Google search is the easiest way to look up anything you’re looking for, but you can also narrow down your search by looking up specific terms with quotes. Now, Google has made googling even better.
Using quotes on words or phrases when searching for something specific is a fantastic way to get the results you’re after. Google search will show all the web pages that mention the word or phrase you’re looking up. For example, go google “google search” with quotes, and Google will do the work.
Thanks to an update, this handy trick will also allow you to see where in the webpage the word or phrase is mentioned before even clicking on it. In Google’s blog post, software engineer Yonghao Jin details how it works.
“The snippets we display for search results (meaning the text you see describing web content) will be formed around where a quoted word or phrase occurs in a web document,” Jin states. “That means you can more easily identify where to find them after you click the link and visit the content.”
Now, you’ll be able to see a bolded word or phrase in the snippet. It’s a simple yet effective trick, making it easier to find exactly what you need and where it is on a specific webpage. However, this trick is currently only available on desktops, meaning you won’t see bolded items when using quoted phrases on mobile devices.
Quoted searches tips
While using quotes in Google searches can narrow down what you’re searching for, there are still some limitations to know about. For instance, some web pages contain content that isn’t visible, even though it can be seen when using Google search.
This is because some content will be hidden in the meta description or alt text when describing images, which means the word or phrase you’re looking for won’t be on the web page itself. As the post points out, Google may also see content that doesn’t initially load on a page when you go to it, like content rendered through JavaScript that only appears if you click to make it display.
Also, if you search for multiple quoted items, the snippet may only show one or two of them, especially if they are far apart from each other on the web page. Whatever word or quote is used the most, the snippet will show that instead.
Speaking of all things Google, check out how these private browsers might make you switch from Chrome.
