Searching Google Smarter

Have you ever wondered if you were searching Google the correct way or even the smartest way? There are many symbols and words (search operators) you can use to make your searching easier and to narrow down results. This can not only help you but can also really improve your students researching skills.  It is very important that students know how to search the vast array of information on the web in the most efficient way.  

I wanted to share with you some ways that can make your Google searching much easier.

I found all of this info on the Google Help Page.

First off, I wanted to discuss the Omnibox (also known as the address bar) which will allow you to search from typing into the box at the top of the browser.  

Start with a simple search and choose your words carefully (Ex: where's the closest McDonald's).  Don't worry about the spelling or capitalization of words (Ex: Texas is the same as texas)  If you are wanting quick information, you can type these 5 keywords in and get instant results.  Info taken from Google Help Page

• Weather: Search weather to see the weather in your location or add a city name, like weather seattle, to find weather for a certain place
• Dictionary: Put define in front of any word to see its definition.
• Calculations: Enter a math equation like 3*9123, or solve complex graphing equations
• Unit conversions: Enter any conversion, like 3 dollars in euros
• Sports: Search for the name of your team to see a schedule, game scores and more.
• Quick facts: Search for the name of a celebrity, location, movie, or song to find related information. 

Below you will find different symbols with examples that you can try the next time you search on Google. Image below found on Google Help Page.

Symbol	How to use it
+	Search for Google+ pages or blood types Examples: +Chrome or  AB+
@	Find social tags Example: @agoogler
$	Find prices Example: nikon $400
#	Find popular hashtags for trending topics Example: #throwbackthursday
-	When you use a dash before a word or site, it excludes sites with that info from your results. This is useful for words with multiple meanings, like Jaguar the car brand and jaguar the animal. Examples: jaguar speed -car or pandas -site:wikipedia.org
"	When you put a word or phrase in quotes, the results will only include pages with the same words in the same order as the ones inside the quotes. Only use this if you're looking for an exact word or phrase, otherwise you'll exclude many helpful results by mistake. Example: "imagine all the people"
*	Add an asterisk as a placeholder for any unknown or wildcard terms. . Example: "a * saved is a * earned"
..	Separate numbers by two periods without spaces to see results that contain numbers in a range. Example: camera $50..$100

You can also use certain words (search operators) that can be added to searches to help narrow results.  When searching in Google you can always go to the Advanced Search page to help narrow down results as well.  Please see below for 'Search Operators'- **Image below found on Google Help Page.

Operator	How to use it
site:	Get results from certain sites or domains. Examples: olympics site:nbc.com and olympics site:.gov
related:	Find sites that are similar to a web address you already know. Example: related:time.com
OR	Find pages that might use one of several words. Example: marathon OR race
info:	Get information about a web address, including the cached version of the page, similar pages, and pages that link to the site. Example: info:google.com
cache:	See what a page looks like the last time Google visited the site. Example: cache:washington.edu

Note: When you search using operators or punctuation marks, don't add any spaces between the operator and your search terms. A search for site:nytimes.com will work, but site: nytimes.com won't.

I hope that you will try these to help you narrow down your next search on Google.