Have you ever had this situation where no matter what phrase you type into the search box, no matter how deep you dig into the result page, you just can’t get what you’re looking for? You might need some tips on how to search if so.
So here are a few Google search tips to help you find anything and everything across the web.
1. Minus operator excludes terms in the result
Use the “-“ operator to exclude the term from appearing in result.
This is especially useful for terms that are used in pop culture. In my example, if you search for ‘stitch’ without the minus operator you’ll probably be greeted by a blue alien pet dog from Disney.
2. Plus operator to include a term in the result
You can also use a “+” sign if you want the result to include another term.
3. Quotation marks for exact match
If your search term is made up of more than one word, the results might not be accurate because the search engine returns results where the terms appear separately.
So use quotation marks to get results with the exact math.
4. OR to combine searches
Use the OR (yes, in capital letters) when you want to combine search queries. This is useful in a situation where you’re looking for two terms that are similar in nature.
5. Wildcard – use asterisks to match on any words
I use this when I want to treat the targeted term as a theme, and have the result include whatever that comes along with it.
6. Search site using site:’siteurl’
When you need to search on a site but their own search function is ineffective, consider using Google instead.
7. Two dots between numbers to get a result between those numbers
Instead of typing out “from 1994 to 2001” you can just replace it with two dots, like this “1994..2001” and you’ll get results between those numbers.
8. Intitle: search only in the page title
Use this to search specifically in the title, and use quotes when your term is made up of more than a word.
9. Allintitle: search only in page title using all the terms
Use this to search specifically in the title, but using all the words in your search term.
10. Intext: search only in the body of a page
Use this to search specifically in the body, and use quotes when your term is made up of more than a word.
11. Allintext: search only in the body of a page using all the terms
Use this to search specifically in the body, but using all the words in your search term.
12. Filetype: search for a specific file type for a term
Searching for more technical or scholastic terms there are often search results that trigger a pdf download when clicked. The filetype operator can be used to specify the filetype you want to avoid such a problem.
13. Related: discover similar sites
You can use this to look for similar or related sites for the site you want. It only works on bigger websites though.