Here are some Google Search Tips to Save You Tons of Time!
- Christian Cooper

- May 27, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 20

Google is the most widely used search engine. Every minute, people make more than 2 million searches, so it’s often the first place people go when they get online.
Finding the right information online isn’t always easy. We search daily and often have to sort through unrelated results before we find what we need. That’s one reason I prefer using Google.
Looking for information online can take up a lot of time, especially as the number of results keeps growing. A recent McKinsey study found that employees spend 1-8 minutes a day, or about 9 hours a week, searching for what they need online. If not managed well, this can really hurt efficiency.
Google processes more than half of all searches in the United States. There are some useful tips you can try to find information faster and get more done.
Search a Specific Website Using “site:”
Sometimes, the information you need isn’t on a general website. For example, government statistics are often only found on specific sites. These sources are especially helpful for research projects or reports.
The “site” function in Google will allow you to search keywords on a specific website.
In the search bar, type: site:(site url) (keyword). This will show results only from that website.
Find Flight Information Without Leaving Google
With Google, you can find flight information quickly. Just enter the city and airport code (MPI), then click “Get Started.” You’ll see the latest updates, including any delays or cancellations.
To find flights, type in the name of an airline and you’ll see a list of available options. If you don’t see any results, try again later. You can check each flight’s details before choosing the best one, which can save you time.
Look for Document Types Using “filetype:”
Making a presentation on sustainable energy can seem overwhelming, but there are useful resources online. If you need to prepare an informative session, searching the web can give you ideas.
When you’re searching for a good PowerPoint presentation, it’s not just the content that matters. Looking at other websites can show you how others have organized their slides and made their points clearly, which can help you find what you need too.
Google’s search lets you look for specific file types. Instead of only finding webpages, you can also get files like presentations or documents in your results.
To use this function, type in the following: filetype:(type) (keyword)
If you want to find a PowerPoint about sustainable energy, type: filetype:ppt sustainable energy. All the results will be PowerPoint presentations.
You can also use this function to search for other file types, such as:
DOC
PDF
XLS or XLSX
SVG
and more
Narrow Down Timeframe Using the “Tools” Link
If you want the latest statistics on a topic, try searching within a certain time frame. You can also filter your results to get the most accurate and up-to-date data.
To narrow your search results by a specific time frame, follow these steps:
Enter your keyword and click to search.
Under the search bar, click the “Tools” link.
Click the “Any time” link.
Choose your timeframe.
You can pick from preset time frames, like past hour or past year, or set your own custom date range for your results.
Locate Similar Sites Using “related:”
When you’re researching a topic online, it’s helpful to find related websites. Similar sites are also useful if you want to compare products or services before deciding which company is the best fit for you.
When you use the “related” function on Google, they will provide a list of websites related to your query. In your search bar, type the following: related:https://website.com
Another way to use this tip is to find competitors by entering your own website URL in the search.
Get Rid of Results You Don’t Want Using “-(keyword)”
The main time-waster of online searching is non-relevant results. You have to page through pages with nothing in them that has anything at all related back towards your original search, just because they use one keyword too many for their listing!
By using negative keywords, you can eliminate irrelevant search results. For example if I was looking for restaurants in New Orleans but kept on getting pages related to The Wizard of Oz movie-I would have found what i wanted without those unnecessary listings!
Just type: (keyword) -(keyword)
To leave out certain keywords from your search, type a minus sign before the word you want to exclude. For example, if you want movies about dogs but not about cats or antiques, type: “dog -oz”.
Looking for More Ways to Boost Productivity & Save Time?
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