We have compiled a list of tips and tricks to help you get the answers you are looking for more quickly.
It’s September, which is also known as “back to school” month. For many, it is time to return to the classroom or the lecture halls. For those of us who have graduated from the education system, it is time to return to work, get back to the grind and regain some semblance of a routine after a month of summer holidaying!
In light of this, we thought it timely to do a tech tip on how to research like a pro when using the world’s biggest search engine Google Chrome. We have compiled a list of tips and tricks to help you get the answers you are looking for more quickly.
Find useful websites fast
When googling, it can sometimes feel like you have entered every word combination under the sun related to your query, yet you cannot find one website with a useful, relevant answer. When you finally do, it is cause for celebration!
Now the celebrations do not need to stop there. When you find a useful website in Google Chrome, there is a really quick and easy way to find other gems just like it. You simply:
- Enter into the search bar related:URL (the URL is the address of the site you are currently viewing)
For example, if you want to find websites that are similar to www.appdrawn.com, just type related:appdrawn.com into the search bar. Google will then provide you with a list of results that are similar to www.appdrawn.com.
It is such a handy hack! If you find an academic essay that answers a lot of your questions on a topic but not all of them, it is possible to find other articles that discuss the same subject matter, which might elaborate on the gaps. Or, if you are looking for a supplier in an area, you can quickly find competitors that offer a similar service.
Use Google Chrome QuickSearch
When conducting research for an essay or into a new product for your business, it is possible that you may come across terminology you are unfamiliar with. You could open a new tab, enter the word(s) into Google and conduct a search in order to find out more information. Or, you could achieve the exact same results in fewer steps. With Google’s rather aptly named Quick Search function, you can conduct a search from the page you're on.
How to perform a Quick search in Google Chrome
- Highlight the word or phrase you want to learn more about.
- Right-click the highlighted word or phrase.
- Select “Search Google for “[highlighted text]”.”
A new tab will open, containing a Google search of the highlighted word or phrase.
Improve your Googling technique
Just like people, if you can speak Google’s language you are going to get far better responses – or results – in return. Here are a few tips to get you Googling like a pro:
1. How to search for an exact phrase in Google
By default, Google does a shallow search i.e. the results may or may not contain all the words you used in your search query. If you want Google to do a deep search, only producing results that contain all words in your search query, you need to enclose your query inside quotation marks.
For example, if you are looking for bespoke software development in the UK, type in “bespoke software development in the UK” into the Google search bar. This way, you ensure you get the relevant results.
Another way to ensure that all the words in your search query are contained in the results, is to put the word AND in between them.
For example, if you are looking for software developers who operate in both the UK and Spain search for: software developers and UK and Spain.
2. How to Google Search for an either/or
If you are conducting a search where you are open to a few options, you can list these options within your query, linking them with the word OR. Google will then bring up a list of results that all contain at least one of those listed options.
For example, if you are looking for software developers who operate locally, you could search for: software developers and Watford or St Albans or Harrow.
3. How to exclude a word from your Google Search results
Some words have multiple meanings but one meaning dominates. Other words have become so inextricably linked with another, that their individual meanings pale in comparison. When you type such words into Google, you may get results for the meaning or reference you are not looking for.
To reduce the number of irrelevant results, you can actually specify within your search query that you want your results to exclude certain terms or words. To do this, simply use the - sign before the word you do not want included.
For example, if you want to conduct a search into the word hamlet, without getting results for Shakespeare’s popular play, search for hamlet -Shakespeare. Some results referencing the bard’s tragedy may creep in, but they will have been drastically reduced.
4. How to Google with a missing word
If you cannot remember a word in a well-known idiom or saying, or you cannot think of the right word to complete your own phrase, you can get Google to fill in the gaps for you by using its wildcard function. Simply search for the phrase and substitute the word you have forgotten with an asterisk *.
For example, the first result for the grass is always * on the other side is the grass is always greener on the other side.
5. How to search between two values in Google
The Google search engine has been around since 1998. A lot of web pages have been published since then. It is possible to filter your results to ones that are published within a certain time period.
For example, if you are looking for academic papers or newspaper articles about AI software development published:
- AFTER a particular year, use AFTER: within your search. Your search becomes: AI software development AFTER:2020.
- BEFORE a particular year, use BEFORE: within your search. Your search becomes: AI software development BEFORE:2020.
- IN BETWEEN two particular years, use [start date]..[finish date] within your search Your search becomes: AI software development 2010..2020.
Beyond publication date, you can also use this method to search for results contained within any specified set of numerical values.
For example, if you want to know which British prime ministers were in office between 1800 and 1900, type: British prime ministers 1800..1900. Google will bring up results for any prime ministers who served within that time frame.
6. How to get results for a specific site in Google Search
If you want results from a specific website start your search query with site:
This can come in handy when a website has a search function that doesn't work very well, or does not have one at all.
For example, if you were to search site:appdrawn.com AI, it would only bring up pages from the www.appdrawn.com website that reference the topic of AI.
The team at Appdrawn Software Development are always on the lookout for productivity hacks! If you found this blog useful, why not check out our Tech Tip blog series for more.