Sure, you can 'Google it',
but can you use Google to research efficiently?
-
Commands
- Wildcards
- Exclude
1. Commands
Search commands help you be more specific, which cuts down on the time you spend looking through unrelated results.
Search Commands
also known as operators
In general, the command is followed by a colon, then the search terms or URL.
site:wwu.edu
Title Commands
site:
allintitle:
allinurl:
Title Commands
site:[URL] - search within a site or domain
site:wwu.edu
allintitle:[terms] - find pages with all terms in title
allintitle:best northwest museums
allinurl:[terms] - find pages with all terms in url
allinurl:gmo news
note
You can also use the commands
inurl:
intitle:
for single search term
Find Related Commands
link:
related:
allinanchor:
Find Related Commands
link:[URL] - find pages that link to a page
link:homeskilletinsunnyland.com
related:[URL] - find similar web pages
related:urbanspoon.com
allinanchor:[terms] - anchor text is the text on a page that links to another page
allinanchor: best bellingham breakfast
Quotes
keep search terms together
useful for phrases
"viking union"
Filetype Command
filetype:jpg
combined with your search terms will find only jpgs
cooking disasters filetype:jpg
2. Wildcard
asterisk symbol ( * )
matches one word in a phrase
example - "internet * my life"
finds pages with the phrases:
internet ruined my life
internet saved my life
internet changed my life
3. Exclude
use the minus ( - ) sign to exclude words, phrases or sites
example
jaguar -car -sports
pages that have the word jaguar, but not the word car or sports
Note on related
Google automatically finds related terms and various endings
For example, in the previous example [jaguar -car -sports] results for the football team were eliminated through -sports
Pro tip
Use the commands in combination to get really specific
viking -sports site:wwu.edu
Find pages with the word viking, but not sports on wwu.edu site
