find.” You can then type in a specific word or phrase — such as “appetizer.” When you do, those words or phrases will be highlighted in your Google search results, helping you find those results that pertain exactly to what you are looking for.