This article explains how to perform a simple web search using the Google site, the largest search engine in the world. Once you have learned the basic mechanics of being able to search with Google, you will be able to learn how to use special parameters, tools and filters that will allow you to perform more precise searches and obtain more useful results.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Doing a Simple Web Search
Step 1. Launch the internet browser on your computer, smartphone or tablet
You can reach the Google website using any browser on the market, such as Safari, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. If the Google app (characterized by the multicolored letter "G") is installed on your mobile device, you can use it to perform a search instead of the browser.
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Android:
if you have a Samsung device (smartphone or tablet), tap the icon named Internet or Samsung Internet. If you are using another device model, select the icon of Chrome or the default browser of the device indicated by the item Browser, Web or a similar name.
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iPhone and iPad:
touch the Safari icon characterized by a compass, located at the bottom of the Home, to start the internet browser of the same name.
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KaiOS:
launch the app Browser. This is the window you normally use to access the web.
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Mac:
also in this case you can use the Safari browser which is integrated into the operating system. Click on the compass icon visible on the Mac Dock. Normally, the Dock is docked to the underside of the desktop.
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Windows 10:
the default Windows browser is Microsoft Edge. Access the "Start" menu by clicking on the button featuring the Windows logo located in the lower left corner of the desktop, then click on the icon Microsoft Edge listed in the menu that appeared.
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Windows 8 and earlier:
you can use the default browser which in this case is Internet Explorer. Click on the blue "e" icon visible in the "Start" menu.
Step 2. Type the URL www.google.com into the address bar
This is the long text field visible at the top of the browser window. If you are using a mobile device, tap the address bar to make the virtual keyboard of the smartphone or tablet appear on the screen. If you are using a computer, click on the address bar and start typing the URL indicated.
- If you are using the Google app on your mobile device, skip straight to step 4.
- Some browsers, such as Chrome, Safari and KaiOS Browser, also allow you to search by typing keywords directly into the address bar, without having to access the Google website in advance. Other internet browsers may use a default search engine other than Google, for example Microsoft Edge uses Bing as its default search engine.
Step 3. Press the Enter key
If you are using a mobile device, press the button Search for, Enter or Go of the virtual keyboard. At this point, the main page of the Google website will load.
Step 4. Type your search criteria into the corresponding text field
For example, if you want to search for a restaurant where to eat in Milan, you will have to enter the following search string "best restaurants in Milan".
- You can also use single words related to specific topics (for example "vegan" or "Bermuda"), complete sentences (for example "tropical storm 1998" or "take care of a log of happiness"), ask questions (for example "how many people live in Italy?" or "how many liters of water should I drink in a day?") and so on.
- If you feel more comfortable performing voice searches, click or press the microphone icon (if necessary, follow the instructions that will appear on the screen to authorize Google to have access to the device's microphone), then ask clearly and aloud what you are looking for.
Step 5. Click the Google Search button or tap the magnifying glass icon
A search will be performed using the words you entered as criteria, then the list of results will be displayed on the screen.
Step 6. Click or select the site or webpage you want to visit
If you have located the site, image, video or information you were looking for, click or tap the corresponding link to view it in full screen in the browser window. To return to the list of search results, click on the "Back" button of the browser or press it with your finger (normally, it is characterized by an arrow pointing to the left and is located in the upper left corner of the screen or browser window).
- The appearance of the results list will differ based on the content you searched for. For example, if you searched for a word included in a dictionary, you might find the corresponding definition and some examples of its use at the top of the results list. If you have searched for a place, you will find a map of the area where it is located.
- If looking at the first page of the results list you didn't find what you were looking for, click on the link Come on or select it with your finger to go to the next page in the list. The link indicated is visible at the bottom of the page. Normally the most relevant results to what you are looking for appear at the top of the list.
Step 7. Reword your search to get a different result
If you don't find the type of information you are looking for, try changing the criteria or keywords you used and restart your search. At any time you can perform a more specific or broader search if the list of results you have obtained is too long or too small.
- For example, instead of using the search string "best restaurants in Milan", you can be more specific by using these criteria: "best Chinese restaurant in Milan 2020".
- To find out how to refine your searches to get the most relevant results, check out this section of the article.
Part 2 of 3: Refine Your Search Results List
Step 1. Use the search engine parameters to get the results you are actually looking for
Search engines provide the user with a series of special characters that are used to make searches more specific based on what you are looking for. Here are some examples of how to use these tools:
- If the set of words you're looking for is part of a meaningful sentence, such as a quote or description of a specific item, enclose it in quotation marks ("), so Google knows you're only looking for pages where exactly what phrase is typed in. This is a great tool to search for a song title based on a few words in the lyrics.
- Type a minus sign (-) before a word to remove matching items from the search results list. For example, if you are searching for the word "nano", but want to discard all results that refer to the iPod Nano, you will need to use the following search string nano -iPod.
- Commonly used words, such as articles or conjunctions, are usually ignored by Google when searching. If these words are an essential part of what you are looking for, precede them with a plus sign (+).
- To search for the website of a social network, such as Twitter and Facebook, add the symbol @ before the search term. For example @wikihow.
- If you want to view only the list of results related to a specific website, type the prefix site: before entering the list of criteria to search for. For example, if you want to search for the term "iOS 13" within the wikiHow website, you will need to use the following string: site: wikiHow.com "iOS 13".
- To search for a product or object based on a certain price range you will need to use the following syntax: Xbox € 100.. € 200. In this example, the list of sites that sell the Xbox console for between $ 100 and $ 200 should appear on the screen.
Step 2. Choose which results to display
Depending on what you are looking for, you will have the possibility to view only certain types of results, for example images, videos or news. Use the options that are listed at the top of the search results list. Follow these guidelines:
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Click on the item Images or select it with your finger. It is located at the top of the results list. This will only display images that match the criteria you are looking for.
Read this article to find out how to search from an image
- Click on the item Video or select it with your finger to view the list of websites, such as YouTube, that publish videos related to the terms you searched for.
- Click on the item News or select it with your finger to consult the news of the major newspapers and information sites related to what you are looking for.
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Click on the item Books or select it with your finger to get a list of all the books focused on the subject you searched for.
In this case, you can perform a more accurate search using the features provided by Google Books
- You can use other options, such as Maps, Flights And Finance, to obtain relevant information based on certain search criteria. For example, if you are looking for an address, it might be more convenient to choose the category Maps' to view it directly on the map or select the item Flights to plan a trip to the indicated destination.
Step 3. View search results based on a specific time interval
If you need to review results for the past 24 hours, last year, or another time period, follow these guidelines:
- Select the item Tools or Research tools. If you are using a computer, you will have the link available Tools located at the top of the results list. If you are using a mobile device, you will need to select the item Research tools. Normally, you will have to scroll the bar located at the top of the results list (the one where the categories "All", "News", "Videos" and "Images" are displayed) from right to left, in order to select the indicated option.
- Click on the drop-down menu Any date or select it with your finger.
- Choose the time interval you want. The result list will be updated with the items corresponding to the selected date.
- Click on the link Cancel or tap it with your finger to remove the date filter.
Step 4. Add filters when looking for images or videos
If you are looking for an image or a video, you can filter the results based on some criteria, such as quality, size, duration and much more. Follow these guidelines:
- Select the item Tools or Research tools displayed at the top of the image or video search results list. A series of drop-down menus will appear.
- If you've searched for videos, use the drop-down menus that appear at the top of the results list to specify the duration, source (e.g. YouTube or Facebook) or if you want to review only the subtitled videos.
- If you searched for images, use the drop-down menus that appeared at the top of the results list to specify the image size, type, color or usage rights.
- If you need more control over the images that appear in the search results list, please refer to this webpage.
Part 3 of 3: Performing an Advanced Search
Step 1. Visit this web page https://www.google.com/advanced_search to be able to perform an advanced search and get a more precise list of results
The Google "Advanced Search" page allows you to specify many search parameters within a simple form. You can access the indicated page using any browser from your computer, smartphone or tablet.
Step 2. Enter the criteria to search for in the "Find web pages that contain" section
This is the first section of the "Advanced Search" module. It is not essential to fill in all the fields available, but only the most relevant ones based on what you are looking for.
- For example, in the "all these words" field, type the keywords that are important to your search. In this way, only the results that will contain all the words entered in the text field in question will be displayed.
- In the "this exact word or phrase" text header, type the phrase or word you want to search for exactly as you entered it. Only web pages with exactly what you indicated will be included in the results list.
- Use the "any of these words" text field to include all web pages that contain any of the listed words in the results list.
- In the "none of these words" text field, enter all the terms you want to remove from the results list.
- In the "numbers from to" field, enter the range of numbers to be included in the search results. This is a great tool if you need to search for something based on its price or size.
Step 3. Refine the list of results using the "Then limit the results by
.. . Now you can specify how to filter the list of results according to different options. Again, it is not essential to use all the available items, but you can choose to use only the ones you want according to your needs.
- Use the "language" menu to specify the language in which the pages identified by the search should be displayed.
- Use the "region" menu to view only pages published in a specific country or region.
- Use the "last updated" menu to specify which pages to include in the results list based on the date the last update was performed.
- Enter a web address in the "site or domain" field if you want to get only the results related to a certain specific website.
- Within the "appearing terms" text field, select the place on the page where the terms you searched for should appear - for example in the title or in the text.
- Use the "SafeSearch" menu to show explicit or adult content or not.
- Use the "file type" menu to specify the format of a file - for example, PDF or Word documents.
- The "usage rights" drop-down menu is useful for filtering search results based on how they can be used - for example, if they are freely usable or under a license.
Step 4. Click the blue Advanced Search button
It is located at the bottom of the module. The list of results will be displayed based on the filters and criteria you have chosen.
Advice
- After a few days, the same search may return a slightly different, albeit very similar, list of results.
- Many internet browsers come with a search bar that you can use to search using Google or any of your favorite engines. In this case, you can type the criteria to search directly in the indicated bar without having to access the Google website or the search engine you want to use.
- You can set a series of specific configuration parameters for the searches you will perform with Google by clicking on the "Preferences" link, visible next to the text field on the main Google page.
- Consider creating a personal account in order to take advantage of all the products and tools for navigation and search that make up the Google suite.
- Choose the most suitable keywords based on what you are looking for on the web. Use words or a combination of words that are unique and specific to the topic you are looking for, so that only items related to that topic fall into the list of results.
