Google search tips

I have recently been asked about providing IT tips when I visit a client. I tend to visit clients weekly, so providing a weekly tip seemed like a good thing to put on my blog.

The first thing that came to mind was using Google more effectively. Google has pretty much become the search engine of choice, but many of its users are unfamiliar with all of it's features.

Google Basics
The basics cover how Google searches for the terms you want and how to exclude terms you don't.

e.g.
Using a - directly before a term makes Google exclude results containing that term.
Using quotes around a phrase will make Google search for the exact phrase.

Advanced searching
This covers, using the advanced search, searching particular sites, using synonyms and a few more options.

e.g.
Using a + directly before a term makes Google include results containing that term.
Using a ~ directly before a term to search for similar words to the one your searching for.
Using site:www.somewebsite.com in the search field to search a particular website.

Google Suggest
Not sure how to phrase what you're searching for? Then try Google Suggest, it suggests popular words as you type.