Searching within Google (or Bing, Yahoo or your favorite search engine) is simple: type your search term into the box and click Search. Many times, you will find exactly what you're looking for. But you can become more efficient at searching if you learn a few tricks.

This article by Alexandra Samuel lists ten tips for using search more effectively, including:

• Learn advanced syntax. Have you ever used a minus sign or an OR in a Google search? Learn about these powerful features and more on Google's Operators and More page. Or, use the Google Advanced Search form if you don't want to memorize all the options yourself.
• Go Boolean on your Inbox. Once you learn the advanced syntax for Google, you can use it to manage your Gmail inbox too. Click here to learn more.
• Add additional search engines to your browser. If you find yourself regularly searching a single site like Wikipedia or the New York Times, you can add it to your browser as a search plugin and choose it from the dropdown menu in your search bar. Use this site to find search plugins for popular web pages.
• Google your error messages. One of the quickest ways to find answers to any tech problem is to Google the specific error message you are seeing. This will almost always lead to a blog post or discussion thread with possible solutions to your problem.

For the complete article, click here.

Google Search has many useful and interesting features you may not be aware of. Did you know you can use it to quickly find the local time in any big city, convert currency, track the arrival and departure of a flight, and more? Find out about all these and more in this article by Gina Trapani for Lifehacker.