How to Use Google More Effectively

Google is one of the most popular search engines on the Internet; it is also one of the most versatile. It is important to know how to use Google effectively, however. Since there are literally tens of millions of web pages on the Internet, an ineffective search could yield many irrelevant results, and the web pages that you're looking for will turn out to be the proverbial needle in a haystack. So a well thought out search strategy can significantly narrow down the results to a manageable amount.

This is where the "Advanced Search" feature on Google comes in. On the main page of google.com there is a link on the right to the advanced search area. When you click on that link, it will take you to all the available options for a more discerning search. At the top of the page, there is a "find results" section. In this section you can find pages:

That contain ALL the search terms you type in
That contain the exact phrase you type in
That contain at least one of the words you type in
That do NOT contain any of the words you type in

For example, if I wanted to find historical information on the Titanic, but wanted to exclude web pages about the movie of the same name, I could type the words "Titanic" and "history" in the "with all of the words" field, and then put "movie" or even "Leonardo DiCaprio" in the "without the words" field. This would find web pages about the sinking of the Titanic, while leaving out web sites about the movie, so you won't have to sift through as many results.

You can also search for web pages according to how recently they've been updated, web pages that are made in a particular file format-such as pdf files-or even web pages created within a specific web site. If you are looking for information on a very specific topic, doing an advanced search on Google is recommended.