--- title: "Google Search Practices That Have Purpose - Blogs on IT Support and Cybersecurity for Small Business" description: "Google.com There are few resources out there that are as valuable as Google’s website. Even the act of “googling” something has become a verb. Granted, “googling” a query might not yield the results the user is expecting, which can lead to frustratio" url: "https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/google-search-practices-that-have-purpose" date: "2026-06-07T05:52:51+00:00" language: "en-GB" --- ## Blogs on IT Support and Cybersecurity for Small Business Insights on cybersecurity, AI, and IT strategy to help business leaders reduce risk, improve performance, and make better technology decisions. [ Categories ](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/categories "Categories") [ Tags ](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/tags "Tags") [ Categories: All Categories ](https://colemantechnologies.com/javascript:void(0); "Categories") Search...Suggested keywords [ x ](https://colemantechnologies.com/javascript:void(0);) # Google Search Practices That Have Purpose [Coleman Technologies Blog](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/categories/blog) [How to](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/categories/how-to) [Coleman Technologies Admin](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/blogger/darren-coleman) Wednesday, 06 February 2019 **Google.com** There are few resources out there that are as valuable as Google’s website. Even the act of “googling” something has become a verb. Granted, “googling” a query might not yield the results the user is expecting, which can lead to frustration. By effectively using search commands, you can make any Google search more accurate, saving time better spent actually using the plethora of knowledge you have at your fingertips. **Tip #1: Use the Tabs** Google has built-in search functionality for images, videos, news, and so much more. There are tabs for images, news, videos, maps, shopping, books, flights, and finance. You can use each of these to narrow down the results you get when you make a specific query. **\#2: Use Quotes** Even if you type in what you’re looking for, Google will sometimes misconstrue what you’re looking for as something else. If you’re looking for a specific phrase, you can use quotes around it to find exactly what you’re looking for. *Example: “happy days”* The results will be the term or phrase exactly as it’s typed. **\#3: Use a Hyphen to Exclude Words** Think of the hyphen as the “minus” sign of Google searches. If you have a word that you’d rather omit from a search, place a hyphen in front of it. *Example: scale -weight* By removing the topic of one of the homonyms from the equation, you will get more targeted and accurate results. **\#4: Use a Colon to Search Specific Sites** If you know that what you’re searching for is found on a specific website, you can limit the search to that site with a colon. *Example: Virtualization site:azure.microsoft.com* In the above example, you can also use a specific keyword to include it in your search. **\#5: Search Locally** Google can determine your location, giving you a lot of power to find local businesses, restaurants, institutions, you name it. Just type it into Google. *Example: Laundromats nearby.* Just make sure you have your location services on if mobile. Otherwise, the search engine will use your Internet connection’s IP address to figure out what’s close to you. What are some of your favorite ways to use Google? Let us know in the comments. [ ](https://colemantechnologies.com/javascript:void(0);) [ ](https://colemantechnologies.com/javascript:void(0);) [ ](https://colemantechnologies.com/javascript:void(0);) Tags: [Best Practices](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/tags/best-practices) [Google](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/tags/google) [Google Search](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/tags/google-search) [×](https://colemantechnologies.com/javascript:void(0);) Stay Informed When you subscribe to the blog, we will send you an e-mail when there are new updates on the site so you wouldn't miss them. Your Name E-mail Address [ Private Cloud Challenges ](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/private-cloud-challenges) [ 3 Ways Digital Signage Pays Off ](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/3-ways-digital-signage-pays-off) About the author [ ![Coleman Technologies Admin](https://colemantechnologies.com/media/com_easyblog/images/avatars/author.png) ](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/blogger/darren-coleman) [Coleman Technologies Admin](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/blogger/darren-coleman) [ ](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/blogger/darren-coleman) Author's recent posts [More posts from author](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/blogger/darren-coleman) [ Tuesday, 05 May 2026 Darren Coleman Featured in Boss Today on AI Literacy and Human Judgment ](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/darren-coleman-bosstoday-ai-literacy) [ Monday, 06 April 2026 How Cloud IT Services Are Transforming Business Continuity ](https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/how-cloud-it-services-are-transforming-business-continuity) [ Monday, 06 April 2026 Darren Coleman Featured in USAWire on Why Businesses Need an AI Strategy ](https://colemantechnologies.com/news-a-events/darren-coleman-usawire-ai-strategy) ## Schema ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://colemantechnologies.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Blog", "item": "https://colemantechnologies.com/blog" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Coleman Technologies Admin", "item": "https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/blogger/darren-coleman" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Google Search Practices That Have Purpose", "item": "https://colemantechnologies.com/blog/google-search-practices-that-have-purpose" } ] } ```