Google Tips - Google Tricks - Tips and Tricks to Search
Google. The search engine of the masses. Used by over 2/3 of web browsers on a daily basis, has indexed, crawled, and cached billions of webpages. But how much do you really know about Google, and how it works? That tiny text box, can do so much more than just search.
The following tips and tricks to Google, begin rather simple, and extend into some more specific commands which can get you everything from currency exchange rates, to specific file search methods! All of the following, can also be found buried within Googles help index.
1. Find specific file types : When researching for a paper for school, or for work, often times you find a tidbit of information and when looking for more can be stifled by millions of pages of search results. When searching for hard copy information on a subject, instead of digging through pages upon pages of results, you can specify a file type, allowing you to narrow down any potential research which has already been done on your topic of interest! Going with the topic of search engine optimization, you could use the search operator of : search engine optimization filetype:pdf in the Google text box. This search will return all materials on the internet, relevant to search engine optimization, which have been indexed as a pdf document.
2. Google Dictionary? : Google, can also be used as a definition engine, as well as a search engine. It can be used to define specific words (define:Google), abbreviations (define:SEO), jargon, or industry terms (define:CAT 5), and can be used to interpret SMS/texting terms (define:rofl). What Google can teach you, is limited only by your own imagination.
3. What time is it? With the world being online, it's not uncommon to have international clients, in different timezones all over the world. Using the Google text box and typing in "time hong kong" for example, will give you the current local time for which ever city you choose.
4. But is it warm? Business trips, are sometimes inevitable. And it's always best to know how to dress and what to pack to wear. Are you flying into Australia in their summertime? Or into London UK in the winter? The search operator: london weather will tell you the current weather, and the forecast for the next few days. So you'll know whether or not to pack your umbrella, or your shorts.
5. Now you need cash : So now you're on your way. You know the weather, what time locally you'll arrive, but nothing is more embarassing than showing up short of cash. Google can tell you how much money you may (or may not) be worth. "100 cad in gbp" will tell you just how much $100 Canadian, is worth in British pounds.
These are only just a few of the tricks you can use in Google to glean specific information that you're interested in. Just as a little something extra, you'll find below, some additional Google tips and tricks. Happy searching!
link:URL = lists other pages that link to the URL.
related:URL = lists other pages that are related to the URL.
site:domain.com “search term" = restricts search results to the given domain.
allinurl:WORDS = shows only pages with all search terms in the url.
inurl:WORD = like allinurl: but filters the URL based on the first term only.
allintitle:WORD = shows only results with terms in title.
intitle:WORD = similar to allintitle, but only for the next word.
cache:URL = will show the Google cached version of the URL.
info:URL = will show a page containing links to related searches, backlinks, and pages containing the url. This is the same as typing the url into the search box.
-filetype:SOMEFILETYPE = will remove that file type from the search.
site:www.somesite.net “+www.somesite.net” = shows you how many pages of your site are indexed by google
allintext: = searches only within text of pages, but not in the links or page title
allinlinks: = searches only within links, not text or title