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Just Google It.

Google. A decade ago it didn’t exist. In 2006 it was added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Now, it is holds a top spot as one of the most recognizable brand names in the world. With a barrage of offshoots such as GoogleMaps, Google Translate and Google +, there is certainly no lack of services that this internet giant provides. And yet, this influx of new applications has distracted the majority of users from refining their skills in the original service. That’s right. I’m talking about that good ‘ol classic – the Google Search Engine.

In this post I am going to present some best practices, intended to optimize your searches. Save time and money by leveraging these quick and crucial tips for your next Google search!

“quotation marks”

As I mentioned in my last post, utilizing quotation marks ensures that your words are not split up during the search. This proves very helpful if you are searching for an exact phrase or term.

-dash

Placing a dash before a word or term (no space in between the two) excludes it from search results.

+plus

Comparable to the dash, but opposite in function, the + ensures that the indicated word or phrase will be included in the results. For the majority of searches, Google will omit commonly used words like “of” or “the.” If any of the commonly used words are key to your search, using the + guarantees that it will not be removed.

~tilde

Using a tilde tells Google to search for related terms, as well. For example, ~car would instruct Google to also look for terms like “automobile.” Think of it as a mini thesaurus in action during the search.

date…date

Are you looking for an article or post that was published at a certain time? Or maybe you just want reaction pieces to something that occurred on a certain date. Either way, you can instruct Google to return results from within a certain date period by using ellipses. For example, 2000…2010 will provide search results from the last decade.

site:name.com

Sometimes the search engines within websites just don’t cut it. That’s where Google steps in with a functionality that allows you to search within a specific website. Just include “site:” before the specific web address and Google will only search within your specification. Note: you do not need to include www. in your specified URL.

And there you have it. Your arsenal of Google search tricks has been multiplied three fold. You are ready to take on the world (wide web). You are a Google search master*.

*Ok, not really a master. But easily above beginner. And certainly above novice. Cheers!

Mworks740 • December 28, 2011

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