How to Navigate Google

10 Best Practices to Optimize your Search Results

With the emergence of Google, an endless sea of information circulates the web, and with an abundance of information floating online, the issue is finding it. Many of us Googlers forget that proper Google syntax exists for a reason — it provides the right vocabulary which in turn refines our search results. Included below are 10 crucial methods every Google user should know by heart. Not only will they save time, but they will also make you a more effective researcher.

1. How would you search for an exact word or phrase?

When searching for an exact phrase, it may be difficult to get the best results simply by entering the entire phrase as the query. Instead, when searching for a phrase, it is important to enclose the phrase in quotation marks. The use of quotation marks informs Google to search for the keywords in the prescribed order.

For example, you could search up [the sky is green and purple] as the query, but you may only get pages that include the words “sky” “green” “purple”. Instead, you would write “the sky is green.”

Using quotation marks will narrow the search to pages with the words grouped together in a sentence. Likewise, putting a word in quotation marks (i.e. “red”) will guide users to pages that include the word.

2. How would you search for something on a specific site?

To search for something within a specific web page, type [site:] with the name of the site, excluding the “www”. There should be no space in between. Then, type the spacebar and enter a search term or phrase that pertains to what you want to search the site for.

For example, to search Tumblr for chocolate-covered strawberries, the search phrase would read [site:tumblr.com chocolate-covered strawberries].

When the results page loads, you should see items that match the search on the specified website.

3. How would you correctly search for a definition?

To look for the definition of something online, add [define] before the word or phrase.

For example, if you wish to define the word eucalyptus, enter [define eucalyptus] in your search query.

Placing the command [define] informs Google to search for pages that include the definition of the word. In other words, it will prompt Google to return a card with the right definition and pronunciation.

4. How would you search for a specific product available within a specific price range?

To search for a specific product available within a specific price range, use Google’s advanced search command called ‘price search’. Simply input the product name in the search bar followed by the minimum and maximum price, with two periods between the prices. Ensure to include a dollar sign for each number.

For example, [cat collar $12..$25].

5. How would you search for a specific file type?

To find a specific file type, write the [filetype:] command, followed by the file name.

For example, when looking on Google for books in a PDF file format, simply include the file type and book name using the filetype command, with the book in quotation marks. In this case, if I am looking for the PDF version of How to Kill a Mocking Bird, I would write [filetype: pdf How to Kill a Mocking Bird]. By using this command, Google will narrow down all results to show only the file type tied with the right name (the search term subsequent to the file type).

6. How would you include or ignore words in your search?

When entering a query in Google search, Google automatically ignores stop words, which are known as small and common words in queries such as “and,” “or,” “where,” and other similar words all in lowercase — along with single digits and numbers such as “a”. To include stop words, or any other words which you believe are imperative to be included in your search, you can override the stop word excusing through the + operation. In this case, the ‘+’ sign should be in front of the word you wish to be included.

For example, to include the word “and” in your query, you’d write [+and] with a space before the “+”. This informs Google that it must include the word in the query.

On the other hand, if you wish to prevent certain words contained in your query to be included in the search results, you can use the - operation. In this case, any word in the query preceded by the ‘-’ sign will be filtered out of the search.

For example, if you wish to lookup jello shots, but instead only get alcohol shots, you would enter a query like this: [jello shots -alcohol]. Using the ‘-’ operation will allow you to narrow down results by excluding pages that include the specified word.

7. How would you find sites/pages similar to an existing one?

To find sites similar to an existing site use the Google search quest. By placing the command “related” prior to the site name (with no space) followed by the TLD, Google will search for similar alternatives.

For example, by writing [related:Gmail,] other email sites such as Hotmail, Yahoo, and Outlook will appear.

8. How would you confirm the exact form of a quote even if you were missing some of the words?

When searching for an incomplete quote, the exact quote can be confirmed by replacing the missing words with an asterisk. This method is sometimes referred to as a wildcard and will allow you to specify unknown and variable words. When unsure of the entire phrase, this wildcard method will return variations.

For example, if you are searching for a quote that includes fragments of a quote such as “the water was as hot as * and the wind was * the trees”. Google will use this information to search for various links to find the complete quote.

9. How would you search for pages containing two connected words?

When you want to search for pages containing two connected words, use the underscore symbol [__]. This will either lead to pages including the pair of words linked together, for example, “quicksand,” or connected by an underscore, like “quick_sand.”

Alternatively, if you want to find synonyms or alternative words, you may use the “OR” search operator. For example, if you wish to search for an article on different types of cars you may write “Audi OR Jaguar”.

10. How would you search for social media content containing a specific tag?

To search social media content containing a specific tag, type (#) or (@) preceding the specific tag you are seeking.

For example, if you wish to find fitness tags, simply write [#fitness].