21 Google Search Tips to Find Exactly What You Want

6 Steps to Get AI to Recommend Your Brand

Here are 21 Google search tips that will help you:

At the end, we’ll also show you how you can get your site to appear in more Google’s search results.

(Spoiler alert—it involves something called search engine optimization, or SEO.)

1. Familiarize Yourself with the Basics

To do a Google search, launch your browser, navigate to the search engine, and type what you’re looking for into the search bar.

Alternatively, if Google is your browser’s default search engine, type your query into your browser’s address bar.

You can type:

You don’t need to type in full sentences.

Then, hit “ Enter” or “ return” on your keyboard to run the search.

Don’t worry about your spelling or grammar. Google is good at autocorrecting misspelled queries.

After you run your search, Google will display relevant results. Use the tabs at the top to see only certain types of results.

For example, click “ Images” to view only image results, or “ News” to view results from news sites:

Google may also display topics at the top of the search results. Click them to add to your query and narrow your search:

2. Filter Your Results

Filter the results to see only those published within a certain period or that match your query word for word.

To do this, click the “ Tools” option at the top of the Google search results. “ Any time” and “ All results” drop-down menus will appear.

Click “ Any time” to filter for results published within the last hour, 24 hours, week, month, or year. Or within a date range of your choice.

Click “All results” to choose whether to see all results or only verbatim ones that closely (or exactly) match your search query.

For example, if you’re searching for a person named “Rob Downey,” turning on the “ Verbatim” filter ensures you get results for people named Rob Downey.

And not Robert Downey Jr., the actor.

3. Search Within Websites

Add “site:[domain]” to your search query to view results from a specific site.

This Google search tip also works for viewing results from specific site subdirectories, like “[domain]/blog”:

4. Perform a Reverse Image Search

A [reverse image search](/content/reverse-image-search "How to Do a Reverse Image Search: A Step-by-Step Guide"/index.html) uses an image to look for information. It’s helpful for learning about something you have a picture of but don’t know the name of.

Run a reverse image search in Google by clicking the camera icon at the right of the search bar.

Upload your image to Google, or paste an image link into the provided field. Then click “ Search.”

Google will analyze your image and suggest relevant results.

5. Search with Your Voice

If you can’t type your query, do a voice search—where you speak your query.

Select the microphone icon at the right of the search bar:

Let Google access your microphone if prompted. Then, say your query out loud.

Google will transcribe your speech and search for what you said. If the transcription is inaccurate, correct it and rerun the search.

6. Get a Direct Answer

Google has partnered with other sites to provide answers to certain types of queries directly on the results page. As a result, you don’t have to click a search result to get an answer.

This is useful when you just want a straightforward answer. Like a stock price:

7. Find Exact Match Results

Enclose your search query in double quotation marks to view results that contain your query exactly as it appears.

This Google search tip is helpful for looking up the sources of quotes.

8. Exclude Certain Results

Add a minus sign before certain words to exclude results with these words from the search results.

9. Find Files

Get only results with a certain file format by adding “filetype:[file format]” to your search query. Supported formats include:

10. Run an Advanced Search

An advanced search gets you results that meet requirements like:

11. Turn On Dark Mode

Google offers a dark mode feature for doing searches in a dark-colored interface.

12. Manage Explicit Results

Adjust Google’s SafeSearch settings to control whether you see search results containing adult content and graphic violence.

13. Do Math

Google can help with math calculations.

If your calculation involves simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division, type it into Google’s search bar and run the search.

14. Convert Units of Measurement

Convert units of measurement by searching “[number] [source unit of measurement] in [desired unit of measurement].”

15. Convert Currencies

Google “[number] [source currency] to [desired currency]” to convert currencies using the real-time exchange rate.

16. Start a Timer or a Stopwatch

Search for “timer [duration]” to have Google start counting down from that duration automatically.

17. Activate a Bubble Level

Google offers a built-in level tool—also known as a bubble or spirit level—on mobile devices.

18. Set Up Search Alerts

Get notifications whenever there are new results for a Google search query.

19. Track Packages

Google can provide shipping updates for packages delivered by UPS, FedEx, and other supported shipping providers.

20. Play Games

You can play certain games directly from Google’s search results page.

21. Discover Easter Eggs

You’ll sometimes find special messages or features on the Google search results for certain queries.

Make Google Search Work for You

Applying this list of Google search tricks will get you more relevant answers to your questions—and quicker, to boot. Some of these tips also make Googling more fun.

But apart from learning how to search on Google effectively for others’ pages, how would you like your pages to appear in Google’s search results?

You can appear higher for relevant search queries by using [SEO](/content/hub/seo/what-is-seo "What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization In Plain English"/index.html).

SEO is the process of helping search engines discover and understand your site so they can display your site’s pages for relevant queries.

Optimize your site well to increase its chances of ranking higher in search results and receive [more organic traffic](/content/increase-website-traffic "28 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website"/index.html).