The world’s most famous search engine, Google, processes a staggering 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide. Whether it’s for a business purposes or simply searching the web, everyone is using Google on a day-to-day basis. Little did we know, most of us do not maximize the full potential of the search engine. There are many useful tips and tricks that can be used when making a search on Google. Most of these tips can help save you plenty of time when making a search. Below are the ten most useful tips all Google users should know.
1) Search for a specific phrase
This is one of the most simple tools to use but very overlooked. When you place a certain phrase in quotation marks, it will search the exact phrase in that order. This can eliminate all of the unnecessary results that may pop up after your search.
Example: “Odell Beckham Jr. Dance”
2) Find search results on a specific site
If you have a specific website in mind and want to find results only on that site, this is the tool for you. This can be done by typing site: followed by the website name then leave a space and type whatever you happen to be searching for. This tool will search that word/phrase throughout the entire site.
Example: site:tbsmo.com blog
4) Search related sites
This unique search can help you find sites that are similar to your search. This tool is great for those looking to discover new sites that they would not know existed otherwise.
Example: related:target
5) Exclude words in a search
If you are searching for a term that generates a ton of results, it is beneficial to eliminate all the terms that you are not looking for. In order to do this, include a hyphen before the word you don’t want to appear in the results
Example: Baseball -MLB
6) Set a price range by using two periods
Are you looking to make a purchase but have a specific price range in mind? By including two periods in between numbers, you will be given all results within that price range. Now you easily find the product/service you are looking for at the price you desire.
Example: Air Jordan $150..$250
7) Make a search with missing words
Use an asterisk as a placeholder for all missing words. This is a great tool to use if you forgot the phrase of song lyric or book title.
Example: is it too * * sorry
8) Search for a specific file
This can be a great tool for those looking for content published by PDF, PowerPoint, and Excel format. This is recommended when conducting academic or professional research because of all the presentations you will find.
Example: Brooklyn Nets filetype: pdf
9) Define a term
Have you ran across a word, but are uncertain what the definition is? By including define before searching a particular word, you will be given the definition, the word in a sentence, and synonyms.
Example: define: Onomatopoeia
10) Reverse image search
Start by clicking on the image tab on Google. Click the little camera icon in the right hand of the search bar. After that, either find the origin of an image by pasting the URL or uploading an image separately.
Try incorporating some of these tools in your everyday Google searches. They will certainly help you find what you are looking for without having to go through several pages on Google. If you would like to read more blogs regarding all aspects of digital marketing, visit our blog.