What’s your Internet White Whale? Tips to Better your Search Skills and your Productivity

“Findaway”
Mila was a girl who was born into the belly of a giant white whale. A mysterious place full of traps. The dark night contrasted with the brightness of the reddish and yellow colors in the morning. There was no way out. One night, she found a lost computer in the shadows. She was scared of so much information she found. Her searches and answers were much closer. It would be necessary to use symbols, words, and advanced searches. Did Mila find the way to get her out?

. . .

The Internet is a tremendously useful tool, but can easily become a black hole for productivity. Sometimes we didn’t know where to start. There are some shortcuts that can save us from the time lost and refine the search for specific subjects. I use some of them to make my work faster, simple and more specific. These tips are designed to better your search skills and your productivity.

Here they are!

Search Social Media
Put @ in front of a word to search social media.
@darrudadesign
Search for a Price
Put $ in front of a number.
candy $2.
Search Hashtags
Put # in front of a word.
#creativity
Exclude Words from your Search
Put – in front of a word you want to leave out.
Gibson colors -guitar
Search for an Exact Match
Put a word or phrase inside quotes.
“best songs”
Search for Wildcards or Unknown Words
Put a * in your word or phrase where you want to leave a placeholder.
“biggest * in town”
Search within a Range of Numbers
Put .. between two numbers.
book $10..$80
Combine Searches
Put “OR” between each search query.
design OR illustration
Search for a Specific Site
Put “site:” in front of a site or domain.
site:darrudadesign.com or site:.gov
Use a Colon
Search articles on a specific site like Foo Fighters articles on RollingStone site.
Foo Fighters site:rollingstone.com
Find Packages
Put UPS, USPS, or FedEx tracking number directly into the Google search bar, and it’ll show you the tracking information about your package.
Converting Money and Units
To convert miles to km type “10 miles to km” will show you how many kilometers are in 10 miles.
USD to Real – This will convert a US dollar to Brazilian Real.
Find a Specific File
If you need a specific PDF or PowerPoint for a project simply text *Search term here* filetype: pdf
Replace the search term and the extension with whatever you’re searching for.

What is your pro tip for finding stuff that no one else knows? I would love to hear you in the comments!