Some of the simplest tips and tricks are also the best tips and tricks. After taking the power searching with Google course, this proved to be true. There were tons of tips and tricks, many of those tips I knew but there were also quite a few I didn’t know.
One of the first tips I learned was finding text on a web page. If you use control-F a small search box will pop up, and you can search for a keyword, and it will highlight each time the word pops up on the web page. This is extremely helpful when you are looking for a keyword in a long document or when you need to find a key phrase on a web page. It also makes you a faster searcher, because you can find exactly what you are looking for faster than trying to skim a web page of information.
A second tip that is useful is being able to customize the search by date. This function is pretty easy to use, all you do is search like normal and then when the results page pops up you can customize the date range that you want to see. This would be a useful tool in my major when I’m looking for additional information about public opinion at a certain point in time. This is helpful for almost anyone who needs to find something that was published to the web at a certain point in time; this tool really helps to narrow down the search.
A third tip that is helpful is if someone is searching for a specific filetype. If you type in the Google search bar filetype:( insert a file type, like PDF, or PPT) and add your criteria, then you will only have those certain filetypes come up as results. This has come in handy every time I have used it. Sometimes I used this to find resources to help me with my homework or study for a test. Finding additional resources are helpful for every class and subject.
I did not know that you can search by image on google images. This is probably the most useful tip that I have never used, and might not ever use. This function can come in handy when you have a picture, and you want more information about it, but have no information about it. This could also come in handy when you are trying to find a place but only have the picture.
Finally, the best tip from the course, in my opinion, is word order. If your words are in an odd order, then you can get results that aren’t related to the information you want. Word order is important when you are looking for something specific and will make your search more effective to help you find the answers you are seeking.
While these seem like simple tips, I believe that these are the most useful tips because they are tips that I can use every day. Many of the other tips are specialized to deep research. For an everyday search, the tips I described are the best to help me find the best results.
Power searching with Google was great because it taught me a lot of useful little tricks to make my search time more effective. The ones I discussed are the ones I thought could be used every day or were the most interesting, but all of them can help me save time. Like everyone else I google something every day and being able to be a better searcher will save me time, because I can find my information faster.