Search engines are still among the most powerful Internet tools available to us. Over the years, search engines have grown in power, giving us new and useful ways of search the net for information. One of today’s most powerful search tools is Google.com. Google has grown in popularity and is considered the preferred search site for most Internet power users.

One of Google’s lesser-known search functions allows us to limit our queries to a web site we specify. For example, if I want to use Google.com to search for information on Final Cut Pro, I can narrow my search to results strictly to Apple’s web site (www.apple.com). In doing so, I will find all references to Final Cut Pro located at www.apple.com.

The syntax for this search is not much different from a normal Google Search. In order to search for Final Cut Pro related sites, you would normally do a search like this:

To narrow the search to only www.apple.com, you would simply specify your search like this:

By adding the search attribute of site:www.apple.com, Google knows to limit its search. This can be very useful in many situations. In my case, I was looking for information about Final Cut. Since Apple wrote the software package, I am most interested in product information available from them. This give me a quick and easy way to search Apple’s site, and find information I would not have found using Apple.com’s site search feature.

Safari Tip:
Apple’s Safari web browser has a Google search tool built-in. You can use it just as you would the Google web site. Just enter your search with the same criteria and achieve the same results without having to first load the main Google page.