We use Google a lot of times for searching even the most mundane things. From your assignment to finding Shrek’s height, it’s been a very helpful tool for finding information. Have you ever reached a point where you can’t find the exact answer from Google search results, or worse, no results matched your inquiry? Maybe the issue lies in how you use the famed search engine. The Guardian’s Jack Schofield shares how we can get better at using Google search:
The easiest way to create advanced search queries in Google is to use the form on the Advanced Search page, though I suspect very few people do. You can type different words, phrases or numbers that you want to include or exclude into the various boxes. When you run the search, it converts your input into a single string using search shortcuts such as quotation marks (to find an exact word or phrase) and minus signs (to exclude words).
You can also use the form to narrow your search to a particular language, region, website or domain, or to a type of file, how recently it was published and so on. Of course, nobody wants to fill in forms. However, using the forms will teach you most of the commands mentioned below, and it’s a fallback if you forget any.
Happily, many commands work on other search engines too, so skills are transferable.
image screenshot from Google