More so than not,  searching "the web" by using combinations of unique words yields fewer and more relevant results.

Avoid searching with words that are common and/or have multiple meanings when possible.

Augment this approach by using search operators (below) to further refine and focus search results.

A pro-active way to do Google searching is to establish a Google Alert.   Go to https://www.google.com/alerts and enter unique keyword combinations that are germane to your research. 

Select Google Search Operators

Use quotes to search for an exact word or phrase

 "antique fishing lures"

This function searches an exact text string.  Putting quotes around a single word search eliminates results containing word variations.

Exclude a word

 -metal

 Placing a minus sign in front of a word or quoted phrase excludes search results containing that word or phrase.  Multiple words or phrases can be excluded in a given search.

Search for alternate words

squirrel OR crayfish     

Use a capitalized OR between words and/or phrases to allow for ambiguity of search terms in a query.

Search within a specific website or domain

site:colgate.edu   or   site:.colgate.edu   or   site:.edu   

This operator placed directly in front and adjacent to a website name or domain (starts with a period) limits a search to that particular website or domain.

Search for words in a specific website

              site:.colgate.edu chess

              Retrieves web pages from a website or domain that contain the word / words /phrases specified.

Search for words in the title of a web page

intitle:cosmic intitle:debris

Retrieves pages that contain the words cosmic and debris in the title of the page.

Search for multiple words in the title of a web page

allintitle:old salmon spoons

Retrieves pages that contain all the words old salmon spoons in the title of the page.

Search for words in the URL

              allinurl: cactus juice

              Retrieves pages that contain specified word in the webpage URL

Search for words in the text of a web page

intext:josephen  intext:ratchet

Retrieves pages that contain the words Josephen and ratchet in the text of the page.

Proximity Searching

Colgate AROUND(4) Harvard

Retrieves web pages containing search terms within the proximity of a given number of words.  AROUND must be in capitals.

Search for specific file types

filetype:pdf

Retrieves pages / documents that are PDFs.  Other filetypes:  XLS, XLSX, DOC, DOCX,  TXT, PS, PPT, PPTX, etc.

Fill in the blank

If * stop then * go   or   "stand straight" and * then *     

An asterisk serves as a placeholder for any unknown or wildcard terms. Find variations an exact phrase when used with quotation marks or to retrieve different words in the middle of a phrase.  The asterisk will retrieve both single words and phrases.

Search for a number range

tuition $25000..$45000

Numbers separated by two periods without spaces (..) yields results that contain numbers in a given range of things like dates, prices, and measurements.

Construct complex query with brackets ()

              "fish" (site:.colgate.edu OR site:.ala.org)

              Adds complexity and specificity to a search with logically combined search operators.