Tips to Search the Web like a Pro, Part 1

The Internet is a place of wonderment where you can find almost anything you can imagine, but you have to know how to find it. How good are you at online searches? Anybody can type a query into Google, Bing, or Yahoo, but a simple search like this may not yield the best results.

How can you narrow your results so what you're looking for will show up on the first page? There are many hidden tricks to a successful search; here are some of the most useful.

Use Quotations to "Be Specific"
Let's say you want to search the Android Jelly Bean tablet you've heard about, so you decide to type in: Android Tablet Jellybean. This will give you poor search results because not only will you be given a ton of results for other Android devices, but you may even get a few results for the jelly bean candy. By using quotation marks around "Android Tablet Jellybean", your results will be specific and only include these three words in the exact order you typed them. Be sure to keep in mind that the search engine will rank the phrase first, so be mindful of the way you search your query.

Range Feature
Now let's say that you want to look into tablet prices. If you have a budget in mind, then you can narrow your search to fit your budget. For example, if you're looking at a price range somewhere between $150-to-$300, then you can search this by adding two dots between your two figures ($150..$300). By using the range feature, the search engine will know to search for tablets in that price range; and this two-dot feature isn't limited to money, it can also be used for dates, numbers, and distances as well.

Subtract Tool
You can refine your search even further. Let's say that you want to search for an Android tablet, but you know that you don't want a tablet made by Sony. In order to remove all Sony products from your search results, simply use the subtract tool. By adding the minus symbol to Sony (-Sony), all tablets made by Sony will be excluded from your search results.

In-site Search
Now lets assume you want to search information on a specific product, to get an idea about where to get the device. Using the In Site Search feature will allow you to search the contents of your favorite company's website from within the search engine. For example, let's say that you want to see what Amazon.com has to offer, all you have to do is add the word "site" to your product search, followed by a colon and the website domain name (site:amazon.com). By doing this, you will now be given search results only from Amazon's website.

By taking advantage of these search features, you can get the most out of the Internet and find exactly what you're looking for. There are actually several more tips and tools that you can use to improve your search results. In fact, there are so many more tips available that it will take a second blog article thoroughly cover. Be on the lookout for part 2 of "Tips to Search the Web like a Pro," and happy searching!