SEO
How to Search on Google Like a Pro?
We depend on Google for anything and everything. Individuals are reliant on Google for answers to everything under the sun – from research for work and studies, to what and where to eat. Businesses on the other hand have turned to digital marketing to make their brand visible and attract customers.
But sometimes what we are looking for may not appear in the first few pages of the search results and we’ll have to scroll through multiple pages before we find the answer. There are many reasons to why your search is not returning what you expect – you may have entered the wrong keywords, or your query is too generic. Sometimes, you will be looking for something very specific, news or a particular quote, but when you are not familiar with Google’s shortcuts, it may take you a very long time before you get what you want.
So, here we have listed out several tips and tricks so that the next time you are searching for something on Google, you find your answers within a few clicks.
- Use quotes
Using quotes allows you to search for the exact phrase you are looking for. For example, if you are searching for Jamie Oliver’s egg fried rice recipe, the results will include all pages with the words Jamie, Oliver’s, egg, fried, rice and recipe. If you search for the phrase in a quote, i.e. “Jamie Oliver’s egg fried rice recipe”, the results will only include pages with the exact quote in the exact order.
- Use an asterisk within quotes
Remember the times you forget a particular word in a song lyrics or a quotable quote, those are times when this trick will be really handy. And this is how it works: “Imagine all the people living * in peace” or Happiness can be found even in the * of times”. Just replace the word you have forgotten with an asterisk and Google will help you complete your phrase.
- Use the minus sign
If you are looking for a word that is very strongly associated with a brand and you do not want that particular result on your list, the minus sign can come to your rescue. For example, Jaguar is often associated with the car, and when you look for the term jaguar, your search result is dominated by the brand. You can use the minus sign to eliminate results with the word car (eg. jaguar -car) and narrow down your search results to ones that are more relevant to you.
Search engines are very dynamic and there are many ways to optimise them to your benefit. If you are a business owner, this is where you have to spend most of your time – for research, learn about your competitors and most importantly, to advertise your business.
LOCUS-T is a digital company in Malaysia that helps other companies maximise the power of search engines to increase their brand awareness, customer base and most importantly their profit. Explore and utilize digital marketing tools such as Search Engine Optimisation, Pay-Per-Click advertising and website development. Do get in touch with us to maximise the power of search engines, particularly Google to catapult your business to the next level.
