Googling.
Before you laugh, hear me out.
How is Googling a skill? Anyone can search on Google, right?
Yes, but not everyone does. Why? Because most people do not like to research or read.
In the tech industry, many of the answers are easily available online. Just a search away. It is very rare that you are the first one to face an issue. For a lot of coders, Stack Overflow is like a second home.
Whichever industry you are in currently, Googling is a good skill to have. It is right there, all the details, 24×7, for free. If you are able to research and find out an answer on Google for most of your problems, then in my opinion, that IS a skill. To learn more, to be self-reliant, without being overly dependent on others, is a skill.
Even if you get help from someone, you should STILL Google about it to learn more. Most people are too busy to get into in-depth teaching. They will just touch the topic at a high-level. I always make it a point to do some Googling when someone offers me a solution. It has helped me a lot in building on my base knowledge.
Why Do So Many People Dislike Googling?
People are hesitant to Google for an answer even if it is much easier than waiting for an answer from someone.
We are all naturally lazy (including yours truly). We just want all the answers to come to us without effort. We like to be spoon-fed without lifting a finger (even if it is for a search engine that automatically does the rest of the work for you). But growth happens (as cliché as the next line might sound) – “outside our comfort zone.”
I realized many people are bad at Googling when I posted snippets of some random articles on my Instagram story (with the title, website name et all), and my friends still asked me for the link instead of searching on Google using the article name. Mind you, to provide them the article link, I had to go through the exact same steps – search using the article name on Google, copy the URL and paste it on our chat. I did not have the link stored anywhere for easy access.
It continues even today.
Even after explaining to them how to search on Google.
I am not a passive aggressive type, so I find it difficult to use the infamous “sure, let me Google that for you” when someone asks me something that can be easily Googled.
Some Neat Googling Tips & Tricks
Most of the time, we can get what we want by just entering the search query on Google.
But what if we want something extra?
Well, for the curious cats, here are some cool Google search tips and tricks you can use to get a desired result.
- Double Quotes
My most favourite.
Use double quotes if you want the exact phrase in the same order to appear in your search results.
For example, “I want to live in New York” will give results where the phrase appears in the exact same order.
Remove the quotes, and you will have the keywords scattered all over the article, and not exactly in the same order.
Using double quotes is also a great way to search for articles using just their titles.
In the example below, I want to search for posts that have mentioned “I want to live in new york” in the exact same order.
- Define
Defines a word and also includes an audio clipping on how to pronounce it correctly.
Use Define: followed by the word.
- Search
Searches for results on a specific site.
Use Search: followed by the website URL and search query.
In the example below, I want to search all recipes for apple pie on YouTube.
- Asterisk *
Use the * asterisk symbol to let Google do the guessing work. This allows you to see the most popular search phrases that match a part of your query.
Insert * wherever you want Google to add in the most popular search words/phrases. In the example below, I have used how to * money, so it will consider popular search phrases like how to make money, how to earn money etc.
- Related
If you find a website you really like, and wish to see similar ones, use Related: followed by the URL of the website you liked.
In the example below, I want websites similar to Udemy that offers courses online.
- Tilde ~
This is a great way to include synonyms.
Use ~ before the word that requires synonyms.
- Location-specific
If you wish to see search results only related to a specific location use location: after the search phrase.
- File Type
In case you are looking for content in a particular format, use filetype: followed by the type of file (example: pdf).
- Exclude
Exclude something from search results by using dash –.
For example, let us consider the example below, when you type -money, this means you want Google to exclude the word “money” from the search results. I have additionally added another exclusion, that is the website YouTube.com.
The Monkey Dilemma 