Use Google Like a Boss: 11 Hacks to Make Your Searches More Productive
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Use Google Like a Boss: 11 Hacks to Make Your Searches More Productive

Let’s face it: Google pretty much runs the web – at least it seems that way more often than not. As the almost universal source of Internet knowledge, Google fields 40,000 search queries every second. And when Google announces a change to its search algorithms, SEOs scramble to comply. But did you know that you can command Google like a boss? With a little inside knowledge on search terms and operators, you can have Google delivering just the results you were looking for – stat!

Since we’re obsessed with all things Google and live and breathe Internet marketing, we thought we’d share a little inside insight regarding the most effective way to use the power of a Google search. Try out these Google search tips the next time you’re looking to the search engine powerhouse for a fast answer to your question.

  1. Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase. Example: Searching for “content marketing” returns results with the entire phrase instead of just receiving results that contain both the word ‘content’ and the word ‘marketing.’

  2. Use the – sign in front of a word you’d like to exclude from your results.

  3. Find any, and not necessarily all, your search terms by using OR in between each term.

  4. To find a result with each of your search terms somewhere within the text of the page, type allintext: and then list your terms.

  5. If you’re looking for one term in the text of a webpage (term 1) and another term in the webpage’s URL or title (term 2), then use the following formula: term 1 intext: term 2. Closely related, you may be searching for one term in the title (term 1) and another term in the text, URL, etc. of the page. In that case, use the following: term 1 intitle: term 2.

  6. If you want all of your search terms to appear in the title of the results that Google serves you, then type allintitle: and add your search terms after the colon. Or, if you want all the search terms to be found in the URL, then type in allinurl:, followed by search terms.

  7. Make Google your personal search party when you’re looking for a certain phrase on a website – even if the site doesn’t have a built in search function. Put Google to work combining the site with the following command- site:(domain.com) followed by the search terms. For example: site:blacktiedigital.com Internet marketing. Remember….use double quotation marks if you want a phrase that is an exact match for your search terms.

  8. To see a list of websites that Google thinks are similar to another site, type related:(domain.com). As an example, related:google.com.

  9. Looking to see all the pages that include a link back to a certain website? Use the following command- link:(domain.com)

  10. If you want Google to include words that are similar to a term you’re searching for, then put a ~ in front of the term.

  11. If you want Google to only show you search results of a specific file type, then you can use the search modifier filetype: followed by the desired type of file. For example, to find PDF files on the subject of content marketing, you could search Google for “content marketing” filetype:pdf.

There you have it – 11 easy lifehacks that will make Google work harder and more efficiently in future searches. Now it’s time to get back to exploring the Internet like a boss!