Tips for Google Searching
The Art of SEO - Stephan Spencer
Using Google is simple, but with a few tips, you can get even more out of Google searching!
Knowledge workers spend 15-30% of the day searching and more than half of searches fail
Google hummingbird is a recent update to their programming and tries to get at intent. Google's getting smarter, but by setting up your searching better, you can guide Google even better to find exactly what you want.
googleguide.com website with great tips
Cutting Thru the Clutter
•exact phrases in " "
•don't ask a question
•singular vs. plural
•word order
•Boolean logic: -, (), |, or
•Search operators*
•date based searching ("more search tools")
*Search operators
filetype: restricts filetypes by extension (pdf, doc, xls, ppt)
site: search a particular domain
intitle: & allintitle: words must appear in title
inurl: allinurl: words must appear in URL
daterange: pages added/updated w/in a date range (Julian format)
define: glossary definition
compare: compare two things
Examples:
marketing plan apparel filetype:doc will pull up files that are docs, not htmls, for example
intitle:"marketing plan" site:marketingprofs.com hits will only be from the marketingprofs.com site and results must have the phrase marketing plan in them
apparel marketing plan site:edu will only search on college/university sites
allinurl: marketing plan - both words will have to be in the URL to return it as a result
define: lycopene will give an instant dictionary result
Search tools
find it under the search box
It gives more options for narrowing -
time
Casting a Wider Net
astersik wildcard operator
or (|)
number ranges (..)
related: operator
""standards * marketing" searches for standards of, standards in, standards for, etc. - any phrases with a word in between the other two words. If you were looking for a phrase with tow words in the middle, then you'd type two asterisks.
related:o'reilly.com shows related sites to the one you have
camera $350..$450 will look for cameras costing between $350 and $450
Mastering the Google Interface
Icon looks like a camera at the end of the search box. Click on it and it will allow you to specify a URL or upload an image and it will look for related images to the url you typed in or similar to the pic you added. Good for finding a source!
I'm Feeling Lucky Button - takes you directly to the first search result instead of giving you a list. You can also change Lucky to other options.
In results list, clicking on the word images just belo search box takes you directly to images
Advanced search can be found under settings wheel on the right. It can be used in web searching instead of using search operators
Employ specialized search services
Google Books
Google Scholar
Google Now and Knowledge graph (instant answers)
The google search box is a calculator, a measuremnt convertor, a dictionary, a clock, a package traceker, an airline timetable, a street map atlas, a weatherman
Assembling Your Toolbox
subscribe to Google alerts
set your start page
buy a ref book on Google
Create a Google cheat sheet
Take the Googleguide.com tutorial