Googling for better results.

I really can’t imagine a life without www.google.com. I would have never completed my projects if it wasn’t for Google™. As we all use the Internet so frequently, we use Google™ quite often (at least I do). While searching the contents we first open www.google.com. Then, we fill in the search keywords and press enter. Sometimes we don’t even have to press enter; thanks to AJAX technology it displays us the options as we type. I have seen many people follow this procedure and I have compiled some tips here which I think will help you refine your search and get results faster.

1.    Searching through specific sites : You can reduce the search criteria specific to only a website
e.g.: type espncricinfo: tendulkar, and this will show you the instances of Sachin Tendulkar in www.espncricinfo.com 
P.S Not all the links provided by Google ™ will be of espncricinfo, only the first few links will be of espncricinfo.

 

2.    Searching your name: Have you ever tried searching your name?

                If no, then try this, type facebook : “your name” in Google’s search bar and see if your profile link is displayed.
(Tip: try without quotation marks to see different results) 

3.    Excluding words from search: you can also exclude a word from your search criteria by adding a "-"(minus/ hyphen) sign followed by your word after typing the search term.

e.g.: If you want to search Burman but not Sachin Burman, type burman –“sachin”. This will list all the burman results excluding sachin.





 4.    Calculating via Google : Google can also be a calculator.
        e.g.: Type 36 * 36 and press enter. If your network connection is good you   don’t even have to press enter.

5.    Google as a dictionary: you can Google to find out meanings of words. Type, define: “your word”.
e.g.: Type, define: bogus and press enter. Again, if your network connection is good you don’t even have to press enter.

 6.    Google as a converter: You can use Google to use it as a converter. Type 1 foot to inches.
Similarly, you can also try 5USD to INR or 50miles to km

 7.    Searching for a file type: If you know the file type you are finding then try    this.   
        Type pdf: dining, you can also do this for ppts.

 8.    Searching maps : I have seen many people do this, they first open  www.google.com. Then they click on the menu bar title “Maps” and then do their search. To the people who do this and want to save time, this is for you.                                                                                                                                                         Type map: “place you want to search”                                                                                                                                   e.g.: map: Mumbai.

 9.    I have also noticed many people; they type the website address in the address bar instead of using the quick search bar. If you haven’t set your default quick search www.google.com. I suggest you do it. This saves time and if you are on a slow connection you know you have to do it.

10.    For chrome users, if you don’t want to use the quick search bar then just type your search keywords in the address bar and press enter. If you are using Internet Explorer then the search is done via Bing. (I don’t know about the others, you can check it out).

11.    Finally, Happy Googling and I hope this blog helps you out in the future.

Cheers. 