I mean, if someone asked you, you’d probably say you’re an expert at using Google to get answers to your queries, wouldn’t you? Each and every day of the week, you’re putting in the effort. We would not want to sound proud, but it’s kind of your closest buddy least in terms of search engines because you understand exactly what you’re looking for when you use it.
However, did you know that there are several excellent strategies that can help you improve your Google queries even more effective? We’re talking about stuff that is outside the basics (which I know you know). Sometimes you can’t even figure out what the one missing word is in the phrase you need to submit to your boss, you should use an asterisk to indicate that you’ve tried everything.
In terms of Search terms, there are clever queries that can help you narrow down your results and make Googling an even more valuable tool.
Here are a few cases of how they could make you fall in love with the search engine again:
1. Use quotation marks to search for specific terms
This strategy, which is referred to as concatenation in coding, is among the most important search tips you can employ. It is especially effective if you are looking to identify results that contain a specific phrase or phrase combination.
Make use of double quotation marks (“”) when looking for a specific quotation. Google will return results that contain an authentic collection of words that have not been altered in any way from their original arrangement. You can also get the same result by placing the plus sign straight before the word and not including a space between them.
2. Be using the minus sign to narrow down the scope of your investigation
The negative symbol will aid in the exclusion of a keyword. Consider the following example: if you search for “vehicle” in Google, the outcomes will include information about car brands and models. For this particular instance, you requested that Google display Jaguar details. Then, in order to omit Car, you must use the minus sign. For example, write Benz -Car into the query box and hit Enter.
3. Avoid the usage of overused terms and phrases.
Punctuation and common terms such as a and the are referred to as stop words, and Google will typically ignore them. However, there are certain exceptions. It is best to utilize common terms and punctuation marks while looking for a particular phrase enclosed between quotation marks. There are instances in which simple words such as the and are noteworthy. For example, the keywords Raven and The Raven provide very different results.
4. Make use of a distinct term that is unique.
Whenever you conduct a search, you are generally unaware of the number of Websites that are returned. As one can expect, the terms “hangout spots” and “hangout places” are highly specialized.
According to Google, a search for those keywords generated 827,000 results! On the other side, the terms hangout spots in Lagos returned only 141,000 results when searched. Use particular terms that are precise to the subject you are studying in order to reduce the number of pages that are returned.
5. Look for specific information on certain websites
Consider the “site:” feature as a Google search that searches only a certain website in order to make finding search results from a website more convenient. If you want to see everything about Haribs.com that has been mentioned on Google, search for “Google site:haribs.com” or just Haribs in the search box. If you want to search for information on a specific website, combine the term with the name of the website you wish to search on and separate them with a double colon. In the case of the [Samsung: haribs.com or the Infinix or the Tecno or the startups], for example. You get the idea of it.
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