Save time by searching more effectively
If you've ever entered into a search engine a common word that returns thousands of results, you will be familiar with that feeling of exasperation when the exact thing you were looking for didn't appear in front of you. You can save valuable research time by learning some advanced searching techniques.
Most search engines will offer "Advanced Search" or "Search Tips" to help you search the web more effectively.
It is well worth your future sanity to spend a little time learning how to search before wasting your time wading through irrelevant results.
These tips will help you.
Search tip 1 – double quotes
When you place double quotes (inverted commas) on either side of a combination of words, they become a phrase and the search engine will search for that phrase only. In other words, the search engine must return results that contain that combination of words, next to each other, in that particular order, exactly as you enter it.
For example "learn to sail a yacht" will return a list of web pages that contain that exact phrase.
Search tip 2 – use a hyphen to eliminate results
When you enter a keyword into a search engine, then follow with a hyphen (or minus symbol) and another word, the results will include all pages that do contain the first key word, excluding those that contain the minus word.
For example, seals-fridge-navy-approval is more likely to find terms related to the seal animal, and eliminate results referring to fridge seals, navy seals, or seals of approval.
Search tip 3 – get the most up to date information
Some search results can grab your eye, but you can waste time wading through information that is out of date and no longer relevant.
Most search engines will include "date" in their Advanced Search options. On Google, after you've conducted a search, there is a "Show options..." link at the top of the search results page. Clicking it gives you a list of options such as "Recent results".
Search tip 4 – Google Product Search
You can use Google Product Search as a tool for researching the marketing of both competing and related products.
Product Search returns results about products for sale on the web. The results include sites belonging to merchants who participate in the Product Search service, and others that Google finds automatically. The results are not paid advertisements, as participation in Google Product Search is free.
The Advanced Search options include a product price range setting.
... More search tips >
