Google: search tips

Google is a powerful search engine. But the results list can be endlessly long and at page 3 you still haven't found what you were looking for. These tips and tricks will help you specify a better search question.

Use unique, specific terms (keywords, not sentences). E.g. search for "headache" instead of "my head hurts"
Make use of the auto-complete function. Interesting suggestions can help you narrow your search. Start typing "Ghent University" and get suggestions like "Ghent University library", Ghent University hospital", "Ghent University logo"
Use double quotes (“”) to search for an exact phrase. E.g. "what does Ghent University stand for"
Use "OR" (in capitals!) or "|" to search for several terms. E.g. "Jon OR Jonathan tennant"
Some input is neglected in a search, like interpunction, meaningless words. If you want to include them, use single quotes (' '). E.g. 'de' garage gent
Use an asterisk (*) to complete a phrase with an unknown word. E.g. "Winston * Churchill", "a bird in the hand is worth * in the bush"
Include synonyms to broaden your search question using the tilde (~). E.g. "healthy ~dinner" will also return "healthy choices", "healthy eating", "healthy recipes"
Limit your search to a certain number range (also time span) by insertion of two dots (..). E.g. "Charles 1500..1599"; "samsung phone 200..400€"
Search in a particular website with "site:". E.g. "site:eoswetenschap.eu darwin"
Exclude terms using a dash (-). E.g. "-site:wikipedia.org" to avoid results from Wikipedia
Only search the term in the title: "intitle:" for one word, "allintitle:" for several words. E.g. "intitle:beer"; "allintitle:beer contest". Alternatively, to find words in the text you can use "intext:"
Find related websites to the one you already know. E.g. "related:eoswetenschap.eu"
Convert measurements in no time. E.g. "16 lb to kg"
Search for content by a certain author: "allinpostauthor:". E.g. "allinpostauthor:jon tennant"
Check out who is linking to a page using "link:". This helps you assess the quality, the validity of a website. E.g. "link:http://eosmagazine.eu"
Search in the website you have found: push the buttons "Ctrl" and "f" at the same time and a search box will open
Try using Google's advanced search: google.com/advanced_search