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Though just ten years old, Google is now absolutely the biggest player in the world of Internet commerce — which makes it one of the world’s most significant companies, period. (It recently became Silicon Valley’s most valuable company, no small feat.)

But it’s real accomplishment comes from the fact that it’s now a household name, known to hundreds of millions of people who may not even understand what role it plays as a company. The Google search engine is an absolute phenomenon; it not only completely dominates its industry, but plays a huge role in everyday life.

With that in mind, today we picked up a blog from HubSpot’s Inbound Internet Marketing Blog on the best ways to search Google. This advice may be directed more at the average consumer than the online businesperson, but it works both ways. And, it’s always a good idea to know how people use Google, when that’s the main source of your advertising. So, without further delay, here are “12 Quick Tips To Search Google Like An Expert:”

If you’re like me, you probably use Google many times a day. But, chances are, unless you are a technology geek, you probably still use Google in its simplest form. If your current use of Google is limited to typing a few words in, and changing your query until you find what you’re looking for, then I’m here to tell you that there’s a better way – and it’s not hard to learn. On the other hand, if you are a technology geek, and can use Google like the best of them already, then I suggest you bookmark this article of Google search tips. You’ll then have the tips on hand when you are ready to pull your hair out in frustration when watching a neophyte repeatedly type in basic queries in a desperate attempt to find something. …

1. Explicit Phrase: Lets say you are looking for content about internet marketing. Instead of just typing internet marketing into the Google search box, you will likely be better off searching explicitly for the phrase. To do this, simply enclose the search phrase within double quotes.

2. Exclude Words: Lets say you want to search for content about internet marketing, but you want to exclude any results that contain the term advertising. To do this, simply use the “-” sign in front of the word you want to exclude.

3. Site Specific Search: Often, you want to search a specific website for content that matches a certain phrase. Even if the site doesn’t support a built-in search feature, you can use Google to search the site for your term. Simply use the “site:somesite.com” modifier.

4. Similar Words and Synonyms: Let’s say you are want to include a word in your search, but want to include results that contain similar words or synonyms. To do this, use the “~” in front of the word.

5. Specific Document Types: If you’re looking to find results that are of a specific type, you can use the modifier “filetype:”. For example, you might want to find only PowerPoint presentations related to internet marketing.

6. This OR That: By default, when you do a search, Google will include all the terms specified in the search. If you are looking for any one of one or more terms to match, then you can use the OR operator. (Note: The OR has to be capitalized).

If the first half of this list sounds good, click here to check out the list in its entirety.