With almost all our online searches happening on Google, there are so many tips to help you search efficiently on Google to find exactly what you are looking for, here’s our top 8 most useful!
- Use a colon to search specific sites
Do you remember seeing a specific article on a website, but can’t seem to find it? Or you’re trying to check up on something and want to see what a certain site says about it?
Simply type in your search and add “site:{website}” like so:
shabbos site:thementch.com
This will search for all content on about anything shabbos related, but only on thementch.com while removing all other search results.
You can also search for results in multiple sites by using OR (see tip 2) like so:
shabbos site:thementch.com OR site:{second site}
- Search multiple/sentences words at once
With Google search, sometimes you’re not sure specifically what you need. So, why not search for multiple queries in one search?
Type your search and add the word “OR” and then your second search (make sure the OR is capitalized, otherwise Google will register it as part of the search).
Google will pull up relevant searches for both those questions.
- Use quotes to search for something specific
When searching for something specific, you can use quotes to minimize the guesswork being done by the search engine. When you add quotes for your search, it tells the search engine to search for the whole phrase as it is, instead of all the words in any order (which is what it usually does).
- Use a hyphen to exclude words
Do you sometimes search for something, but don’t want some results to come up? Or you search for a word with an ambiguous meaning?
Simply search for what you want to know and add the hyphen symbol to remove certain keywords:
men’s shoes -amazon
In this case, it will remove any results which have Amazon. You can add multiple hyphens to exclude more words
- Find sites that are similar to other sites
Often we come across a site that we really like, and want to see more sites that are similar to it. You can tell Google to show you which are similar!
Type: related:{that site}. Like this:
related:amazon.com
If you search that above, you won’t find a link to Amazon. Instead, you’ll find links to online stores like Amazon. Sites like Walmart, Target, and Overstock, and others that sell physical items online. It’s a powerful Google search tool that can help you find new sites to browse.
- Find a specific file
Looking for a PDF manual or article? You can limit your result to show just a file type.
After the search, type filetype:pdf
For example, let’s say you want to search Chanukah related articles to print, search in Google:
chanukah filetype:pdf
This will show results that lead directly to a PDF article. You can search for any file type like docx, etc.
- Search images using an image
Ever come across a photo that looks strangely familiar? Or if you want to know where it came from? If you save the image, and then search it on Google Images (with the camera button), you’ll be able to see similar images on the web.
- Location-based Searches
To find news or information within a specific location, enter your search term, followed by the location:{that palace}
For example, let’s say you want to search for tours in Israel, type:
tours location:israel
Some General tips for searching in Google:
Use words that websites would use
When people go to google to search the web, we generally use the same language in the manner of which we speak. Though Google pulls information from websites, and they don’t say things the way we do.
For instance:
“my car broke down” search “how to jump start a car”
“My head hurts” search “headache relief.”
This will pull up better results since websites would likely use the latter wording.
Use important words
The search engine pulls up results from all the words you put in to the search, so it’s important to keep it simple in order it should match just the keywords you actually need. Too many words will limit your results.
Let’s see an example:
Don’t use: Where can I find a cleaners that does deliveries?
Instead try: cleaners nearby.
Or: cleaners near me.
Doing this will help Google find what you need without all the clutter. The trick is focusing on the words that you need with anything extra.
Check out our post on Tips And Tricks You Didn’t Know Were In Google Homepage!
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