Using Google Efficiently and Effectively
Everyone knows how to use Google...right? All you have to do is move up to your navigation bar, type in a query and press enter. Given that your browser is properly configured, you'll be wading through thousands of results in no time!
But what about using it efficiently? Is there a technique we can use to better match our results on the first try, instead of having to refine our search queries? Let's find out!
Getting to Google
The fastest way of getting to Google is to set up your browser so that you can simply type your query in the navigation bar. Check out the instructions for Chrome and Firefox.
Google, the all-knowing search engine
We often rely on Google's all-knowing capability, and trust that it'll return the right results...and oftentimes Google is right. The other day I was looking to buy a specific pair of running shoes, but didn't know what the brand was called.

Searching efficiently
A huge chunk of learning how to code comes from asking Google questions that stump us. When we don't know how to do something, we paste in a few keywords and cross our fingers for something relevant to pop-up. In most cases it works, but sometimes we have to refine our search results until some relevant results show up.
Programmers need to be efficient - not just code efficiently, but work efficiently as well. To get the search results we need first time around, we need all the handy shortcuts, special characters and tricks that Google has to offer.
In this short tutorial series, we'll learn about the most efficient Google navigation. At the end of the series, we'll also show you some fun Google search queries!
Credits to /u/dumpster_dinner
I've been meaning to start this series earlier, but wasn't sure the demand for Googling efficiently was there. Thanks for /u/dumpster_dinner and the reddit community for the validation!
Verbose mode, special characters and utility keywords
Google has a slew of special characters you can use to dramatically improve your search results. But before we get to them, let's take a quick look at Verbatim mode.
Verbatim Mode
By default, Google will attempt to spell-correct all your phrases. In case you're searching for a purposefully mispelled word (or phrase), simply switch to verbatim mode.

Special characters
- +
- The + before a name can link you to Google+ accounts
- +JohnDoe
- Also used to search blood types
- AB+
- @
- Social tags
- @codesnipcademy
- $
- Find prices
- computer monitor $230
- #
- Hashtag for trending topic
- #throwbackthursday
- -
- Excludes sites with that info for your results
- 2016 presidential elections -foxnews
- ~
- Search with all synonyms of word
- How to ~build a website
- ""
- Match entire phrase, in that order
- Useful for multi-word key phrases
- "To be or not to be"
- Can be useful for searching for a specific person
- "ellen pao"
- Useful for searching for solutions to specific textbook questions
- "Write a funciton that returns the list of all primes less than n"
- *
- Placeholder for an unknown or wildcard term
- an * a day keeps the * away
- ..
- Results that contain numbers in a range
- computer monitor $200..$230
Most of these keywords can be very useful to us, so try to practice them as often as possible so you can memorize them!

We can also specify websites within our query with search operators. Make sure to leave no space after the search operator colon and your query. Also, use quotation marks as necesary.
- site:
- Search specific domains
- css vertical align site:stackoverflow.com
- linux tutorials site:snipcademy.com
- link:
- Find pages that contain a specific link in them
- link:"snipcademy.com"
- OR |
- Find page that may use one of multiple words
- NBA championship 2013 OR 2014
- Tahiti | Hawaii
- info:
- Get information pertaining to a webaddress
- info:snipcademy.com
- filetype:
- Specify a specific filetype.
- Very useful when looking for PDF versions of books!
- java for beginners filetype:pdf
- related:
- Search sites that are related
- related:stackoverflow.com
- cache:
- Obtain a cached version of a webpage. This is an older version of the webpage, saved from the last time Google bots crawled through the site.
- cache:snipcademy.com


Utility keywords
Google also provides a number of utility keywords that you can place to obtain quick facts on just about anything.
- set a timer for
- Set a timer
- Set a timer for 2 minutes
- sunrise/sunset
- Check sunrise/sunset times
- sunrise los angeles
- sunset san francisco
- weather
- Check the weather
- weather san diego
- define
- Define a word
- define phophatidylinositol
- math
- Do some maths
- 1 + 1
- graph
- Plot a graph
- graph sin x
- calculate tip
- Calculate tip
- calculate tip
- conversion: to
- Convert between two units
- $4.32/gal to KRW/liter
- flight number
- Check the flight status of an airplane
- OZ370
- ip address
- Look up your ip address
- ip address
- roll a six-sided die
- Roll a die
- roll a die
- flip a coin
- Flip a coin
- flip a coin
- nutrition comparisons
- Compare two food items
- chicken breast vs tuna
- movies
- Get showtimes nearby
- movies
- etymology
- Check a word root
- etymology program
- stock symbols
- Check company stocks
- GOOG
- track packages
- Check shipping statuses
- Enter UPS, USPS, FedEx tracking number.
- holidays for this year
- Look up a holiday for the year
- Mother's day
- books by
- Find books by a certain author
- Books by Michael Crichton
- songs by
- Find songs by a certain artist
- Songs by John Mayer


Just for fun - easter eggs and hidden tricks
There are also a ton of hidden tricks and easter eggs implemented within the Google search engine! Simply input one of these keywords to get an interesting search result!
- tilt or askew
- Tile the Google website!
- tilt
- mirror
- A mirrored version of Google
- elgoog.im
- hacker
- "Hacker" mode, whatever that means
- hacker
- barrel roll
- Tell Google to do a barrel roll
- do a barrel roll
- blink html
- Make bold elements blink!
- blink html
- hodor
- hodor hodor hodor
- hodor
- the loneliest number
- Find out what the loneliest number is!
- the loneliest number
- recursion
- See also: recursion
- recursion
- zerg rush
- Google attacks your results with a zerg rush!
- zerg rush
- atari breakout
- Play atari breakout
- atari breakout
- google in 1998
- Find out what Google looked like in 1998
- google in 1998
- 42
- The meaning of life
- the answer to life, the universe and everything

