Today on How to section, we are discussing the ways of using Google Search effectively. Google Search is pretty good at finding what you are looking for these days, but sometimes they still come up short which makes you to use other search engines (we’ll discuss about other search engines some other time). For this case, there are few little tips and tricks which come handy and help us to use Google Search effectively. So here are some tips for better googling-
Exact phrase
The simplest and most effective way to search for something specific is to use quote marks “…” around a phrase or name.
Exclude terms
If you are not getting what you need then you can specifically exclude certain words using the minus sign.
Asterisk wildcard
Searching a phrase in quotes with an asterisk replacing a word will search all variations of that phrase. It’s helpful if you’re trying to determine a song from its lyrics, but you couldn’t make out the entire phrase.
Searching between two values
Searching for something with a qualifier between two ranges is a good way of answering questions. For instance, if you’re looking for the who were the Nepali prime ministers between 1920 and 1950 a search using Nepali prime minister 1920.. 1950 will bring up results with dates ranging between 1920 and 1950.
Search for the related sites
The related qualifier is useful for finding similar sites. Searching for related:abc.com for instance, will bring up the websites of other news organizations that Google deems the most similar to the ABC.
Definitions
You can put define: in front of the word that you want the definition of.
Calculator
For quick math problems, don’t worry about opening your calculator app. Just type the equation into Google using +, -, *, / and parentheses for basic functions.
Unit Converter
Just type what you are looking for in a sentence with the units you have and want.
Some other tips and fun tricks are listed below in the table. Use without the quote marks.
| Function |
Execution |
| To set a timer |
Enter “set timer for” followed by the desired amount of time |
| To check the weather for a specific area |
Enter “weather” followed by a zip code or city |
| To look up the time for a specific region |
Enter “time” followed by the particular region |
| To look up your IP address |
Enter “my ip address” in the search bar |
| To roll a six-sided die |
Enter “roll a dice” in the search bar |
| To compare between foods |
Use “vs” between two foods |
| Play Atari Breakout by searching it on Google Images |
Just search “Atari Breakout” on Google Images |
