There are now over 1.8 billion websites and growing around the world. Out of this massive amount of sites worldwide, you might wonder how to find the most efficient website for your needs. How can you search through all of those sites globally to find the information you need?
This article will take a look at how to use your search engine efficiently. Read on to explore these top tips and use the internet quicker and more successfully than you ever have before with smart searches!
Why Use Searching Techniques?
Whether you’re a student, writer, or researcher, it will help you find what you’re looking for fast when applying search engine tips. It’ll help you save significant time and have better search results, whether you are researching or applying these tips for SEO purposes.
1. Use Quotes
When using a search engine such as Google’s bigquery, use quotes to bring more efficient results. It lets the search engine know that you want it to search for the entire phrase instead of only parts of it. It’ll help you sift through different content that’ll be beneficial, and eliminate the content that won’t.
2. Use Bullets
If you’re looking for specific content on a website you can use a bullet symbol. If you’re searching for Yankees MLB.com and put a bullet symbol right before it, it’ll only search for the Yankees on the MLB website.
3. Asterisks
Using asterisks will give you a placeholder for the search engine to use later. Using asterisks can help you find the rest of the lyrics for a song in your searching.
4. Finding Similar Sites
Tips for internet browsing include finding similar sites to what you’re looking for. First, type a colon then type related: (website). Now, you’ll find links to websites that are similar to what you typed in.
5. Searching Multiple Words
You can search for multiple quotes at a time by typing in • “Best ways to get a promotion” OR “How to get a promotion.” This will let you search both phrases. You can also use it for words as well such as • chocolate cake OR carrot cake.
6. Exclude Terms
Search engine tips include excluding certain words. You can type in “Michelle Briggs” -blogs, it’ll exclude blogs in the search.
7. Synonyms
You can search for synonyms if you’re not sure what to type in. You can type in carpentry – university which will bring up carpentry schools.
8. Searching Values
Using qualifiers between ranges is a way to answer questions. If you’re looking for who were the presidents between 1850-1954, you type in president united states 1850.. 1954. It’ll bring up information between these dates by ensuring that you use 2 dots and then a space between the dates.
9. Comparing
If you’re not sure what to have for dinner, you can type in burgers vs. pizza. You’ll then receive the nutritional facts for each.
10. Filter Results
You can search for recipes by typing in your favorite meal, and then clicking search tools. Next, you can filter recipes based on cook time, ingredients, calories, etc.
11. Finding Out the Meaning of Different Words
Instead of having to go to a dictionary site, type in your search engine “DEFINE: habitat.” You can even check out multiple definitions by typing in “DEFINE: guesswork” or “DEFINE: guessing.”
12. Play Atari Breakout
Head to Google Images and type in Atari Breakout. This will allow you to play this game for fun.
13. Fast Calculations
Type in your equation in the browser address bar, and your search engine will give you the result. You can search for tip calculators, mortgage calculators, or regular calculators as well.
Google also has the graphing option as well for cos and sin. You can solve geometry problems too such as finding the area of a circle with a radius of 6.
14. Use Quick Data Conversions
Use the formula [value of the first unit] to [second unit]. You can also search for a unit converter to use a conversion calculator instead. Use the dropdown box to choose the type of data you’re converting.
You can convert:
- Volume
- Fuel economy
- Length
- Pressure
- Speed
- Time
- Data transfer rate
- Area
- Frequency
- Mass
- Plane angle
- Etc
15. Plan Vacations
One of the top tips for using a search engine is planning your next vacation. Type in the city to city to see the cost of flights using multiple airlines. An example will be Houston to Tampa.
If you scroll down, you can see the distance between the 2 locations, and how long it’ll take if you’re driving, biking, or walking. For distances that have an ocean in the way, the directions and distance won’t appear.
For the distance, add the word distance to your search (London to Tampa distance). This will show you the distance in kilometers or miles between these 2 locations.
You can also search for hotels by typing in: Hotels | Tampa, FL. You can also check out different events by typing in Tampa events.
16. Search the Time Around the World
Type in Tampa to Houston time to see the time difference between cities. You’ll use city to city for reference.
17. Customer Support Information
Search for a company’s contact information with ease by typing in the company plus customer service. An example is Gap’s customer service. A phone number/email will pop up to get in contact with them.
18. Translate Words
Type in: word in French to translate a word into another language. It’ll let you know the language of the word you’re typing in is as you click translate.
19. Check Current Stock Prices
You can check out current stock prices such as APPL into a search engine. It’ll pull up the financial details and stock price for APPL in search engine results.
20. Sunrise and Sunset
Type in sunrise city and you’ll get to see when the sunrise is in the selected city. You can also use sunset as well. An example is typing in Sunrise New York City.
21. Keyword Order
Think about what keywords someone else uses to write an article or blog. Try keeping the order of the words as accurate as possible.
22. Skip Parts
Don’t worry about special characters, spelling, upper or lowercase, or punctuation when using search engines. It’ll help save you time by ignoring these since search engines are smart.
23. Social Media Searching
You can search Twitter by using #skinnyjeans. Put the hashtag in front of the word you’d like to search. You can search for people by using @(their_name).
24. Searching File Types
You can have your search engine look for specific file types as well. If you use filetype:pdf free coloring books, it’ll only pull up files.
25. Avoid Suffixes
Avoid using suffixes in search engines. Use dog and not dogs, run and not running. If you’re looking for sites that focus on running, then you’ll type in running.
26. Using AutoComplete
You can order search terms from general to specific in the search box. When you choose the appropriate term, it’ll help save you time when you’re searching.
Google automatically has a drop-down when you start typing. It’s a way to also find related searches as well.
27. Customize Searches
Use the + symbol to ensure that multiple words are used. This can include small +and large. It’ll include the word and in your search.
28. Use Your Browsing History
Instead of using the search engine, if you remember the time and date of a previous search, you can use your browsing history instead of SERPs. Also, consider bookmarking important websites for later.
29. Google Shortcuts
If you type in weather zip code, it’ll give you the weather of that area. You can also use city or town names as well.
Another option is to type in time place for the current time in a specific location. You can type in time Houston in your search query.
30. Use Descriptive Words
Instead of typing in How to install PowerPoint on Windows, you might instead want to search for Troubleshoot PowerPoint problems Windows. If you can’t find an answer, try rewording what you type in to your search parameter.
31. Tracking Packages
You can find out where your different packages are for Fedex, UPS, or USPS. Type in the tracking number into the search bar, and it’ll show you the information for that package. This will save you time instead of having to worry about finding the correct site and typing in the information.
32. Searching for Words
You might want to find a word that’s only in the body, title, or URL. You can find the word in only these specific circumstances by typing in intitle, inurl, or intext depending on where it’s located. An example is intitle:avocado.
Learning Search Engine Tips
Now that you’ve explored these search engine tips, you should have a better idea of how to use them to their full advantage. Remember to use each one to save you time and make your search results more efficient as well.
Would you like to read more online content on search engine strategies? For all of your online and searching needs, check out our other articles on our site today. Visit the SEO and Tech sections of the Everything Entrepreneur Blog to learn more about search engine optimization and tactics for Google or Bing.
