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Searching Google Like a Pro

Tips, tricks, and hacks for efficiently searching online.

Learn tricks for searching online efficiently.

Note: Ask yourself if Google is the right place to find what you want. See the tab about Choosing Where to Search to learn more.

Google Search Tips

Try These Tricks When Searching Online

Tools like these help you find better search results more quickly.

Use the limiter site: to filter which websites your results are from. Add your own search terms after that.

Domain Name

Ask for websites that end with a certain domain name that may be more reliable or relevant.

  • site:.gov  only returns sites that end with .gov (federally funded government sites)
  • site:.edu only returns sites that end in .edu (higher education sites)

screenshot of Google search for site:.gov Aurora, Illinois

Website

Search an entire website from the back end with Google.

A screenshot of a Google search for site:aurora.edu research help

Add quotation marks around a word or phrase in a Google search to:

  • require all results include that word or phase
  • specify an exact phrase or spelling

A graphic showing that adding quotation marks around Illinois in a Google search returned results about the city of Aurora in IL, rather than Colorado

 

Find the Tools button at the top of your search results. When toggled, new options will be revealed, like the option to filter results by the date they were published. You may also choose to use the Google advanced search to get more specific!

This video from Common Sense Education shows Google search tips in action.

This video demonstrates how to use Google's advanced search features.

Need more research help? 

Librarians are here to help.

Download LibKey Nomad

 

Get access to full text on Google Scholar

and other sites with LibKey Nomad

 

Take your research beyond the library catalog with LibKey Nomad, a free browser extension provided by the library. Once installed, LibKey Nomad connects you to Phillips Library's subscriptions and open-access content as you browse the web, including platforms like PubMed, Wikipedia, and Google Scholar. 

 Avoid paywalls

 Accelerate you research

 Access millions of articles in one-click

Once LibKey Nomad is installed, look for the button on the websites you visit. 

A dark blue button that has a green fire symbol next to the words "Download PDF".

 

Download LibKey Nomad Extension