Google Search Tips

We’d like to think you’re Primo Search pros by now, but there will always be times when you just can’t beat a Google. In addition to the useful features offered through Google Search’s Advanced Search, there are many handy search functions that can be typed right into Google’s basic search box.

Keyword Search
Google defaults to a keyword search, so if your chosen keywords were racehorse and whip, you would simply type racehorse whip into Google Search.

Phrasing
Google also supports phrasing: If you were searching for the phrase occupational health and safety, you would type “occupational health and safety” into Google Search.

Synonyms
If you are searching for information about dogs you might want to search using both the word dog and the word canine. You would type dog OR canine into Google Search. You could also type it as dog|canine.

Exclusions
If you were searching for football, but you didn’t want to see results about soccer, you would type football –soccer into Google Search. You only really need to use this when your results are being clouded by homonyms.

Wildcards
If you are searching for a phrase that you can’t quite remember, or if you are searching for a phrase with interchangeable words, you can wildcard a word. For example: “little * riding hood” will give you results for little red riding hood; “* health and safety” will give you results for occupational health and safety and workplace health and safety.

Search within a domain or website
You can use Google Search to search within a particular domain or even within a particular website. If you wanted to search for the keywords diet and health within any Australian Government website, you would type site:gov.au diet health into Google Search. If you wanted to search for CSU Library’s Online Library Workshops, you would type site:csu.edu.au “online library workshops” into Google Search.

With those tips you’ll be googling like a pro in no time! And if all else fails, and you still can’t find the information you need, Contact Us, and we’d be glad to help!

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