The Internet has revolutionized education as we know it. It has promoted communication to a new level, enabling instant messaging and group collaboration. It has also allowed to create, share and store files, letting users edit data when they find it necessary. Yet, most importantly, the global network has made information accessible and even abundant.
Even though we enjoy all the benefits of the affordable Internet for over a decade now, people often have knowledge gaps concerning certain web features. Many people admit that the skills they’ve missed turn out to be pretty helpful.
Even such a basic thing as a search engine has lots of hidden tricks that would enable you to search for information way more efficiently. What should you do to get the best results and filter the info noise out? Find the answer below.
We’ve uncovered a few secrets of the search bar for you to google like a pro. Here they are.
Add Quotation Marks
If you enter a phrase and want your search results to include the whole text of it, enclose your request in quotation marks. This will help you get more specific results concerning your request.
Using the example above, if you enter “cheap essay” in contrast to cheap essay, you’ll get a list of pages containing this exact phrase. This means the number of search results will decrease, but they all will fit your search request better.
Add a Plus Sign
If you add a plus sign to your request containing multiple words, Google or any other search engine will look not only for the pages with matching word combinations but also those websites where these words are not located together on the page.
For example, try to google Akkadian cuneiform both with and without a plus sign. With no sign, you’ll get about 440k results. With a plus sign, the number of results increases to 463k.
FYI, the Akkadian cuneiform is an ancient manuscript that dates back to the 24th century BC.
Command the Website
You can limit your search to one website if you need. To do that, you should insert your request in quotation marks and then add the site: command.
For example, you know that lots of tech news for students are available on the website androidheadlines.com. Yet, you need to find specific news on academic services; others don’t interest you that much. To facilitate your search, the Google request should look as follows:
“academic services” site:androidheadlines.com
Add a Minus Sign
If there is a function for a plus sign, there must be one for the minus as well. If you include minus in your request, you might be able to get rid of a massive chunk of useless information.
For example, let’s say you are studying the automobile industry, but you need to exclude Tesla from your search. To do that, you can simply insert cars-tesla to keep Tesla from appearing in your search results.
Add ~ Sign
As weird as it may look, this sign lets you get way more results from your search by including findings for the word you search together with its synonyms. You do not have to make up the words or dig for synonyms to inflate your search. Google will do it for you.
Therefore, if you need to find information on the words essay, try entering ~essay to include such synonyms as paper, article, and others in your search. It can be really useful for students whose initial Google search was limited or unsuccessful.
Type Filetype: Extension
Another suggestion for advanced Google search is to specify the type of files you look for. Quite often, you need to find pdf or doc files specifically. So, you do not have to filter out other file extensions on your own. Let technologies do that for you.
For instance, if you need to find a transfer essay sample in pdf format, do not google simply transfer essay. You’ll get lots of unnecessary information. Instead, type “transfer essay” filetype:pdf to look for pdf files with this word combination.
Calculate with Google
You can also enter any mathematical expression in the search bar to receive an answer. Google can resolve it for you in mere seconds.
Moreover, no matter how difficult the calculations are, search engines can handle them. You can type anything from 9-7 to 23.4+(3456/7)-23 into your search bar and expect to get a correct answer.
Use Define: Command
It’s not difficult to turn your search engine into a dictionary. It stores lots of information, so it won’t be difficult for it to define the words you need.
For instance, if you look for a definition of the word allowance, do not just enter it in a search bar. Type define:allowance to get the list of dictionary definitions of the word you need.
Final Words
These are the most common features Google and other search engines have. Unfortunately, many people do not use them properly. You can significantly advance your search and make it more functional if you use those commands.
Getting back to your cheap essay request, you can google it using quotation marks “cheap essay” or with an approximate sign ~cheap essay to find as many options as possible. To filter out some noise, add a minus sign with the names of the websites you do not want to get help from.
