Eliminate results

Some search terms have ambiguous meanings that can confuse Google.

To make sure you get the correct result put a minus sign in front of a word you don’t want to be included. For example, ‘‘jaguar -car’’ will only bring up websites about the big cat, though you’re still likely to see ads for Jaguar cars.

Use your voice

If you’re a slow typist, then you can use your voice to enter search terms.

Click the microphone symbol in the search bar on the Google homepage, then say your request.

It only really works with common words and places. For example, asking about Jacinda Adern resulted in a range of websites, usually about Justin, that had nothing to do with our prime minister.

You can also say ‘‘flip a coin’’ and Google will flip a virtual one for you if you’re struggling to make a decision.

Similar sites

If you have a favourite site you like to visit and want to see others that are similar then you can use the word ‘‘related’’.

For example, typing ‘‘related:stuff.co.nz’’ brings up results showing other news websites in New Zealand.

Google as a dictionary

You can use Google as a dictionary by using the word ‘‘define’’ before your search term.

For example, ‘‘define morality’’ will show its definition, along with its pronunciation and etymology. It can also be used for slang terms such as ‘‘bae’’ or ‘‘SMH’’.

Search settings

Making a few changes to the search settings page can make it easier to find information on Google.

Go to google.com/preferences to tweak how you want to use the site. A good idea is to allow more than 10 results per page. Having 30-50 per search means you don’t have to keep reloading new pages.

It’s also handy to have results open in a new tab so you can stay on the search screen, and if you have children I would suggest turning on the SafeSearch filter.

What to leave out

Google usually ignores common terms such as ‘‘a’’ and ‘‘the’’. These are known as stop words and also include ‘‘is’’, ‘‘at’’, ‘‘which’’, and ‘‘on’’. Punctuation is also typically ignored and so are capital letters, as search engines do not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase.

It’s also best practice to use the base word when searching. So, ‘‘dog’’ instead of ‘‘dogs’’.

That means you can drop most suffixes when entering terms. However, there are some exceptions, such as ‘‘walking’’ if you’re looking for sites about the activity of walking.