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As marketers, we know that content with images performs better. A lot better.

Tweets with images get 150% more retweets. Facebook posts with photos account for 87% of interactions. And when optimizing social media posts to increase engagement, images and photos are the most important tactic. 

Trouble is, finding great visual content to use isn’t as simple as searching for it on Google. You need to worry about rights and licensing, finding the right image to suit your needs, and making sure it’s high quality.

We’ve set out to help alleviate some of these problems with a new free stock photos site, FreeStockPhotos.org. The site features hundreds of high quality, interesting images that you can use in your marketing … without worrying about rights.

You can use the images for social media:

Or infographics:

You can even use them in ads or promoted posts:

The possibilities are endless. 

Ready to take a look around? Browse and download from our collection of free stock photos by visiting FreeStockPhotos.org.

If you’re like me, you probably use Google many times a day. But chances are, unless you’re a technology geek, you probably still use Google in its simplest form. If your current use of Google is limited to typing in a few words 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, even if you are a technology geek and can use Google like the best of them already, I still suggest you bookmark this article of advanced Google search tips. Then, you’ll then have the tips on hand when you’re ready to pull your hair out in frustration watching a neophyte repeatedly type in basic queries in a desperate attempt to find something.

The following advanced Google search tips are based on my own experience and things that I actually find useful. I’ve kept the descriptions of the search tips intentionally terse, as you’re likely to grasp most of these simply by looking at the example from Google anyway.

For even more Google tips, download our free guide here. 

31 Advanced Google Search Tips to Search Google Like an Expert

1) Explicit Phrase

Let’s say you’re looking for content about inbound marketing. Instead of just typing inbound 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.

Example Search: “inbound marketing”

2) Exclude Words

Let’s say you want to search for content about inbound 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.

Example Search: inbound marketing -advertising

3) This OR That

By default, when you conduct a search, Google will include all the terms specified in the search. If you’re 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).

Example Search: inbound marketing OR advertising

4) Words in the Text

If you want to find a webpage where all the terms you’re searching for appear in the text of that page (but not necessarily beside each other), type in allintext: followed immediately by words or phrases.

Example Search: allintext:vermont ski house lake

5) Words in the Text + Title, URL etc.

If you want to find a webpage where one term appears in the text of that page and another term appears elsewhere on the page, like the title or URL, then type in that first term followed by intext: followed immediately by the other term.

Example Search: neil diamond intext:red sox

6) Words in the Title

Want to find a webpage with certain words contained in the title (but not necessarily beside each other)? Type in allintitle: followed immediately by words or phrases.

Example Search: allintitle:wine club

7) Words in the TItle + Text, URL, etc.

Want to find a webpage where one term appears in the title of that page and another term appears elsewhere on the page, like in the text or the URL? Type in that first term followed by intitle: immediately followed by the other term.

Example Search: flu shot intitle:advice

8) Words in the URL

If you want to find pages with your search query mentioned in the URL, type allinurl: immediately followed by your search query.

Example Search: allinurl:hubspot blog

9) How to Search Within a Website

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. (Read this blog post to learn how to do this in more detail.)

Example Search: site:http://ift.tt/1Tc8Ll1 “inbound marketing”

10) Related Search

If you want to find new websites with similar content to a website you already know of, use the related:somesite.com modifier.

Example Search: related:visual.ly

11) A Page That Links to Another Page

Let’s say you want to search for every website that cites a BuzzFeed article on their website. To do this, use the link: command, immediately followed by the name of a page. Google will give you all pages that link to BuzzFeed’s official website. The more specific the URL is, the fewer, more pointed results you’ll get.

Example Search: link:buzzfeed

12) Similar Words and Synonyms

Let’s say you want to include a word in your search, but also want to include results that contain similar words or synonyms. To do this, use the ~ in front of the word.

Example Search: “inbound marketing” ~professional

13) Word Definitions

If you need to quickly look up the definition of a word or phrase, simply use the define: command. You can listen to the word’s pronunciation by pressing the megaphone icon.

Search Example: define:plethora

14) Missing Words

Ever forgotten a word or two from a specific phrase, song lyric, movie quote, or something else? You can use an asterisk* as a wildcard, which can help you find the missing word in a phrase.

Example Search: much * about nothing

15) News in a Specific Location

If you’re looking for news related to a specific location, you can use the location: command to search Google News for stories coming from that location.

Search Example: star wars location:london

16) 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 inbound marketing.

Example Search: “inbound marketing” filetype:ppt

17) Translations

Want to translate a simple word or phrase from one language to another? No need to go to a translation website. Just search translate [word] to [language].

Example Search: translate krankenwagen to english

18) Phone Listing

Let’s say someone calls you on your mobile number, and you don’t know who it is. If all you have is a phone number, you can look it up on Google using the phonebook feature.

Example Search: phonebook:617-555-1212

(Note: The number in this example doesn’t work. You’ll have to use a real number to get any results.)

19) Area Code Lookup

If all you need to do is to look up the area code for a phone number, just enter the three-digit area code and Google will tell you where it’s from.

Example Search: 617

20) Zip Code Lookup

If you need to look up the zip code for an address, simply search for the rest of the address, including town or city name and state, province, or country. It’ll return results with an area code (if applicable), 

Example Search: 25 First St., Cambridge, MA

21) Numeric Ranges

This is a rarely used but highly useful tip. Let’s say you want to find results that contain any of a range of numbers. You can do this by using the X..Y modifier (in case this is hard to read, what’s between the X and Y are two periods). This type of search is useful for years (as shown below), prices, or anywhere where you want to provide a series of numbers.

Example Search: president 1940..1950

22) Stock (Ticker Symbol)

Just enter a valid ticker symbol as your search term, and Google will give you the current financials and a quick thumbnail chart for the stock.

Example Search: GOOG

23) Calculator

The next time you need to do a quick calculation, instead of bringing up the Calculator applet, you can just type your expression into Google.

Search Example: 48512 * 1.02

24) Tip Calculator

Along with a normal calculator, Google has a built-in tip calculator. Just search tip calculator and you can adjust the bill, tip %, and number of people splitting it.

Search Example: tip calculator

25) Timer

Don’t have a timer handy? Google has you covered. Just type in an amount of time + the word “timer,” and the countdown will begin automatically

Search Example: 

Search Example: 20 min timer

26) Stopwatch

Search “stopwatch” and it’ll bring up a stopwatch for you to start when you’re ready.

Search Example: stopwatch 

27) Weather

Next time you’re looking for quick weather stats or a forecast for a certain area, search for weather followed by a location. Google will give you both before the first search results.

Search Example: weather cambridge ma

28) Sunrise & Sunset Times

If you’re curious when the sun will rise and set that day at a specific location, do a simple Google search with the word sunrise or sunset along with the location name.

Search Example: sunrise acadia

29) Flight Statuses

If you type in the airline and airplane number into Google, it will tell you the flight information, status, and other helpful information.

Search Example: BA 181

30) Sports Scores & Schedules

Want to know the latest sports scores and future schedules of your favorite teams or match-ups? Search a single team name or two team names and Google will use Google Sports to spit out scores and schedules before the first search results.

Search Example: manchester united

31) Comparing Food

Believe it or not, if you’re ever curious how two types of (fairly generic) foods compare with one another, you can do a quick Google search to see how they differ in calories, fat, protein, cholesterol, sodium, potassium, and other nutrients. 

Search Example: pizza vs broccoli

What are you favorite Google search tips? Share any that I’ve missed in the comments section below.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in March 2007 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

 
 

From crumbling paywalls to the rise of ad blockers, the digital publishing industry in the midst of a turbulent time. From circulation to sales, every aspect of the business has seen dramatic changes over the past few years. 

How is this affecting publishers like you? We surveyed hundreds of publishers to find answers to questions like:

• How often are publishers sending email?
• What is the leading source of revenue for publishers?
• Which sales and marketing technologies do publishers use?
• What trends are publishers placing their bets on over the next few years?

While the full results can be found in our Digital Publishing Benchmarks Report, we’ve also compiled some of the most important findings into these 6 takeaways—that you can’t afford to miss:

Want to Learn More?

For a complete picture on the state of digital publishing, you can download our complimentary Digital Publishing Benchmarks Report by clicking on the button below.

When it comes to preserving phone battery, people have been known to get a little crazy.

In fact, back in July, a Long Island teen actually hopped on stage at a Broadway show in an attempt to charge his cellphone using an outlet he’d spotted. And in an even stranger turn of events back in May, a New Jersey man snuck into a home and hid under a bed for three days to charge his arsenal of four cellphones. 

While these situations are, in fact, a little outrageous, it’s likely that you’re no stranger to the slow, undeniable anxiety that comes with a low phone battery warning. What will you do? How will you get home? What if your boss calls?

To help you take control of your device usage, we’ve come up with a handful of helpful tips for saving battery life on your iPhone and Android devices. From disabling notifications to adjusting your display and brightness, these tips can help you hang on to your charge for just a little longer throughout the day.

Note: The menu settings may vary depending on your specific device. 

12 Tips for Saving Battery Life on Your Phone

1) Disable notifications.

When you’re running on low battery, turning off unnecessary notifications can help to save some of that juice. While you may want to leave your text messages or email notifications on, you can selectively disable others to avoid wasting power.

On iPhone, head to Settings > Notifications > Notification Style. From here, you can adjust the notification settings for each app by tapping into them. 

On Android, go to Settings > Sound and Notification > App Notifications. Simply tap the app you want to stop, then swipe the toggle button to disable notifications.

2) Activate Low Power Mode.

Even when you aren’t using your phone, there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that can drain your battery. Turning your device on Low Power Mode or Doze for Android will help you reduce this.

On iPhone, go to Settings > Battery > and tap the toggle button to activate Low Power Mode. This setting is designed to temporarily reduce power consumption. By turning this function on, mail fetch, background app refresh, automatic downloads, and some visual effects are reduced or turned off to preserve battery life. 

On Android, users can activate Doze mode. Android uses motion detection to learn if a device has been left unattended — let’s say you left your phone at your desk during a meeting. When it recognizes this, the software will back off background activity to save battery.

3) Turn off Location Services.

Believe it or not, your device keeps a pretty close eye on you. In fact, depending on your location settings, it probably knows where you are right now. While these settings can be valuable at times, they do cause your battery power to diminish, so it’s best to turn them off when you don’t need them.

On iPhone, go to Settings > Privacy > and tap the toggle to turn off Location Services. This service uses GPS, Bluetooth, and WiFi hot spots and tower locations to determine your location. When you don’t need this functionality, turn it off.

On Android, go to Settings > Location > and then change the mode to Battery Saving.

4) Adjust background wallpaper.

Many iPhone users debate whether or not Apple’s parallax effect is cool or just plain dizzying. Either way, it does suck up battery life, so it’s best to turn it off when your battery is quickly draining.

To do so, visit Settings > General > Accessibility and tap the toggle to switch Reduce Motion to “on.”

Similarly, Android offers the same parallax feature on some devices, but they also offer moving, live wallpaper for users looking for home screen customization. While some of the options are really neat, they do have a tendency to compromise your battery life.

To adjust your wallpaper settings on Android devices, tap and hold the Home screen to open the Add to Home menu. From here, select Wallpapers and choose from: Gallery, Live wallpapers, and Wallpapers. Note: Many people suggest setting black wallpaper on devices with an OLED screen to get more usage out of the battery.

5) Turn off Background App Refresh.

When your background applications refresh, they use up your processing power, so turning this setting off will help you to hold on to some of that life. 

On iPhone, head to Settings > General > Background App Refresh.

On Android, pull down the notification bar for Settings. Then, tap the gear symbol > Data Usage under Wireless and Networks > tap the three dots on the right > Restrict Background Data. 

6) Adjust display and brightness.

Ever notice that the brightness of your screen automatically adjusts to your surroundings? While it’s certainly a cool feature, it can be troubling when running on low battery. To save power, we recommend you turn it off.

On iPhone, go to Settings > Display & Brightness and disable Auto-Brightness. You can adjust the brightness by sliding your finger along the brightness scale until you reach a level that works for you. 

On Android, select Main Menu > Settings > Display > Brightness > and choose either Automatic Brightness or adjust manually using the sliding scale.

7) Check for software updates.

Haven’t gotten around to updating your software yet? That could be the answer to your battery life woes. In fact, most software updates contain files that promote better battery life.

For example, Apple’s iOS 9 release is said to include “power efficiency improvements” that — depending on the device type — can give users an extra hour of battery life. 

To check for new updates on iPhone, go to Settings > General > Software Update.

To check for new updates on Android, Settings > About Phone > Software Update.

8) Disable automatic updates.

While helpful at times, automatic updates may be sucking up some of your data and battery life without you realizing it. Luckily, this function can be both enabled and disabled, so you can choose when you want it to come into play.

On iPhone, head to Settings > iTunes & App Store > turn the Updates toggle off. If you only want updates to occur when you’re connected to WiFi, tap the Use Cellular Data toggle.

On Android, visit the Google Play Store > Settings > Auto-Update Apps > select “Do not auto-update apps.”

9) Force apps to close.

When you exit an app and click into a new one, you’re not truly shutting it down. In fact, the app will continue to run even when you’re not in it … unless you force it to shut down. 

On iPhone, tap the home button twice to pull up a preview of your recently used apps. Swipe left to find an app you want to quit, and swipe up on the app’s preview to close it.

On Android, go to Settings > Apps. From here you can select the app(s) you want to close out by tapping Force Stop. (Note: This function is not available for all apps.)

10) Adjust sync settings.

Depending on your needs, you probably don’t need to have all of your apps syncing at all times. While adjusting or turning off sync for an app won’t remove it from your device, it will prevent it from being kept up to date with changes you make throughout the day, which can save a lot of battery.

On iPhone, go to Settings > iCloud, then switch the toggle next to each option to turn your iCloud settings on or off. 

On Android, open Settings > Accounts. In the top-right corner, tap the three dots and then check or uncheck “auto-sync data.”

11) Turn on Airplane Mode.

When you’re not using your phone and could use the lack of distractions, turn your phone on Airplane Mode. This setting allows you to turn off the cellular connection, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth on your phone all at once to save battery power.

On iPhone, go to Settings and switch the Airplane Mode toggle on. 

On Android, open Settings > More > Airplane Mode.

12) Identify the source of the problem.

Not all apps are created equal. In fact, depending on your usage habits, some apps suck up a lot more juice than others. However, once you identify the ones hogging all of your battery, it’s much easier to limit your usage strategically when you’re trying to preserve power. 

On iPhone, go to Settings > Battery > and scroll down to Battery Usage to view the percentage of battery used by each app during a specific time frame. 

On Android, navigate to Settings > Battery to view the same breakdown of your apps and their exhausted battery power percentages. 

What are your favorite tips for saving battery power on mobile devices? Share them in the comments section below.