In this blog, you’ll have the pleasure of learning everything you need to know about using Google Search effectively and advantageously directly from our in-house SEO and Google expert Lindsay Boxberger, High Touch’s Digital Marketing and Website Services Manager.
How many times a week do you use Google to look something up? Whether it’s for research, finding the answer to a question, or doing a little bit of shopping, most of us use Google as our gateway to the digital universe that is the internet.
When you’re searching, you probably want answers now, not 15 clicks from now—think about how much actual time you spend on Google when you’re searching. Do you find what you’re looking for on the first try, or do you waste more time than you probably should?
Sometimes, it feels like Google just doesn’t understand what you’re asking for. To get the most out of Google search, you need to speak its language. These tips will help you find what you want faster.
How Does Google Search Work?
Google is basically magic – right? It may seem that way, but let’s dig into how answers are found. When you use Google to search, you’re essentially scanning the internet for webpages with content that matches the words you type in.
Google works in three stages: crawling, indexing, and serving search results.
- Crawling. Bots or crawlers scan the internet, researching and collecting information. They follow links across webpages and collect information for Google.
- Indexing. After collecting information, the crawled content is analyzed, categorized, and stored. This library of organized information is Google’s index.
- Serving search results. When you search for something on Google, it matches the words you type into the search bar with its index to deliver the results that it thinks best match what you’re looking for. Google also considers things like your location, language, device, and previous search history when delivering your results.
If you’re interested in learning more, check out How Google Search Works.
Tips for Speedier Google Searching
You can search faster and more effectively on Google with a little bit of background in knowing how Google works and a few tips.
The example below is based on my own recent search for a new grill cover. I started searching and realized I didn’t know that much about the actual grill. I’ll show you how the steps I went through could end up saving you time when searching.
1. Use your first Google search as research.
When looking for something specific, use the first search to gather more information and improve the search. In my example, I knew I needed a new grill cover, but I didn’t know the brand or model of the grill. However, I remembered where I bought the grill: Sam’s Club.
I searched for Sam’s Club grill. Google returned images of grills sold by Sam’s Club, and I was able to identify my grill’s make and model to refine my search.
2. Use search results to improve your search terms.
I wanted to ensure I was purchasing the right-sized cover for my grill. After identifying the grill, I performed a more refined search to receive more relevant results about grill covers for my specific make and model.
I searched “Smoke Hollow 24” pellet grill cover. Enclosing Smoke Hollow 24 in quotation marks tells Google that I only wanted to see search results where the terms Smoke, Hollow, and 24 appeared together, in that exact order. This search returned results for pellet grill covers made explicitly for the Smoke Hollow 24 grill.
3. Use quotations for specifics.
The above step is important. If you know the answer has to include certain words grouped together, put those words in quotation marks. Exact match ensures the results and websites returned include your search terms exactly as you entered them within the quotation marks.
This tip uses what is called a Google Search Operator. More information on how to use Google Search Operators is below.
4. Refine or broaden your search results as needed.
The above steps got me to the new grill cover I needed. If steps 1-3 still leave you hanging, further refine your search results by price, brand, etc. Rinse and repeat.
If you still can’t find what you’re specifically looking for, it’s possible there isn’t an exact result — at least not yet. The internet is constantly growing with information. My advice would be to use what you’ve learned from searching. The results you received and how you refined your search could lead to questions you can now ask a store associate, friend, or coworker.
Using Google Search Operators to Refine Your Search
You can use specific symbols when using Google to refine your search and return results that match the answer you’re looking for more closely.
- Quotation marks (“). Anything you search for enclosed in quotation marks will return an exact match from Google. Exact match ensures the results and websites returned include your search terms exactly as you entered them within the quotation marks. In our example, “Smoke Hollow 24” ensured we were looking for grill covers for that exact brand and model of grill.
- Hyphen (-). Hyphens exclude words from the search results returned by Google when you search. For example, adding -blue from our example would exclude blue grill covers from appearing in the search results.
- Colon (:). A colon allows you to search specific websites for results rather than Google’s entire index. For example, if you typed sam’s club:grills, Google would only return results from Sam’s Club about grills.
- Two periods (..). When you use two periods in your search terms between two numbers, Google returns search results that fall within your designated range. In our grill cover example, “Smoke Hollow 24″ pellet grill cover -blue $15..$30 would show us grill covers that weren’t blue that cost between $15 and $30.
There are a ton more search operators that can help refine searches even further. Here are a handful more search operators from Google, and here is a list of even more.
Learn More About Google and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Are you interested in learning more about your business’s SEO, how customers find your site, or how to help improve your business’s rankings on Google? High Touch can help. We offer SEO services, including SEO assessments. Contact us today to learn more.
About Lindsay Boxberger
Lindsay Boxberger is our Digital Marketing and Website Services Manager at High Touch Technologies. Lindsay has been with High Touch since 2014, combining her marketing knowledge with outstanding web technical skills to provide exceptional value to our Website Services clients. With over 15 years of experience in website design and development, Lindsay leads the Website Services team at High Touch.