Have you wondered why you are not getting the required results from your Google search? It may be because you are not searching efficiently. This article lays down the various Google search tricks that can maximise your searching efficiency and help you shrink the sea of search significantly.
First of you will need to understand search operators and how it can be beneficial to you. Search operators are as follows;
1. Quotation Marks: This is used when you are searching for an exact word or phrase. For example, let us search for the exact phrase “look at the review” and see what it returns.
2. Site: This is used to get results that is within particular domains i.e if you are searching for clothes in a domain like Jumia Nigeria, you will proceed as follows;
3. Hyphen: Use a hyphen behind a word to exclude it from the search i.e. if you are searching for Apple and you don’t mean the fruit, see screenshot below
4. All in Text: As the name implies, this helps you find the term which appear only in the text (not URL or title) i.e.
5. All in Title: This helps you find terms whose title contains all words in the search i.e.
6. All in URL: Used to find pages with the search query mentioned in the URL
7. Location: This is used to find news/search term in a particular location. Unfortunately this one is not available in Nigeria. You can achieve this as follows;
8. File Type: You can also search for something which must be contained in a particular file type. Examples of file type are files that have the extension pdf or doc
9. Asterix: The Asterix is a wild card character. Its main function is helping you find the missing word in a particular phrase. Always remember to leave a space between the asterix and the words. Kindly check out the sample below:
10. OR: Finally we have the ‘OR’ statement. The ‘OR’ helps you search for two different things at the same time. In the example below we are searching Nigeria and Ghana at the same time, and the result produces information on the two countries; without the ‘OR’ statement it would have produced search results having the two countries
Other activities that can be performed with Google search are as follows:
Math Calculations: Though Google is not a full-fledged calculator, it is known to solve minor mathematical problems for you
Converting Money and Units: Google search can help you convert currencies and units; you can convert m to km and vice-versa by using terms like ’15 meter to km’. You can also convert currencies i.e. Naira to Dollars. Both conversions bring out a widget that you can manipulate to convert numerous currencies or units.
Package Tracking: When you enter your tracking number for UPS, USPS, or Fedex as a search term, it will show tracking information for your package, making it easier than navigating to other sites.
Get current time: Google can give you the current time of any city in the world. The search term should contain the keyword ‘time’ followed by the city you want.
Check Weather: Google can also help you check the weather in any city of the world. The search term should contain the keyword ‘weather’ followed by the city you want. You will get highly detailed information (precipitation, humidity and wind) contained in a widget. This widget will also help in getting a forecast.
Get Team Scores: With Google you can also get the scores of your favourite team. All you need to do is insert the full name of your team.
Sunrise and Sunset: You can get the exact time of sunset or sunrise of a particular city using the keyword ‘sunset’ / ‘sunrise’ followed by the city name.
Dictionary Meanings: You can get dictionary meanings of particular word using the keyword ‘define’ followed by a word.
IP Address: You can also get your public IP Address by typing the keyword ‘IP Address’. Once that is typed in, your public IP Address will automatically display.
Translation: Google helps you translate different languages, even indigenous Nigerian languages. In the example below, we are translating ‘Nwoke’ (which means man in the Igbo language) to English. Google produces accurate results.
Google search tips conclusion
Google has transformed itself from an ordinary search tool to a utility tool which achieves almost anything. The search tips above will help you find anything you want to on the net. It will also help you work efficiently, eliminating time wastage.
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