Search Operators and Research Tactics

budget -template

excludes results containing the minus term

marketing OR advertising

returns results with either term

site:cdc.gov flu

limits results to one site or domain

site:.gov wildfire smoke

focuses results on government domains

filetype:pdf research paper

restricts results to a specific file format

intitle:marketing

finds pages with the term in the title

inurl:resources

finds pages with the term in the URL

laptop $500..$800

searches for a number range

last update filter

use recency tools when freshness matters

language filter

narrow results to a chosen language

region filter

narrow results to a chosen country or region

use 2-4 specific keywords

start focused instead of typing a full question

search the exact error message

paste error text in quotes to find matching fixes

add one term to narrow results

refine broad results with one more specific word

remove one term to widen results

broaden the query when results are too narrow

open the source page, not just the snippet

check full context, date, and author before trusting it

compare multiple trustworthy sources

verify important claims in more than one reliable place

"exact phrase"

searches for the exact wording in that order