Search Tips
Search Basics
Choosing Keywords
For best results, it's important to choose your keywords wisely. Keep these tips in mind:
Google ignores common words and characters such as "and", "where" and "how", as well as certain single digits and single letters, because they tend to slow down your search without improving the results.
If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can include it by putting a "+" sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the "+" sign.)
Another method for doing this is conducting a phrase search, which simply means putting quotation marks around two or more words. Common words in a phrase search (e.g., "where are you") are included in the search.
Capitalization
English searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case.
Advanced Search Techniques
You can increase the accuracy of your searches by adding operators that fine-tune your keywords.
" + " Searches
See explanation above under "Automatic Exclusion of Common Words"
" - " Searches
You can exclude a word from your search by putting a minus sign ("-") immediately in front of the term you want to avoid. (Be sure to include a space before the minus sign.)
" ~" Searches
You may want to search not only for a particular keyword, but also for its synonyms. Indicate a search for both by placing the tilde sign ("~") immediately in front of the keyword.
Phrase Searches
See explanation above under "Automatic Exclusion of Common Words".
Choosing Keywords
For best results, it's important to choose your keywords wisely. Keep these tips in mind:
- Try the obvious first. If you're looking for information on Toronto, enter "Toronto" rather than "Canadian cities".
- Make keywords as specific as possible.
Google ignores common words and characters such as "and", "where" and "how", as well as certain single digits and single letters, because they tend to slow down your search without improving the results.
If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can include it by putting a "+" sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the "+" sign.)
Another method for doing this is conducting a phrase search, which simply means putting quotation marks around two or more words. Common words in a phrase search (e.g., "where are you") are included in the search.
Capitalization
English searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case.
Advanced Search Techniques
You can increase the accuracy of your searches by adding operators that fine-tune your keywords.
" + " Searches
See explanation above under "Automatic Exclusion of Common Words"
" - " Searches
You can exclude a word from your search by putting a minus sign ("-") immediately in front of the term you want to avoid. (Be sure to include a space before the minus sign.)
" ~" Searches
You may want to search not only for a particular keyword, but also for its synonyms. Indicate a search for both by placing the tilde sign ("~") immediately in front of the keyword.
Phrase Searches
See explanation above under "Automatic Exclusion of Common Words".
