Whether you are reading this in order to increase the efficiency of your business or are just interested in how to find sites easier in Google for your personal life, these tips can assist you in filtering through all the websites you don’t care about in order to find exactly what you’re looking for! Additionally, while all these tips are for Google Search, they can also be applied to most search engines.
1. AND
The first and most important tip when using Google is the use of the word “AND.” When using the search bar for example, if you were to type in “oil AND gas” then you would receive results for pages with both “oil” and “gas” terms included. This technique is useful for making sure you have all the terms you want in your search results.
2. OR
On the other hand, however, when using the word ”OR” in your search, you are provided with search results for pages that include both “bread” and “butter”, only “bread”, or only “butter”. Pages that contain neither term will not be included. This is a good technique to use with similar terms.
Ex: “bread OR butter”
3. Quotation Marks
When using search engines, one of the more important techniques is the use of quotation marks. When placing certain terms or phrases in quotation marks, your search results will lead to pages with your quoted terms in the same order as your quotation.
Ex: A search of ‘“Translation Excellence, Inc.”’ results in pages that have “Translation Excellence, Inc.” in the same order as they were written for the search.
4. Different Language Search:
When using terms that may result in pages in languages other than English, Google offers a trick to translate foreign pages. Under “More search tools” on your results page, there is an option for “translated foreign pages.” This trick allows foreign pages to be included in your results in English. It is important to note that these pages are quickly translated through Google Translate, and are not professional translations.
5. The Minus Sign
By using the “-“ (or the word “NOT”), you can keep unwanted specific terms out of your search results. This technique has many different uses, from finding specific pages to finding a recipe without certain ingredients. It is important to note, though, that positive search techniques such as “AND” or “OR” searches are generally better to use than negative search techniques such as the minus sign.
Ex: A search of “Oil AND gas marketing – Domestic” will provide pages with the phrase “Oil AND gas marketing” but will not display any pages with the term “domestic”.
6. Allintitle:
One common tip is the use of “allintitle:”. When adding this term at the beginning of a search, your results will only consist of pages with your terms in the title.
Ex: A search consisting of “allintitle:Technical Translation Services” will result in pages with “Technical Translation Services” in their title.
Overall, whether you are involved in the oil and gas industry, are a freelance linguist, or work within any other field, these tips will allow you to hone your searches to save time and quickly find the specific information you need.
Do you use any special Google search techniques to save time and make your life easier? Share your tips and techniques in the comments!
