Google entered the mainstream years before it entered the dictionary as both a noun and a verb; we all know and love the ease of access it provides and many rely on it’s quick results for making our workday a bit smoother.
Often, the more accurate you can make your results, the more you keep yourself from having to continue on to….*shudder*….page 2 of Google!
ActiveCo would like to introduce you to some key search tricks that my help you narrow down your results to specifically what you’re looking for. Enjoy!
Exact phrase
What it does: Searches for an exact phrase
What to type: “one small step for man”
What you’ll get: webpages that include the exact phrase “one small step for man”
Excluded words
What it does: Excludes webpages with a particular word or phrase
What to type: bass -fishing
What you’ll get: Results about bass that are not relat- ed to fishing
Similar words
What it does: Searches for a word and all of its syno- nyms
What to type: ~mobile phone
What you’ll get: results with the word “phone” as well as “cell,” “cellular,” “wireless,” etc.
Multiple words
What it does: Searches for webpages that include either word
What to type: books urban fiction OR street fiction What you’ll get: Webpages that contain the word “books” and either “urban fiction” or “street fiction”
Numerical ranges
What it does: Searches for a range of numbers, such as years or prices
What to type: Barack Obama 2000…2006
What you’ll get: Webpages that discuss Barack Obama during this time period.
Find meanings
What it does: Defines a word or phrase
What to type: define:bankruptcy
What you’ll get: links to definitions of the word “bankruptcy”
Site specific
What it does: Searches only particular websites
What to type: financial literacy site:.edu
What you’ll get: References to financial literacy on .edu (college maintained) websites.
2 more shortcuts*
Once your search has produced a website to review, here are two useful commands to make it easier to find what you want on the site. *These are not Google com- mands, but keyboard shortcuts.
Find
What it does: Finds your exact search term within the text of a webpage.
What to type: Hold down the CTRL key and the letter F (CTRL+F). This will bring up a search box, in which you type what you need to find “money”.
What you’ll get: Every instance of the word “money” on that particular site.
Zoom page
What it does: Changes the size that the webpage dis- plays on your screen.
What to type: CTRL+ makes the webpage bigger. CTRL- makes webpage smaller.
What you’ll get: Bigger or smaller webpages to make them easier to view.
We hope this list helps you in your future searches, this is one of many helpful tips we like to send to our customers to help ease their day, or at least give them some neat conversation topics at the water cooler!
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