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The last time you searched on Google, did you type a word into the search box and hit Enter? Did the search results give you exactly what you were searching for? If not, did you use Google’s search tools to refine your results?
If not, don’t worry. By using Google’s search tools you can become much more effective at getting the search results you want. Many people ignore these search tools but they really are powerful and useful to get you exactly what you’re looking for.
By spending a few minutes learning about Google Search tools, you can become a Google Search Master!
Using Google Search Effectively
To get started, go to google.com and enter a search term. Google searches over 30 trillion individual search pages to deliver results to you, usually within a fraction of a second. But you may not need Google to search the entire web to get you the results you want.
You can refine your search on the results page to restrict the search to relevant categories. In the menu at the top of the page, you can select whether you want to see websites, images, maps, shopping, books and more.
Even More!
Click on “More” to see other options for your search results, including News, Videos, Blogs, Flights and other categories. If you don’t want results from the entire World Wide Web, no need to sift through them. Target your results to make your searches more efficient.
Shopping on Google Search
Google’s Shopping search page can help you find the item you’re looking for, compare prices and see availability locally and online. Enter your search term, then click “Shopping” at the top of the page. The results page also shows you images so you can make sure you’re seeing the results you want.
The left column helps you refine your search by price range, color, stores, categories and other factors to help you make your buying decision.
Recipes
Looking for that perfect recipe for your special occasion? Search Google and click on Recipes in the top menu. See a list of sites with recipes, along with the ratings, images, ingredients and more.
Search Tools
On the right side of Google’s search menu is Search Tools. Click on that to see your options to refine your results further. If you’re looking for results in a certain time period or locality, Search Tools can make sure you get the proper results.
For example, in Recipes, Search Tools let you search by ingredients, cooking time, and calories.
You can also use Search Tools to sort your results by date and relevance.
Don’t miss: Searching for Images on Google and 6 ‘hidden’ Google tools
Google Advanced Search
If you haven’t been able to refine your search sufficiently, head to Google Advanced Search to see even more search parameters. You can search for results that are within a certain range, in a specific language, in a certain format, are free to use commercially, or with other search parameters.
Want to know which areas are searching the most and in which languages? Check out Google Search Globe.
Shortcuts
Make searching easier by familiarizing yourself with Google Search shortcuts. No need to type long phrases such as, “what is the weather in [my hometown]?” Instead, type, “weather” to see the weather forecast where you are.
Type “movie” to get movie listings in your area. Type the ticker symbol of a company to see stock price and other information about a company.
Enter the tracking number of a package in the search box to see the status of your shipment.
You can search sports scores and schedules, time zones, phone numbers, word definitions and more by using shortcuts. Check out a cheat sheet from About.com with a long list of Google search shortcuts.
Conversions and Translations
Convert units easily using shortcuts. Need to know how many kilometers 5000 miles is? Type “5000 miles kilometers” to see the results instantly.
If you need a word or phrase translated into another language, type, “[search term] translate [language]”.
Speak Your Search Terms
Click on the microphone on the right side of the search bar and speak the word(s) you want to search.
Your Thoughts
Do you make the most of Google search? Have use ever used search tools to refine your search results? Have you ever discovered results you wouldn’t have discovered without using Google’s search tools? Let us know your experience with Google search tools in the Comments section below!
Hi Carolyn,
Ah…I’m glad that for once I already knew something you wrote about here 🙂
Oh yes…I do refine my search when I look up anything I want, though that comes in after I normally search for something as it’s needed in my profession firstly to see what and how the trend is about that particular topic is or how much of it is being used.
Yes, there is a lot more to Google search than meets the eye, though we need to know about it by exploring it further. I remember once that I had shifted the focus on to the news button on the right once, but forgot to come on the main search when I was looking for another topic. As a result, I had to research things all over again, so that’s another thing you need ot be careful of when you look up something in a particular category, remember to come off it also 🙂
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Hi Harleena, I’m not surprised you are already a Google Search Master! Good point about knowing which area you’re searching in to make sure you’re results are targeted. No need to waste your time on searching ineffectively.
Hi Carolyn! Thanks for this article 🙂 Keep up the really nice work. Reading this article, I thought about my struggle to find relevant results on Duck Duck Go, but I guess that simply typing one or two keywords is really not how to use that search engine. If the topic interests you, I would be thrilled to read a short “how-to” on your blog 🙂
Hi Julie, Yes, I am very impressed with how Duck Duck Go doesn’t track you and their headquarters is very close to where I live. Thanks for the suggestion for an article idea! I always appreciate topic ideas from readers. :-bd
Ooh, then you might even be able to pass by their headquarters and interview them 😉
Great idea, Julie. I will reach out to them. 🙂
Another great article Carolyn. Some really good tips on how to improve the accuracy when searching for different things. I knew about most of these already and frequently use them so I probably already am a google search master 🙂
Hi Johan, That’s great you’re already a Google Search Master! So often people just type in some search terms and don’t use the advance search features. To get the best search results, you are doing just the right thing by using these.
This reminds me of Google Search Education, Carolyn. I’m not sure if you already know this but a year ago Google offered this short course with a certificate. I’ve documented my efforts here: http://www.vexite.com/2012/google-search-education-googler
Hi Marck, Great article! I hadn’t heard about Google Search Education. I read your article and really enjoyed learning about your class. Thanks for sharing that here.
Hi Carolyn,
This is useful information that I use a lot. When you search for an image, you can also search for the url of an image or similar image. Even upload a image and search for it or a similar image. I was looking for an image and it found me a copy of it in another photo. The picture was on someone’s shelf in Scotland. I can also check to see if anyone is stealing my copyrights online by uploading my own images.
I’ve done one post for tomorrow, you should find those pictures interesting. It’s stormy today, so I have to take a break from photography. I went out yesterday, it the storm was on it’s way then.
Hi Mike, I’m so glad you found this helpful. You’re right, many people do many searches daily so why not make the most of your search results?
Great idea to search for your own images to monitor for copyright infringement. I wrote an article on Searching for Images on Google https://wonderoftech.com/searching-for-images-on-google/ with information to help you conduct image searches.
I’m just back from my holiday and trying hard to catch up. I will be sure to stop by to see your articles as soon as I can! 🙂
Google have simplified searching by adding advanced search options contain various filters to get more relevant search results .Well , i didn’t know a Google shopping page exists 😀 ..instead of this site …if Google would have crawled over eCommerce sites and indexed the products in its database then Google and made people purchase/order the products from the search results would have surely dominated even the eCommerce sites.
-Pramod
Hi Pramod, Good point. Yes, it’s surprising Google doesn’t make more of its shopping feature. My inspiration for this article came from a Wonder of Tech reader who was researching an item she was shopping for but she didn’t realize Google had a Shopping feature even though she was very well versed in how to use the Internet. Once I showed her, she was very excited to discover it.
What happened to Bing?
Instead of speaking my search term sometimes I use an interpretive dance number; interesting results indeed….
Hey Bill, Bing is still a great alternative to Google Search. You could try to search using your interpretive dance moves on Bing and Google and see which gives you the search results you desire. Kind of a Bing It On Dance Off! :-bd
Well that was a very thorough post on Google search Carolyn! If anyone has any questions after reading this one then I’d be surprised. I do believe you’ve covered it all.
I know that Google is getting smarter and wanting to help us save time. By knowing our location that helps with things like movies and weather and I’ve actually found it quite helpful myself.
Thanks for sharing this with us and going into more detail. I’m sure a lot of people don’t realize there is much more to Google when you click on the more tab. They have so much to offer.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Yes, many people have been using the advanced features of Google search, but plenty haven’t because they didn’t know about them. I’m glad (and not surprised) that you knew about these search tools already, Adrienne.
Hi Carolyn,
This post simply made me realize that I have been under utilizing the powers of Google search.
It is unbelievable to realize that search can be made using voice prompts (the microphone feature).
Best regards,
Hi Dare, Yes, it’s important to learn about Google Search so we can make the most of it. Voice search is a very handy feature for Google!
Hi Carolyn,
This was a surprising topic. I knew about some of the facilities. Some are totally new to me. It is interesting how you managed to come up with something new even in this area that everybody knows and uses. You simply synthesized the information and presented in in your personal manner.
This is how you can talk about a well know topic and still be interesting. I must learn to do the same.
Thank you for the idea
Have a nice day
Hi Silviu, Yes, one of the challenges in choosing topics is figuring out what people don’t know and want to learn about. When I discovered a Wonder of Tech reader who is very proficient with the Internet didn’t know about Google advanced search tools, I was excited to share this information with Wonder of Tech readers.
Thanks so much for stopping by and for your kind words, Silvia! 🙂
Thank you Carolyn on your article. Google is a powerful tool, and many of us….including me do not use it properly, nor understand all it can do. I enjoyed your article, and learned some things I can incorporate into my search.
Hi Len, I’m so glad you found this helpful. You’re right, you’re not alone in not making the most of Google’s search tools. I heard from quite a few readers who learned about them from this article and were happy to learn about them.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us, Len.
Another master piece Carolyn….loved this article thoroughly even though I was aware with every single bit of it…Google is and always will remain my favorite search engine….I loved its voice support feature which it had installed recently….
Thank you so very much for your kind words, Aditya. They mean a lot. 🙂
Great stuff in here, Carolyn. I can really use those “shortcuts” – it will cut down on the old carpal tunnel.
Along with your about.com link, I typed in “google search shortcuts” and checked google’s page with a whole bunch of them. Very useful stuff.
Man, I’ve been working too hard all these years 🙂
Hi John, Yes, isn’t it great when tech makes life easier? That’s the best kind of tech! Glad life will be a bit easier for you now. :-bd
Great post Carolyn! I always did “how many kilometres is 5000 miles”. Or “convert 5000 miles to kilometres” 🙂
I really like google’s auto suggest feature. Ive discovered a lot of keywords with it.
Hi Neil, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re right, Google’s auto suggest is very handy. If you’re logged into Google, it will remember your prior searches to detect what you’ve searched for previously.
Hey Kris, Now your only challenge will be figuring out what to do with all of your extra time you gain from using these shortcuts. Maybe you could Google that? 😕
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here, Kris. Always a pleasure to have you visit The Wonder of Tech! 🙂
Great Article! I really love how google has over time implemented more and more features to ease searching and browsing. Recently, they have added a voice search feature in chrome which makes things even easier to search!
Hi Mmoraven, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Good point, voice search with Google is very handy. Google keeps improving their search capabilities which is helpful.
Great list Carolyn. I usually use Google to search for weather and often end up with old archived weather 😀 Will use these tips now !
Hi Mujtaba, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m so glad you found these tips useful to you. Happy searching!
Carolyn, I do in fact use some of the features of Google search you listed here. I’ve never actually used the convert shortcut though…will use it from now on.
Hi Frank, That’s great. The conversion shortcut could come in very handy for you, Frank. Happy converting!
I also have had a search tip, you can make use google search as a stop watch. Open google.com and write “set timer for 5 minutes” without quotes and see the magic 🙂
Hi Shakaib, What a great tip! I just checked it our. Very cool! :-bd
Wow, Really Its a great Informative article , I get many tips of Google Advanced Search It can be help for me, You are sharing all and best method of Advanced Search I am so happy from This knowledge Thanks Carolyn.
Hi Mahendra, I’m so glad you found this helpful. Many people don’t know how to do advanced searches on Google and don’t make the most of their search results. I hope you find the results you’re looking for, Mahendra.