Tips for Entrepreneurs: Google Research Tips
Have you ever been looking for something in particular on Google and you find yourself hitting ‘next page’ multiple times? Below is a list of twelve ways you can find what you are looking for a lot faster and more accurately. After all in the business world they say time is money.
1. The Definition of Words- If you are looking for the definition of a word, you do not need to go to a dictionary website. Simply type ‘define encyclopedia’ for example and it will define encyclopedia. Google will even pronounce it for you if you click the speaker symbol next to the word, see below.
2. Conversions of units and Currency- There is no need to go to a conversion website when determining how many seconds and in 5 minutes or how many kilometers in 8 miles for example. Simply type 8 miles to kilometers and the solution will appear above all of the search results. See the figure below. This will also work with currencies for example Canadian dollars to US dollars.
3. Synonyms- By adding a tilde (~) in front of a word it will search for that word as well as all of its synonyms. For example ~big will search for big, large, giant, huge etc.
4. Fill in the Blank- By typing an asterisk (*) in place of a word, Google will ‘fill in the blank’ with different words. For example, ‘Thomas Edison invented *’ would come up with ‘Thomas Edison invented the light bulb,’ or ‘Thomas Edison invented electricity’. In the example below, ‘Live a * Life’ could be Live a better life or live a meaningful life.
5. The word AND- Google does not pick up the word ‘and’. If you want Google to pick up a word use a + sign. For example ‘good and bad’ would just search for ‘good bad’. You would have to type ‘good +and bad.’
6. Time and Weather- In doing business in other parts of the world it is important to make sure you know the time in that country. By simply typing ‘time’ followed by the country, Google will tell you the local time, in that country. See the example below. This also works for the weather. So typing ‘weather Halifax’ would give you the current weather in Halifax.
7. Spell Check- If spelling is not your strong point there is no need to look up the spelling of a word first. Simply give it your best attempt. Google has an automatic spell check. Just make sure that what Google searches as the correction, is what you are actually looking for. See the example below, the words in bold are the words that Google corrected.
8. Over a Range- If you are searching for something over a period of time, you put two dots (..) between the two years. In the example below ‘the best songs 1990 .. 2000’ would show the best songs between 1990 and 2000.
9. Searching for Phrases- By putting double quotation marks around a phrase (“ ”) it tells Google to search for the exact words in that exact order. If you search for ‘an apple in the morning’ Google will look for the words: an, apple, in, the and morning, in any order. You will find things ranging from the benefits of apples in the morning to what time ‘The Apple’ store nearest you opens in the morning. By including the quotation marks in your search, like in the example below, Google will search for only this exact phrase.
10. Phonebook- Have you ever found a piece of paper with a phone number on it but you cannot remember whose number it is? Well Google can help you. Type the number into the search bar. Make sure to include the hyphens after the area code and before the last four digits. Try 902-426-8578, you should find that it is EDN.
11. Finding a Word on a Page- If you are doing a search say on EDN’s website and you want to read about entrepreneurs, but you do not want to read the entire article; you can read every sentence with the word entrepreneur in it instead. Google will show you every time a word is used. Hold down the control key (CTRL) and press F at the same time. In this case F stands for find. A small textbox will pop up at the top of the page. In this textbox you can type the word you are looking for, try typing ‘entrepreneur.’ Scroll through the article, every time the word is used you will see that it is highlighted. This can save a lot of time in your search and make finding words a lot easier.
12. Location- Try typing the name of a store or commercial business, for example Atlantic Superstore. A map will pop up on the right showing you the exact location of the stores nearest you. You can zoom in or out on this map. Google will also give you directions and tell you how long it will to get to that location by foot, by car or by bus. They even include the bus numbers and the time that the next bus will be leaving. This will also work for residential addresses.
Source: Hall, C. (n.d.). The Complete Guide to Google. Bath: Future Publishing Limited.
