101 Google tips and tricks more effective
Looking for the ultimate tips and tricks for Google searching? Let's get started.
1. The best way to begin searching harder with Google is by clicking the Advanced Search link.
2. This lets you search for exact phrases, "all these words", or one of the specified keywords by entering search terms into the appropriate box.
3. You can also define how many results you want on the page, what language and what file type you're looking for, all with menus.
4. Advanced Search lets you type in a Top Level Domain (like co.UK) in the "Search within site of domain" box to restrict results.
5. And you can click the "Date, usage rights, numeric range and more" link to access more advanced features.
6. Save time – most of these advanced features are also available in Google's front page search box, as command line parameters.
7. Google's main search invisibly combines search terms with the Boolean construct "AND". When you enter smoke fire – it looks for smoke AND fire.
8. To make Google search for smoke or fire, just type smoke OR fire.
9. Instead of OR you can type the | symbol, like this: smoke | fire.
10. Boolean connectors like AND and OR are case sensitive. They must be upper case.
11. Search for a specific term, then one keyword OR another by grouping them with parentheses, like this: water (smoke OR fire).
12. To look for phrases, put them in quotes: "there's no smoke without fire".
13. Synonym search looks for words that mean similar things. Use the tilde symbol before your keyword, like this: ~eggplant.
14. Exclude specific key words with the minus operator. new pram eBay excludes all results from eBay.
15. Common words, like I, and, then and if are ignored by Google. These are called "stop words".
16. The plus operator makes sure stop words are included. Like: fish + and chips.
17. If a stop word is included in a phrase between quote marks as a phrase, the word is searched for.
18. You can also ask Google to fill in a blank. Try: Christopher Columbus discovered.
19. Search for a numerical range using the number range operator. For example, search for Sony TV between £300 and £500 with the string Sony TV £300..£500.
20. Google recognizes 13 main file types through advanced search, including all Microsoft Office Document types, Lotus, PostScript, Shock wave Flash and plain text files.
21. Search for any file type directly using the modifier file type:[file type extension]. For example: soccer file type:pdf.
22. Exclude entire file types, using the same Boolean syntax we used to exclude key words earlier: rugby file type:doc.
23. In fact, you can combine any Boolean search operators, as long as your syntax is correct. An example: "sausage and mash" onions file type:doc.
24. Google has some very powerful, hidden search parameters, too. For example "in title" only searches page titles. Try in title:herbs.
25. If you're looking for files rather than pages – give index of as the in title: parameter. It helps you find web and FTP directories.
26. The modifier in URL only searches the web address of a page: give in URL:spices a go.
27. Find live web cams by searching for: in URL:view/view. s html.
28. The modifier in anchor is very specific, only finding results in text used in page links.
29. Want to know how many links there are to a site? Try link:site name – for example link:www.Mozilla.org.
30. Similarly, you can find pages that Google thinks are related in content, using the related: modifier. Use it like this: related:www.microsoft.com.
31. The modifier info:site_name returns information about the specified page.
32. Alternatively, do a normal search then click the "Similar Pages" link next to a result.
33. Specify a site to search with the site: modifier – like this: search tips site:www.tech radar.com.
34. The above tip works with directory sites like www.D m o z.org and dynamically generated sites.
35. Access Google Directory – a database of handpicked and rated sites – at directory.Google.com.
36. The Boolean operators in title and in URL work in Google directory, as does OR.
37. Use the site: modifier when searching Google Images, at images.Google.com. For example: dvd recorder site:www.amazon.co.UK.
38. Similar, using "site:.com" will only return results from .com domains.
39. Google News (news.Google.com) has its own Boolean parameters. For example "in text" pulls terms from the body of a story.
40. If you use the operator "source:" in Google News, you can pick specific archives. For example: heather mills source:daily_mail.
41. Using the "location:" filter enables you to return news from a chosen country. location:UK for example.
42. Similarly, Google Blog search (blog search.Google.com) has its own syntax. You can search for a blog title, for example, using in blog title:.
43. The general search engine can get very specific indeed. Try movie: to look for movie reviews.
44. The modifier film: works just as well!
45. Enter show times and Google will prompt you for your postcode. Enter it and it'll tell you when and where local films are showing.
46. For a dedicated film search page, go to www.Google.co.UK/movies.
47. If you ticked "Remember this Location" when you searched for show times, the next time you can enter the name of a current film instead.
48. Google really likes movies. Try typing director: The Dark Knight into the main search box.
49. For cast lists, try cast: name_of_film.
50. The modifier music: followed by a band, song or album returns music reviews.
51. Try searching for weather London – you'll get a full 4-day forecast.
52. There's also a built-in dictionary. Try define: in the search box.
53. Google stores the content of old sites. You can search this cache direct with the syntax keyword cache:site_URL.
54. Alternatively, enter cache:site_URL into Google's search box to be taken direct to the stored site.
55. No calculator handy? Use Google's built in features. Try typing 12*15 and hitting "Google Search".
56. Google's calculator converts measurements and understands natural language. Type in 14 stones in kilos, for example.
57. It does currency conversion too. Try 200 pounds in euros.
58. If you know the currency code you can type 200 G B P in EUR instead for more reliable results.
59. And temperature! Just type: 98 f to c to convert Fahrenheit to Centigrade.
60. Want to know how clever Google really is? Type 2476 in roman numerals, then hit "Google Search".
61. You can personalize your Google experience by creating a Google account. Go to www.Google.com/account/ then click "Create Account".
62. With a Google account there are lots more extras available. You'll get a free G MAIL email account for one.
63. With your Google account, you can also personalize your front page. Click "i Google" to add blog and site feeds.
64. Click "Add a Tab" in i Google to add custom tabs. Google automatically populates them with suitable site suggestions.
65. i Google allows you to theme your page too. Click "Select Theme" to change the default look.
66. Some i Google themes change with time..."Sweet Dreams" is a theme that turns from day to night as you browse.
67. Click "More" under "Try something new" to access a full list of Google sites and new features.
68. "Custom Search" enables you to create a branded Google search for your own site.
69. An active, useful service missing from the list is "Personalized Search" – but you can access it via www.Google.com/P Search when you're logged in.
70. This page lists searches you have recently made – and is divided into categories. Clicking "pause" stops Google from recording your history.
71. Click "Trends" to see the sites you visit most, the terms you enter most often and links you've clicked on!
72. Personalized Search also includes a bookmark facility – which enables you to save bookmarks online and access them from anywhere.
73. You can add bookmarks or access your bookmarks using the i Google Bookmarks gadget.
74. Did you know you can search within your returned results? Scroll down to the bottom of the search results page to find the link.
75. Search locally by appending your postcode to the end of query. For example Indian food BA1 2B W finds restaurants in Bath, with addresses and phone numbers!
76. Looking for a map? Just add map to the end of your query, like this: Leeds map.
77. Google finds images just as easily and lists them at the top, when you add image to the end of your search.
78. Google Image Search recognizes faces... add & I M G type=face to the end of the returned URL in the location bar, then hit enter to filter out pictures that aren't people.
79. Keeping an eye on stocks? Type stocks: followed by market ticker for the company and Google returns the data from Google Finance.
80. Enter the carrier and flight number in Google's main search box to return flight tracking information.
81. What time is it? Find out anywhere by typing time then the name of a place.
82. You may have noticed Google suggests alternate spellings for search terms – that's the built in spell checker!
83. You can invoke the spell checker directly by using spell: followed by your keyword.
84. Click "I'm Feeling Lucky" to be taken straight to the first page Google finds for your keyword.
85. Enter a statistics-based query like population of Britain into Google, and it will show you the answer at the top of its results.
86. If your search has none-English results, click "Translate this Page" to see it in English.
87. You can search foreign sites specifically by clicking "Language Tools", then choosing which countries sites to translate your query to.
88. Other features on the language tools page include a translator for blocks of text you can type or cut and paste.
89. There's also a box that you can enter a direct URL into, translating to the chosen language.
90. Near the language tools link, you'll see the "Search Preferences". This handy page is full of secret functionality.
91. You can specify which languages Google returns results in, ticking as many (or few) boxes as you like.
92. Google's Safe Search protects you from explicit sexual content. You can choose to filter results more stringently or switch it off completely.
93. Google's default of 10 results a page can be increased to up to 100 in Search Preferences, too.
94. You can also set Google to open your search results in a new window.
95. Want to see what others are searching for or improve your page rank? Go to www.Google.com/zeitgeist.
96. Another useful, experimental search can be found at www.Google.com/trends – where you can find the hottest search terms.
97. To compare the performance of two or more terms, enter them into the trends search box separated by commas.
98. Fancy searching Google in Klingon? Go to www.Google.com/intl/xx-Klingon.
99. Perhaps the Swedish chef from the m u p pets is your role model instead? Check www.Google.com/intl/xx-Bork.
100. Type answer to life, the universe and everything into Google. You may be surprised by the result.
101. It will also tell you the number of horns on a unicorn.
2. This lets you search for exact phrases, "all these words", or one of the specified keywords by entering search terms into the appropriate box.
3. You can also define how many results you want on the page, what language and what file type you're looking for, all with menus.
4. Advanced Search lets you type in a Top Level Domain (like co.UK) in the "Search within site of domain" box to restrict results.
5. And you can click the "Date, usage rights, numeric range and more" link to access more advanced features.
6. Save time – most of these advanced features are also available in Google's front page search box, as command line parameters.
7. Google's main search invisibly combines search terms with the Boolean construct "AND". When you enter smoke fire – it looks for smoke AND fire.
8. To make Google search for smoke or fire, just type smoke OR fire.
9. Instead of OR you can type the | symbol, like this: smoke | fire.
10. Boolean connectors like AND and OR are case sensitive. They must be upper case.
11. Search for a specific term, then one keyword OR another by grouping them with parentheses, like this: water (smoke OR fire).
12. To look for phrases, put them in quotes: "there's no smoke without fire".
13. Synonym search looks for words that mean similar things. Use the tilde symbol before your keyword, like this: ~eggplant.
14. Exclude specific key words with the minus operator. new pram eBay excludes all results from eBay.
15. Common words, like I, and, then and if are ignored by Google. These are called "stop words".
16. The plus operator makes sure stop words are included. Like: fish + and chips.
17. If a stop word is included in a phrase between quote marks as a phrase, the word is searched for.
18. You can also ask Google to fill in a blank. Try: Christopher Columbus discovered.
19. Search for a numerical range using the number range operator. For example, search for Sony TV between £300 and £500 with the string Sony TV £300..£500.
20. Google recognizes 13 main file types through advanced search, including all Microsoft Office Document types, Lotus, PostScript, Shock wave Flash and plain text files.
21. Search for any file type directly using the modifier file type:[file type extension]. For example: soccer file type:pdf.
22. Exclude entire file types, using the same Boolean syntax we used to exclude key words earlier: rugby file type:doc.
23. In fact, you can combine any Boolean search operators, as long as your syntax is correct. An example: "sausage and mash" onions file type:doc.
24. Google has some very powerful, hidden search parameters, too. For example "in title" only searches page titles. Try in title:herbs.
25. If you're looking for files rather than pages – give index of as the in title: parameter. It helps you find web and FTP directories.
26. The modifier in URL only searches the web address of a page: give in URL:spices a go.
27. Find live web cams by searching for: in URL:view/view. s html.
28. The modifier in anchor is very specific, only finding results in text used in page links.
29. Want to know how many links there are to a site? Try link:site name – for example link:www.Mozilla.org.
30. Similarly, you can find pages that Google thinks are related in content, using the related: modifier. Use it like this: related:www.microsoft.com.
31. The modifier info:site_name returns information about the specified page.
32. Alternatively, do a normal search then click the "Similar Pages" link next to a result.
33. Specify a site to search with the site: modifier – like this: search tips site:www.tech radar.com.
34. The above tip works with directory sites like www.D m o z.org and dynamically generated sites.
35. Access Google Directory – a database of handpicked and rated sites – at directory.Google.com.
36. The Boolean operators in title and in URL work in Google directory, as does OR.
37. Use the site: modifier when searching Google Images, at images.Google.com. For example: dvd recorder site:www.amazon.co.UK.
38. Similar, using "site:.com" will only return results from .com domains.
39. Google News (news.Google.com) has its own Boolean parameters. For example "in text" pulls terms from the body of a story.
40. If you use the operator "source:" in Google News, you can pick specific archives. For example: heather mills source:daily_mail.
41. Using the "location:" filter enables you to return news from a chosen country. location:UK for example.
42. Similarly, Google Blog search (blog search.Google.com) has its own syntax. You can search for a blog title, for example, using in blog title:.
43. The general search engine can get very specific indeed. Try movie: to look for movie reviews.
44. The modifier film: works just as well!
45. Enter show times and Google will prompt you for your postcode. Enter it and it'll tell you when and where local films are showing.
46. For a dedicated film search page, go to www.Google.co.UK/movies.
47. If you ticked "Remember this Location" when you searched for show times, the next time you can enter the name of a current film instead.
48. Google really likes movies. Try typing director: The Dark Knight into the main search box.
49. For cast lists, try cast: name_of_film.
50. The modifier music: followed by a band, song or album returns music reviews.
51. Try searching for weather London – you'll get a full 4-day forecast.
52. There's also a built-in dictionary. Try define: in the search box.
53. Google stores the content of old sites. You can search this cache direct with the syntax keyword cache:site_URL.
54. Alternatively, enter cache:site_URL into Google's search box to be taken direct to the stored site.
55. No calculator handy? Use Google's built in features. Try typing 12*15 and hitting "Google Search".
56. Google's calculator converts measurements and understands natural language. Type in 14 stones in kilos, for example.
57. It does currency conversion too. Try 200 pounds in euros.
58. If you know the currency code you can type 200 G B P in EUR instead for more reliable results.
59. And temperature! Just type: 98 f to c to convert Fahrenheit to Centigrade.
60. Want to know how clever Google really is? Type 2476 in roman numerals, then hit "Google Search".
61. You can personalize your Google experience by creating a Google account. Go to www.Google.com/account/ then click "Create Account".
62. With a Google account there are lots more extras available. You'll get a free G MAIL email account for one.
63. With your Google account, you can also personalize your front page. Click "i Google" to add blog and site feeds.
64. Click "Add a Tab" in i Google to add custom tabs. Google automatically populates them with suitable site suggestions.
65. i Google allows you to theme your page too. Click "Select Theme" to change the default look.
66. Some i Google themes change with time..."Sweet Dreams" is a theme that turns from day to night as you browse.
67. Click "More" under "Try something new" to access a full list of Google sites and new features.
68. "Custom Search" enables you to create a branded Google search for your own site.
69. An active, useful service missing from the list is "Personalized Search" – but you can access it via www.Google.com/P Search when you're logged in.
70. This page lists searches you have recently made – and is divided into categories. Clicking "pause" stops Google from recording your history.
71. Click "Trends" to see the sites you visit most, the terms you enter most often and links you've clicked on!
72. Personalized Search also includes a bookmark facility – which enables you to save bookmarks online and access them from anywhere.
73. You can add bookmarks or access your bookmarks using the i Google Bookmarks gadget.
74. Did you know you can search within your returned results? Scroll down to the bottom of the search results page to find the link.
75. Search locally by appending your postcode to the end of query. For example Indian food BA1 2B W finds restaurants in Bath, with addresses and phone numbers!
76. Looking for a map? Just add map to the end of your query, like this: Leeds map.
77. Google finds images just as easily and lists them at the top, when you add image to the end of your search.
78. Google Image Search recognizes faces... add & I M G type=face to the end of the returned URL in the location bar, then hit enter to filter out pictures that aren't people.
79. Keeping an eye on stocks? Type stocks: followed by market ticker for the company and Google returns the data from Google Finance.
80. Enter the carrier and flight number in Google's main search box to return flight tracking information.
81. What time is it? Find out anywhere by typing time then the name of a place.
82. You may have noticed Google suggests alternate spellings for search terms – that's the built in spell checker!
83. You can invoke the spell checker directly by using spell: followed by your keyword.
84. Click "I'm Feeling Lucky" to be taken straight to the first page Google finds for your keyword.
85. Enter a statistics-based query like population of Britain into Google, and it will show you the answer at the top of its results.
86. If your search has none-English results, click "Translate this Page" to see it in English.
87. You can search foreign sites specifically by clicking "Language Tools", then choosing which countries sites to translate your query to.
88. Other features on the language tools page include a translator for blocks of text you can type or cut and paste.
89. There's also a box that you can enter a direct URL into, translating to the chosen language.
90. Near the language tools link, you'll see the "Search Preferences". This handy page is full of secret functionality.
91. You can specify which languages Google returns results in, ticking as many (or few) boxes as you like.
92. Google's Safe Search protects you from explicit sexual content. You can choose to filter results more stringently or switch it off completely.
93. Google's default of 10 results a page can be increased to up to 100 in Search Preferences, too.
94. You can also set Google to open your search results in a new window.
95. Want to see what others are searching for or improve your page rank? Go to www.Google.com/zeitgeist.
96. Another useful, experimental search can be found at www.Google.com/trends – where you can find the hottest search terms.
97. To compare the performance of two or more terms, enter them into the trends search box separated by commas.
98. Fancy searching Google in Klingon? Go to www.Google.com/intl/xx-Klingon.
99. Perhaps the Swedish chef from the m u p pets is your role model instead? Check www.Google.com/intl/xx-Bork.
100. Type answer to life, the universe and everything into Google. You may be surprised by the result.
101. It will also tell you the number of horns on a unicorn.
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