General Search Tips

Start with the basics - No matter what you're looking for, start with a simple search:

Where's the closest airport? 

You can always add a few descriptive words if necessary. 

If you're looking for a place or product in a specific location, add the location. 

Pizza St. Louis

Types of Search Tools:

  • Web
  • Image
  • Video
  • Books
  • News
  • Maps
  • Shopping
  • Flights
  • Finance

Choose Words Carefully 

When you're deciding what words to put in the search box, try to choose words that are likely to appear on the site you're looking for.  Instead of searching for:

My head hurts 

Search for headache, because that’s the word a medical site would use.

Read More:

Don’t Worry About The Little Things

Spelling: Google's spell checker automatically uses the most common spelling of a given word, whether or not you spell it correctly. 

Capitalization: A search for New York Times is the same as a search for new york times.

Use The Search Filters

You can narrow and customize your search results to find exactly what you want by using the filters at the top of the page. 

For example, you can find sites updated within the last 24 hours or photos with license information. (Click Tools)

Learn more about narrowing your results with search filters. 

Tip: When you use filters, your Search settings don’t change. To delete past searches or change settings like SafeSearch, results per page, or languages, go to Search settings.