Google has become an essential tool for many people to find answers to their questions. However, with so much information available online, it can be challenging to find the most relevant and accurate information. But do you know how to use Google effectively?
There are several tricks you can use to get the best search results possible. Here are 15 tips to help you feel like a pro Googler:
- Use your voice to search: Instead of typing, you can simply say "Ok Google" or click on the microphone icon to activate voice search. For example, if you want to know the weather in Bhubaneswar, say "Ok Google, what's the weather like in Bhubaneswar?"
- Utilize the dedicated search tabs: At the top of the Google Search result page. You can choose from various tabs such as Images, News, Maps, Shopping, and more, depending on the type of information you are looking for. For example, if you want to see images of cats, click on the "Images" tab.
- Use asterisks (*): To multiply numbers easily. For example, if you want to know what 5 times 7 is, simply type "5*7" in the search bar and Google will give you the answer.
- Use hyphens (-): To exclude certain words from your search results. For instance, if you want to learn about the animal Jaguar, but not the car brand, you can search for "Jaguar -car" to exclude any results related to cars.
- Use the "@" symbol: To search for content on social media. For instance, if you want to find posts about a particular news channel on Twitter, type "@OTVNews Twitter" in the search bar.
- Search for hashtags: By adding the "#" symbol before your search term. For example, if you want to find posts about a particular event, type "#OTVForesight" in the search bar.
- "search site:": Use the "search site:" command to find information from a particular website. Type "site:" followed by the website's name or domain and then your search term. For instance, if you want to find articles about politics on the website odishatv.in, type "site:odishatv.in politics" in the search bar.
- Quotation Marks: Use quotation marks to get exact search results for an exact word or phrase. For example, if you're looking for information about "healthy eating," using quotation marks will give you results that include only those two words together. This can help you find the most relevant results quickly and avoid wasting time on irrelevant pages.
- Dashes: Use a dash before any word to exclude it from your search engine. This can help eliminate irrelevant results that pop up in your search. For example, if you're looking for recipes for spaghetti but don't want any recipes with meat, you can use the search term "spaghetti -meat," and Google will exclude any results that include the word "meat."
- Tilde: Use a tilde before a word to include more synonyms of the same word. This can help you get more relevant searches that are around your search query. For example, if you're searching for information about dogs, you can use the search term "dogs ~breeds," and Google will include results that include related keywords such as "dog breeds," "dog species," and "types of dogs."
- Site Query: Use a site query to search for a specific website. This can help narrow down your results and find exactly what you're looking for on a particular site. For example, if you want to find all the articles about a specific topic on a particular website, you can use the search term "site:website.com topic," and Google will only show you results from that website that are related to the topic you're searching for.
- Link Query: Use a link query to find sites that link to a specific website. This can help you discover related content and expand your search results. For example, if you're interested in a particular website and want to find other websites that link to it, you can use the search term "link:website.com," and Google will show you a list of sites that link to that website.
- Two Periods: Use two periods between numbers to express a range. This can be helpful when selecting a range for dates or prices, making your searches more specific and targeted. For example, if you're searching for a product with a price range of ₹50 to ₹100, you can use the search term "₹50..₹100," and Google will only show you results within that price range.
- Related Query: The related query feature can help you find websites that are similar to a particular site. Simply type "related:" followed by the website's URL (e.g., related:wikipedia.org) to see a list of related sites.
- inurl:"web-stories/" "OTV": Google Web Stories is a feature that allows users to create short-form, immersive content that can be viewed on mobile devices. By searching for web stories related to a particular keyword, bloggers and content creators can get a sense of the competition and create more compelling content.