Google is an extremely powerful search engine. However, most people don’t use that search engine to its full potential.
Instead, you – like most people – simply type keywords into the search box and are satisfied with the results you see.
However, there are plenty of good Google tips and tricks that will save time and improve the relevancy of your search results. Here are our top 5 favorite Google tips and tricks you might not be using:

5) Search through articles on a specific website

Want to search through a specific website to find something you need? If you just type an article headline into Google, you might see dozens of results from all across the internet – when really, you just want results from a specific site.

To narrow down your search results, type the following into Google:
Site:yourwebsite.com Your Keywords
This will tell Google to only display results from yourwebsite.com

4) Search by file type

Have you ever looked for legal .mp3 files online but struggled to find a site that actually hosted .mp3 files?
If so, then you’ll appreciate this Google file type trick. Just type in:
Filetype:pdf Keyword
This will display PDF files that have to do with “Keyword”.
One of my favorite tricks with the file type search is to look for PowerPoint Presentations. If you’re trying to learn about a specific subject, you can type filetype:ppt Revolutionary War into Google to view PowerPoint Presentations about that particular subject.

Why are PowerPoint Presentations so good? In many cases, you’ll find them on university or college websites. Someone has already condensed all of the important information about a subject into a few slides and extracted the important information.
Sometimes that PPT trick works, and sometimes it doesn’t. When it does work, you feel really smart.

3) View related websites

Have you ever liked a website so much that you wanted to view websites just like it?

If so, then you’ll appreciate this next tip. Just type:
Related:fixmypcfree.com
Type that into Google Search and you’ll instantly view search results for sites related to the website you typed in. When you type FixMyPCFree.com into Google, you see a bunch of other websites about fixing your PC and speeding up your PC for free.

2) Drag and drop images into Google to reverse image search

Have you ever seen a picture online and thought, “Hey, I’ve seen that picture somewhere before”.
If so, then you should perform a Google reverse image search. A Google reverse image search is as easy as dragging and dropping an image into Google’s image search.

This will display pages where that image has been used before. You’ll also see similar images, different image sizes, and more.
One of the best ways to use this tip is on dating websites. Want to see if that cute girl you’re talking to is actually a cute, real girl? Drag and drop her image into Google’s image search to see if that image has already been used thousands of times around the internet.

1) Eliminate certain websites from your search results

Have you ever looked for something and Google shows you something totally different?
If so, then you’ll appreciate the “omit” search trick.

Omitting certain search terms is easy. You can simply type in:
-Keyword
After your search to subtract all search results which contain that keyword from your search.
Alternatively, you can omit search results from an entire website by typing in:
-site:fixmypcfree.com
It’s that easy.