Smart search on Google, complete guide

You can search with Google, but you can also search smart with Google.
By properly formulating your search, you can find the information you are looking for better and faster.

The trick is not to score as many hits as possible, but to score as few hits as possible. But then those with the right answer!

1. Quotation marks

"xxxxxx xxx xxxxx"

If you put a query between quotation marks, Google searches the web for pages that contain exactly the same word combination.

2. Asteriks
xxxxxx * xxxxxx

With an asterisk * you create a so-called 'wildcard' in your search. The word (or words) you do not know is placed on the place of the asterisk.
Was it Barack Husam Obama or Barack Hoesein Obama? Then type in: "Barack * Obama". The asterisk only works in the place of an entire word in a whole sentence.

3. Dot dot
xxxxxx .. xxxxxx

By using two points (..) you can indicate a range at all kinds of numerical values, such as weights, dates and prices.
For example, you want to know how many boys got the name Noah.
Your search can then look like this: how many boys named Noah 2016 .. 2017
Note: the numbers may not contain spaces, comma's or dots: 20,000 will be 20000.

4. Synonyms
~ xxxxxx

The tilde operator (~) displays the search results, in combination with the synonyms of the keyword.
Imagine: you want to know something about 'computers' and you type ~ computer, then Google also looks for words with the same meaning, such as 'pc', 'laptop' and 'hardware'.

5. Specific search
+ xxxxxx

Google ignores loose numbers and letters and many common words such as 'and', 'it', 'where' and 'how', because they slow down the search without producing a better search result.
If a general word or number is essential for the search, place a plus sign (+) in front of it, or place the whole in quotation marks.
For example, if you want to search for Star Wars, Episode I, your search will look like this: Star Wars, Episode + I or something like "Star Wars, Episode I".