Hopefully, you are already familiar with Google, the most popular search engine on the Internet. You may have even used Google to find this very article. But do you really know how to use it effectively? Learning how to use Google effectively can help you find exactly what you’re looking for and save time while you’re at it.

Choose search terms

Choosing the right search terms is the single most important thing you can do to improve your search results with Google. If you’re looking for affiliate marketing books, for example, use the keywords “affiliate marketing books.” Unfortunately, these are going to give too many results. You need to narrow down your results. Are you looking for a particular book? Let’s go through a list of keywords to find information about a particular affiliate marketing book, “Affiliate Project X”.

  • affiliate — 429,000,000 results
  • affiliate marketing: 47,500,000 results
  • affiliate marketing book — 3,840,000 results
  • affiliate marketing book project — 2,790,000 results
  • affiliate marketing book project x — 2,140,000 results

Something important is happening here. Notice that each time you add another keyword to search for, you receive fewer results. This is because Google, by default, searches only those pages that include all of the keywords you’re searching for. Using multiple keywords allows you to narrow down a topic very quickly. However, remember that if you fail the first time, try another keyword instead of one you’ve already used. In my example, searching for “guide” instead of “book” might return completely different results.

Within the top 10 Google results for the search “affiliate marketing book project x” (without quotes) there are many sites dedicated to the “Affiliate Project X” e-book. In this case, there were enough keywords to find exactly what I was looking for, even with 2,140,000 total results.

Capitalization, Common Words and Negative Terms

If you like to write in CAPITAL LETTERS, don’t do it when you communicate with other people. Fortunately, Google doesn’t care. Searching for “project x” is the same as “PROJECT X” or “Project X” on Google. Capital letters don’t matter in your Google searches.

Common words are ignored. Google will notify you when it ignores a word on the results page below the search box. If you think an ignored word should be included in your search, add a “+” before the word (“+where”).

Some searches will return keywords that you don’t want to include. Have you ever looked for something that was obviously being monopolized? Block them! If you’re looking for chocolate candy and don’t want anything to do with the movie “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” just add “-movie” to your search keywords. This will block all mentions of the keyword “movie”; beware.

phrase searches

If you’re looking for an exact phrase, like the title of a book, use a phrase search. A phrase search is done by enclosing your key phrase in quotes.

Phrase searches are particularly useful for troubleshooting computer errors. Have you ever received cryptic error messages from a computer program? Type the error message into Google, enclose the phrase in quotes, and get ready for specific results that match exactly what you’re looking for. I have solved countless computer problems this way and you can too.

In summary

Google is a powerful tool. The more you know how to use it, the better your search results will be. Use a combination of adding desired keywords and filtering out unwanted keywords to get the best targeted results. Choosing the right search terms can be difficult. If one doesn’t work, substitute another instead. Remember: Google doesn’t mind working for you. Try, try and try again.

Have fun on your Google adventures!