Typing a few key words into search engines such as Google and Bing often doesn’t yield what I’m after.
Here are my favourite ways for honing searches.
— Put quote marks around a phrase. Typing sandy Parksville beaches will produce results that have those three words scattered throughout, while the quote mark approach — “sandy Parksville beaches” — yields entries with that exact phrase.
— If you what you’re looking for is on a specific site, use the following sequence.
search words site:nytimes.com or “search words” site:nytimes.com. The search will be limited to just nytimes.com, or whatever website you type.
— One of Google’s instruction pages says you can ignore spelling, Google will figure it out. I don’t find that to be helpful advice. Proper spelling helps, and saves time. But go ahead and make your best guess if your brain just can’t produce the proper spelling for “connoisseur” or “restaurateur”; Google can help.
— Instruct a search engine to ignore a word by putting a hyphen in front of it:
sandy Parksville -beaches
Google has a very helpful Tips & Tricks section.
There’s also this overview of “search operators.”
I haven’t found an equivalent for Bing. But it does offer this.
Google’s advanced search is worth a try. You don’t have to memorize search techniques; just fill in the blanks. Access it through this link, or by clicking on the gear symbol at the upper right of a Google search results page.
Google and Bing aren’t the only games in town. I like using Wolfram Alpha, which offers answers from a curated collection of information, instead of the web.
Recent posts:
The many ways websites reject you
Dissecting B.C. Hydro's two-tier rate
Exploring the weather around Greater Victoria
