Sometimes searching for something on Google is a breeze….and sometimes, not-so-much.

There are times I find right what I need the first try, but more often than not I am floundering around trying to find the secret ingredient right combo of words to locate what I need.

Then I came across some tips from fellow Social Media Examiner Club member Karlene Cameron. She had some wicked-cool ideas and suggestions for helping to make your Google searches more streamlined and effective. Karlene was nice enough to let me share this info with you. ENJOY!

10 Ways to Search on Google

Many people are amazed at how I am able to find and sort through information online. Here I’ll share 10 different ways to find information via Google.

1. Let’s say that you want to find information on Steve Jobs as published on the New York Times website. You would type:

steve jobs:nytimes.com

This brings up results on Steve Jobs that was written up specifically in the New York Times.

 

2. You accidentally spilled red wine on your silk/wool rug. You’d like to find out how to remove the stain. So you could type:

remove wine stains from silk+wool

This brings up results on removing wine stains from silk and wool.

 

3. You don’t know what the word “cache” means. Instead of typing just cache, it’s better to write:

what is cache

Adding “what is” in front of a word brings up the definition of that word.

 

4. You’d like to learn how to do the Flamenco, but you don’t want the search engines to bring up the word “dance”. So type:

how to do the flamenco -dance

The minus sign in front of the word “dance” excludes it from the search results.

 

5. There is a word in a phrase that you just can’t remember. Search for it this way:

The * of Hamelin

The asterisk basically says, fill in the blanks for me. The search results will fill in “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”.

 

6. You are looking for a specific phrase and you would like to exclude all other words. Type for example:

“silk and satin”

Typing a word or phrase in quotation marks brings up the exact phrase in the search results with no other words in-between them.

 

7. Now what if you want to know all the terms associated with silk? Type in

silk ~glossary

The tilde and the word glossary brings up list of terms, dictionaries, glossaries, terminology, etc. for the word you are searching for.

 

8. What is the conversion rate of 500 Euros into Canadian dollars? Type

500 Euros in CAD

The results show that 500 Euros = 638.557183 Canadian dollars

 

9. What’s the weather in Beverly Hills? What’s the weather in zip code 10017?

weather Beverly Hills or weather 10017

This shows the weather today is overcast at 19ºC in Beverly Hills. In Manhattan it’s 31ºC and partly cloudy

 

10. You are looking for articles with a specific word or phrase in the subject line

insubject:”silk quilts”

Type insubject, colon, and the word or phrase in quotation marks. This brings up articles with the word or phrase in the subject line or title.

 

Karlene Cameron is  a WordPress Design Expert who works with those who work alone—solo professionals, solopreneurs, authors, trainers. She also helps solo business owners shorten their technology learning curve by leveraging online tools and apps to get more clients, grow their business, and increase productivity, instead of being stuck in technology molasses! You can connect with Karlene at Solo.icious Studios or on LinkedIn.