With over 3.5 billion searches per day, it's clear that Google is readily used by many people around the globe. It is used so much that it even makes its way into our everyday speech. Often when a question is posed in a conversation and none of the participants can provide an answer, someone usually suggests that they "Google it." Similarly, if we need to research an important topic, chances are, we won't begin at the library. We will most likely begin the Google starting line, ready to take off and browse through the world wide web. Although sometimes it takes a little exploring, there are ways to pin down our search results even faster. Here are a few tips you can use while Googling in order to find what you are searching for quickly and easily. 

1. Search for an exact phrase.

"search"

If you are looking for an exact phrase, you can encase your phrase in quotation marks to bring up searches containing the phrase. (This is especially helpful when looking for quotes. I often find myself trying to remember which body of work a particular quote comes from, and use this search tip to find it quickly.)

Ex. "give me liberty, or give me death"

2. Exclude a word from search.

-search

It's helpful to add a dash before a word if you would like to exclude a word from being searched. (This tip is useful when searching for a word that can be used in different ways.)

Ex. journey -band

3. Search within a site.

site:

If you want to search something within a particular site, this is a nifty tool to use! It allows you to search within a site without physically going to the website. (It's a time saver and helpful when searching for information from a particular source.)

Ex. warranties site:honda.com

4. Search for a particular file type.

filetype:suffix

This search tip is one of my new favorites. If you are searching for a particular item and you are looking for a certain file type, this is immensely helpful! (You can narrow it down to all types of formats, including picture formats such as png, eps, or even gif!)

Ex. Shakespeare's Hamlet filetype:pdf

5. Search for a number range.

0..4

If you are searching for an item within a particular price range, or an event within a certain time period, use this handy tool! (Just put two periods between the numbers you would like to search within.)

Ex. coffee maker $50..$70

There you have it! There are even more search tips that aren't covered here, but these are what I consider to be the essentials. However, if you're looking for more, you can always Google it!