Over 2.4 million searches happen every minute on Google. As a result, it’s often the first stop people make when they go online.
We search daily for personal and work needs. However, searching for the correct information can take a lot of time if you have to sift through several irrelevant results.
One study by consulting firm, McKinsey, found that employees spend an average of 1.8 hours daily, or 9.3 hours each week, searching and gathering information. This time spent can be a productivity sinkhole as more web results get added to the internet daily.
One way you can save time on your personal and work-related searches is to learn some “secret” Google search tips. These help narrow your search results and improve productivity by helping you find the information you need faster.
SEARCH A SPECIFIC WEBSITE USING “SITE:”
Sometimes you need to find information on a specific website. For example, you might need to locate a government statistic you know is out there but can’t seem to bring up on a general search.
You can use Google to search keywords on a specific website by using the “site” function.
In the search bar, use the following: site:(site URL) (keyword)
This search function will only bring up search results for that specific URL.
FIND FLIGHT INFORMATION WITHOUT LEAVING GOOGLE
You’re often on the go when you need to access flight information. Either getting ready to head to the airport or waiting for someone to arrive. Having to load multiple site pages in your browser can take valuable time. Instead, get your flight results directly from Google. Just type in the flight number and the airline’s name, and you’ll get a listing of flight information without clicking another page. You can even tab to choose flight info for that flight on different days.
LOOK FOR DOCUMENT TYPES USING “FILETYPE:”
Imagine you must create a presentation on sustainable energy. In that case, seeing other people’s actions on the same subject can be helpful.
Searching websites can give you many details to sift through, but searching for another PowerPoint presentation can provide you with even more insight into how others have distilled that information into a presentation. Google has a search function that allows you to search on a file type, so instead of webpages showing up in your results, files of the file type you searched will appear.
To use this function, type in the following: filetype:(type) (keyword)
Suppose you want to find a PowerPoint on sustainable energy. In that case, you could use the following in the search bar: filetype: ppt sustainable energy.
All the results will be PPT presentations.
You can also use this function for other file types, such as:
- DOC
- XLS or XLSX
- SVG
NARROW DOWN THE TIMEFRAME USING THE “TOOLS” LINK
One frustration is when you’re looking up something like a population or cybersecurity statistic, and you end up with results that are too old to be relevant. Instead, to better allocate your time, you can spend that valuable time paging through the search results or tell Google what time frame you’d like to search.
To narrow your search results by a specific timeframe, do the following:
- Enter your keyword and click to search.
- Under the search bar, click the “Tools” link.
- Next, click the “Any time” link.
- Choose your timeframe.
You can choose from preset timeframes, like the past hour or past year, or you can set a custom date range for your results.
LOCATE SIMILAR SITES USING “RELATED:”
When researching a topic online, it’s often helpful to find similar websites to the one you are viewing. Seeing related sites can also be used if you’re trying to find a specific product or service online and want to do some comparison shopping.
Google can provide you with a list of related websites when you use the “related” function.
In your search bar, type the following: related:https://website.com
Another way to leverage this search tip is to look for competitors by entering your website URL in the search.
GET RID OF RESULTS YOU DON’T WANT USING “-(KEYWORD)”
Non-relevant results are one of the main timewasters of online searching. You have to page through results that have nothing to do with what you want to find just because they use a related keyword.
For example, say you were searching for the Ruby Slipper Cafe in New Orleans. But your search results keep getting pages related to the Wizard of Oz movie. You could eliminate those irrelevant results by using the negative keyword function.
Just type: (keyword) -(keyword)
You just put a minus sign before a keyword you want to exclude from your search. So in the example above, you would type ruby slippers -oz.
LOOKING FOR MORE WAYS TO BOOST PRODUCTIVITY & SAVE TIME?
IT consultants aren’t just for large projects. PCS can also help you boost productivity in your everyday workflow to make your life easier. Contact us today for help regarding your technology needs!
The article was used with permission from The Technology Press.