InstallationHow to use Google Search
Posted on January 17th, 2007
Google is more than a search engine, it is a set of tools to find almost anything on the web, right now there are over 25 billion websites indexed in Google, this means that if you are looking for something, you are going to need some serious help.
I use Google daily, it is like the Swiss Army knife of the web, it has many helpful features that are not obvious or listed on the main page, but they work. These features allow you to get better search results and reduce the amount of spam sites, therefore saving you time and hassle.
Basic Google Tips
If you followed my recommendation to make Google your homepage, that is a good start, once you start using these basic commands no one will stop you, I could say that 99% of the time I find exactly what I am looking for, using Google, too bad I can’t use Google to find my missing car keys.
1. Think keywords.
If you are looking for someone to fix your bathroom sink you will not go to the phone directory and look for bathroom sinks, you usually will think of the solution, a plumber. The same principle applies here easier, if you type:
2.- Remove excess. Use hyphen.
I was looking the other day for nano technology, I was being lazy and just typed the word nano, I got the first 5 pages full of nano ipod offers and reviews, I added the word technology but the iPod is technology, the trick here is to remove the keyword you don’t want shown, like this:
3.- Be specific. Use quotes.
If you want to search for pages that contain a specific string of words you can do this by using quotes, like this:
4.- Look in one place.
If you are looking for data in a site without a search engine, you can use Google to search any indexed site, by using keyword site:www.domain.com
These basic commands have helped me to search better in Google and other search engines, start using them and you will see how fast and accurate you become to find stuff on the net.
Explore Google
Like I said, Google is a set of tools, searching is just one of those tools, I will add more tips later for now you have plenty of homework.
