Many of us use Google search by typing in some word or phrase
and usually find what we want on the first page and go no
further. Google search has become much better at anticipating
our needs, including fixing typos for us.
However, there are
times we are looking for specific information and do not wish to
wade through the swamp of irrelevant and overlapping pages.
My biggest problem with
searching, other than relevance, is dates. Seems like nothing
ever leaves the web and as information changes, the web just
adds more, rather than fixes incorrect information.
My favorite tab is the
Tools tab. When you click on it there are two options, Any Time
and All results. Using the Any Time button there are options for
various time periods, including custom. For technical
information, I like to use past week or past month. For other
things, past year usually weeds out most of the old garbage. All
results is the default, but also offers verbatim (in case you
forgot to use quote marks in your search).
On the top of every
search results page there are a number of tabs. Usually you will
see Web, Images, News, Videos, Shopping, More, Settings, and
Tools. Using these tabs can help define what kind of search you
need to do. If you need images, use the Image tab. If you are
looking for a recent news article, use the News tab. If you
click on More, then choose advanced search, Google offers boxes
to help refine your search criteria. You can forget many of the
tips I have offered by using this Advanced Search as it shows
boxes to fill in and offers examples. Advanced search is
particularly good for very specific searches.
Find pages with... To
do this in the search box
All these words:...Type the important words: tricolor rat
terrier
This exact word or phrase:...Put exact words in quotes: "rat
terrier"
any of these words:...Type OR between all the words you want:
miniature OR standard
None of these words:...Put a minus sign just before words you
don't want: -rodent, -"Jack Russell"
Numbers ranging from:...to Put 2 periods between the numbers and
add a unit of measure: 10..35 lb, $300..$500, 2010..2011.