Discover one of Google's little known shortcut buttons, that will allow you to quickly browse through the pages of each search result. Saving you time and a whole load of effort.
When you use Google to find information, wouldn't it be great if you could find a faster way of wading through all those search results? Well, now there's a way...
When you perform a search using Google, the web page results Google returns are usually pretty accurate. However, if you are anything like me, you rarely find exactly what you are looking for, from the very first web page they offer you.
For example:
You might perform a search for 'vegetarian recipes', and Google will return an accurate search result, with the first entry being highly relevant and containing information on 'vegetarian recipes'
Unfortunately, the first site might not have a recipe or contain the information you want, so you will then have to hit the 'back button' in your browser, so that you can go back to Google's search results, and click on the next web page link to check that one out.
If you use search engines to find information quite often, I'm sure you are already used to this tedious process by now. The thing is; there is a much faster way of viewing the web pages in Google's search results. Here's a neat trick to help speed up your research...
Google's 'Next and Previous' Shortcut Buttons
The shortcut buttons I'm about to tell you about; are only available on Google's free toolbar. If you don't have the Google toolbar installed at the moment, you can download it from Google's site here: http://toolbar.google.com/
Once you have installed the toolbar, open up your browser and you will see it displayed near the top of the page.
1. Click on the link or icon that says 'Options'
2. A pop up window will open. Click on the tab at the top which says 'More'
3. Under the sub headline 'Even More Buttons'; you will see the option titled: 'Next & Previous'. Click on the box to the left of it, until the green tick is displayed.
4. Click 'OK' to finish.
Right, now when you look back at the Google toolbar in your browser, you will see the 'Next and Previous' option being displayed. Depending on your toolbar settings, you may or may not have the actual words displayed. If you haven't, look out for two arrows next to each other, one pointing to the left and the other to the right. They both also have a little eyeball graphic on top of them.
If you haven't just done a search using Google, these arrows will probably be 'greyed out', and not available to be clicked on.
Hop over to Google's home page, and do a quick search for something. Then click on the first search result in the normal listings.
As soon as you get transferred to the web page for the top listing, check out the 'Next and Previous' buttons on your toolbar.
You should initially see that the 'right arrow' has turned from grey to blue, indicating that you can now click on it. Try clicking on it, and you will now be transferred to the next listing in Google's search results.
As soon as you reach the next website, you will then see that the 'left arrow' can now be clicked on. By clicking on the left arrow, you can now go straight back to the previous web page in the search results, without you having to hit your back button and go back to Google.
Using the 'Next and Previous' shortcut buttons, you can flip back and forward between all the web pages listed, on Google's first page of search results.
If you regularly use Google to look for information, I'm sure you'll find this a nice little time saver, as I do.
Jason Lewis is creator of the "Find Stuff Quickly" video series, a comprehensive step-by-step guide, showing you how to find information faster and more accurately using Google. To improve your research skills, visit: Google Search Engine Tips