Some cherry easy Google search hacks

Google. I admit, I’m a Google addict. I use it every day. Why wouldn’t I? It is a great time saver and possibly even a life saver at times! Whatever you want to find, whatever you want to know, Google has all the answers…somewhere in the hundreds and hundreds of pages of search results at least.

It is a powerful tool, our beloved Google search engine (yes, other search engines are available). But what if I told you it could be even more powerful, and you, yes you, hold the power in your fingertips? Read on for some good old Google hacks to make your like that little bit easier.

“Quotation marks”. You know when you are looking for something really specific like purple dinosaur pyjamas and it brings up 2,900,000 results of any old variation of one or all of those words? Annoying, huh. Well next time, try using quotation marks.. it is life changing. “Purple dinosaur pyjamas” narrows your search right down to those specific words in that specific order. Now you get 692 results. Magical, right?

*The asterix* Ever get a song stuck in your head, you don’t know the name of it nor the artist, you only know some of the words. Like that French-Canadian woman who sings ‘wherever you are, I believe that the hot dogs go on’ (you won’t be able to unhear that now, and I am not even sorry). You can’t just hum it continuously for all your colleagues to guess. Of course not, Google is going to do the hard work for you! Simply put an asterix in place of the words you don’t know (… I believe that the * go on) and Google will find the best match. Go on, challenge Google to find those obscure lyrics.

I will have a -, please Bob. Remember that time you searched for ‘calf’ hoping for some leg muscle diagrams but instead were faced with numerous sites and images of baby cows? Well, next time you have an ambiguous word and don’t want to risk any ’embarrassment’ on the work computer, try a hyphen. Yes, you read that right. After the word, a space, a hyphen and the word you don’t want results for. Try for yourself with my riveting example of ‘calf’ and ‘calf -cow’. Spot the differnce. Mooo-ving results. (Again, I’m not sorry)

It just seems so similar: So. it’s that time of night, when you have completed the internet and you just don’t know what site to aimlessly scroll through next. Why not get Google to earn their pay and find similiar sites to your favourite ones. With a simple ‘similar:’ before the name of your beloved website, it can bring you a new world of joy (or pain to your bank manager if you are anything like me). Try ‘similar: instagram’ for interesting alternatives.

What could number 5 be..? On a tight budget, looking for a bargain within a specific price range? A holiday to the Maldives for between £300 and £600?(I can dream…)Well, here is where those two little dots, full stops, periods or whatever you want to call them come in handy. If you type 2 little dots between the 2 amounts, with no spaces, Google will filter out any amounts above or below the range (minus the ads it seems!) to get your dream price… (or your dreams shattered when you realise you need to win the lottery before you get to the Maldives anytime soon. ) Handy dandy.

And if you have some time to waste (Disclaimer: I am in no way encouraging you to waste time at work on a Friday afternoon, I would never…) then these are our favourite 5 things to type into Google.

1. Search ‘askew’ and see what happens to the page.
2. Search ‘cat’ or ‘dog’, find the paw button and see what happens.
3. Search ‘do a barrel roll’ – not advised after a few shandies.
4. Search ‘anagram’ and see what Google thinks you wanted to search for, smarty pants.
5. Search ‘Brad Pitt’ because why not. (Other actors are available)

Here at Yellow Cherry, we are all about making things easier for our clients. So if you need any help with Websites, Marketing, Graphic Design or App Development, we have a hack for that too, get in touch today!