If you’re like most people, you probably use Google to search for content on the Internet many times a day. Yet, while this ubiquitous, powerful tool has become essential to the way we all work, many people don’t take full advantage of all the capabilities that Google search offers—especially if you’re doing Content Marketing.
Find exactly what you need.
When it comes to finding exactly what you’re looking for, did you know that Google is a great dictionary, area code identifier, and a calculator? And that’s not all. Google is amazing for finding out a lot more.
The 12 tips outlined in the helpful summary below are worth a bookmark or at least a test search. Hope you find this helpful and best of luck with your next search.
1. | Explicit Phrase
Let’s say you are looking for content about internet marketing. Instead of just typing internet marketing into the Google search box, you will likely be better off searching explicitly for the phrase. To do this, simply enclose the search phrase within double quotes.
Search Example | “internet marketing”
2. | Exclude Words
If you want to search for content about internet marketing, but you want to exclude any results that contain the term advertising. To do this, simply use the “-” sign in front of the word you want to exclude.
Search Example | “internet marketing—advertising”
3. | Site Specific Search
Often, you want to search a specific website for content that matches a certain phrase. Even if the site doesn’t support a built-in search feature, you can use Google to search the site for your term. Simply use the “site:somesite.com” modifier.
Search Example | “internet marketing” site:www.smallbusinesshub.com
4. | Similar Words and Synonyms
If you want to include a word in your search but want to include results that contain similar words or synonyms, do this, use the “~” in front of the word.
Search Example | “internet marketing” ~professional
5. | Specific Document Types
If you’re looking to find results that are of a specific type, you can use the modifier “filetype:”. For example, you might want to find only PowerPoint presentations related to internet marketing.
Search Example | “internet marketing” filetype:ppt
6. | This OR That
By default, when you do a search, Google will include all the terms specified in the search. If you’re looking for anyone of one or more terms to match, then you can use the OR operator. (Note: The OR has to be capitalized).
Search Example | “internet marketing OR advertising”
7. | Phone Listing
Let’s say someone calls you on your mobile number and you don’t know how it is. If all you have is a phone number, you can look it up on Google using the phonebook feature.
Search Example | “phonebook:617-555-1212”
8. | Area Code Lookup
If all you need to do is to look up the area code for a phone number, just enter the 3-digit area code and Google will tell you where it’s from.
Search Example | “617”
9. | Numeric Ranges
This is a rarely used, but highly useful tip. Let’s say you want to find results that contain any of a range of numbers. You can do this by using the X..Y modifier (in case this is hard to read, what’s between the X and Y are two periods. This type of search is useful for years (as shown below), prices or anywhere where you want to provide a series of numbers.
Search Example | “president 1940..1950”
10. | Stock Ticker Symbol
Just enter a valid ticker symbol as your search term and Google will give you the current financials and a quick thumb-nail chart for the stock.
Search Example | “GOOG”
11. | Calculator
The next time you need to do a quick calculation, instead of bringing up the Calculator applet, you can just type your expression into Google.
Search Example | “48512 * 1.02”
12. | Word Definitions
If you need to quickly look up the definition of a word or phrase, simply use the “define:” command.
Search Example | “define:plethora”
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As president and creative director of TeamworksCom, Paul develops brand strategy, engineers content to express customer value and creates integrated online and content marketing solutions to help businesses succeed. Connect with Paul, send an Email, or just call 415.789.5830.