My Top Google Search Tips for More Accurate Results

Are you fed up with not finding what you want on Google? Good news: A few simple changes will significantly improve your search results. I have done much experimentation to uncover the various ways to improve my search results. Here are my top Google search tips based on personal experience.

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1. Use Search Operators

Google search operators are specific commands (e.g. site:operator). By using these, you’ll get more accurate results based on your parameters. For example, searching “site:lonelyplanet.com Chicago” would give you solely results from Lonely Planet’s website about Chicago.

Search operators are still the best Google search tip I’ve ever received. Besides websites, you can use them to look for specific file types (e.g. PDFs and Word Docs). Use filetype: operator to do this; in the example below, I typed filetype:pdf world happiness report.

Google also provides operators that let you tell the search engine to only look for your query in a page’s URL, title or body. These are known as allinurl:, allintitle: and allintext: operators.

For example, if you just want to find the words “iOS 18” in a page’s body, you can search “allintext: iOS 18.” A search like “allinurl: iOS 18” will look just in page URLs, and “allintitle: iOS 18” will look just in page titles. Below, I tried the “allintext:” operator.

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Using the related: operator, you can find sites that are related to a specific URL. For example, searching for “related:amazon.com” will provide sites related to Amazon’s homepage.

You can use this operator to quickly search for concepts related to a site or quickly get a sense of how Google categorizes a given site based on the results.

Even More Google Search Operators

If you need to limit your searches even further and don’t want to use a Google search alternative, you can use even more operators to limit your search.

Need to view a website that’s down or look at an older version of a site? Google regularly stores digital snapshots of websites you can access using the related: operator. Combine the operator with a URL – (i.e. cache:google.com), and you’ll be taken to a stored version of the website.

You can also search within a range by using the ellipses (..) operator. When combined with a pair of numbers, this operator tells Google to only look for results within a certain range.

So, if you’re looking for a speaker within a certain price range, you can perform a search like “Linux $100..$250” to find what you’re looking for.

2. Use the Asterisk Wildcard

In a Google search, an asterisk (*) can stand in for any word. If you’re looking for a specific phrase but can’t remember one or more words, you can type in the part of the phrase you know and tell Google to sub in anything else by using an asterisk.

For example, the search “war and *” will get you results similar to a search for “war and peace.” You can also use more than one asterisk to sub in for multiple words – a search like “to be or * * be” will return results like the search “to be or not to be.”

You can have some fun here and try various combinations to see what you come up with. If you learn how these work, you’ll become a power Google search user.

3. Perform Basic Math and Quick Unit Conversions

You can use a Google search to quickly perform basic calculations. Type in a math problem (e.g. “4 x 4 + 10“), and Google will return a search with a calculator widget at the top of the results page. The widget will be pre-filled with your problem and its answer.

The Google calculator can also perform more advanced operations like finding the square root of a number or the sine of a given angle.

You can also use Google to quickly convert from one unit of measurement or currency to another. For example, “3 cm to inches” will return the equivalent length of 3 cm in inches, while “500 USD to GBP” will return the value of 500 dollars in pounds.

4. Search Using Boolean Operators

Need to search for a specific term but your results are clogged up with a related word you don’t need information on? Or do you need a broad search that can include either of two different terms? In cases like these, use simple Boolean operators – and, not, and or – to make your Google searches more specific.

Searching for “camera AND video” will only return results with both the words camera and video. Searching for “camera OR video” will return results with either of the words. If you don’t need a word, you can exclude it from your searches with NOT, as in “camera NOT video.”

OR and NOT can also be replaced with specific characters that will perform the same function – the vertical bar (|) for OR and the hyphen or minus sign (-) for NOT.

Keep your operators capitalized. Otherwise, Google will treat them as part of what you’re searching for rather than an operator.

5. Set Time Restraints

Are you looking for time-sensitive data, such as statistics? Use time restraints to filter out irrelevant results. To do this, you’ll need to type before:yyyy/mm/dd, after:yyyy/mm/dd, or both.

In the example below, I wanted to find content marketing statistics no older than 2022. To do this, I typed “before:2024/11/10 content marketing statistics after:2022/01/01“. Don’t type this in your URL bar, though, as this returned an error for me.

You might still need to do some extra filtering because your results might use older pieces of information. Nonetheless, it’s much more effective than just typing “content marketing statistics 2024” or something similar.

While I mainly use time restraints to find statistics that I can use in articles, they’re also great for research papers as a student. One of my top Google search tips is to use these while also incorporating Chrome extensions for students.

6. Perform Reverse Image Searches

I use reverse image searches to determine if a website or person is legitimate. Many scammers, for example, use stock images or steal someone else’s pictures from social media.

I recommend using Google Lens for your reverse image searches on websites. To start, open Google Chrome and right-click on the picture you want to do a reverse lookup for. Then, select Search With Google Lens.

Google will show matching results within a few seconds. As you can see, the image I did a reverse lookup with appears on other websites. I’m pretty sure that this site was not legitimate because the person’s name was different from the original; this was the case for everyone else I did a reverse lookup with on the website.

7. Create a Google Alert

You can create Google alerts if you want to be notified whenever someone uploads content related to your search terms. You can do this for both news topics and subjects you have a general interest in.

Start by going to the Google Alerts website.

Enter your search term and select Create Alert.

8. Filter Explicit Content

SafeSearch will filter explicit and graphic content. It’s a helpful tool if you don’t want your children to see things that they shouldn’t, and you should also switch it on if you only want to see safe-for-work results.

Some search results will give you the choice to turn on SafeSearch if they have explicit content. However, you can switch on the feature all the time; I recommend doing this so you don’t have to think about it.

The easiest way to do this is by searching “how to turn on google safe search“. On the right, you’ll see a section that lets you change your settings. Turn on Blur if you wish to search safely.

9. Search by Voice

Voice assistants have numerous benefits in our homes, and voice search is also an efficient way to look for your desired results. You can search by voice in Google for mobile and desktop.

Start by tapping the microphone icon next to the search bar.

On the next page, say what you want to search for.

Whereas some Google search features are only available in Chrome, you can also use voice search in Safari and other browsers.

10. Use Google Lens

Besides performing reverse lookups on websites, Google Lens is also helpful for finding similar search results. You can click on specific parts of the image to find what you’re looking for.

Search for something in Google Images and click on a picture that interests you; when you’re there, select the Google Lens icon in the bottom left.

Select the region in your image that you’d want to search for with Google Lens. You’ll see similar results below the main picture.

Not everyone knows about the hidden special features you can use when you search in Google, but you now have a big advantage. With these Google search tips, you can find what you’re looking for more effectively. Numerous Chrome extensions to enhance your search experience also exist.

Image Credit: Unsplash. All screenshots by Danny Maiorca and Jenna Tsui.

Danny Maiorca –
Contributor

Danny has written for online audiences for 10+ years. He specializes in Apple products and loves writing on his MacBook, keeping in touch on his iPhone, and measuring his workouts on his Apple Watch. Danny’s work has featured in multiple places online, including MUO, Lifewire, and Guiding Tech. Away from the keyboard, he’s passionate about photography and leading an active lifestyle outdoors.

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