Most search engines allow users to enter specific punctuation marks with the search terms in order to narrow or expand the search results. Using advanced search punctuation enables entrepreneurs to sharpen their search and eliminate irrelevant results. This article will focus on using advanced search punctuation for Craigslist searches, though the general strategies are applicable for most major search engines.
When you enter two or more words into the Craigslist search box, it will display any listings that contain all of those words. This means if you searched for the words fire truck, you might get results for fire-damaged trucks or trucks with flames painted on them. If you were actually looking for a toy fire truck, you could enclose the words in parenthesis and you’d only get results with that exact word order. Additionally, you could add one more word, such as “fire truck” toy, and get an even more precise search.
If you are searching for an item and get a lot of unwanted results, you should consider using a minus sign. This allows you to exclude something specific from the results. For example, if you were looking for a new hunting rifle, but half of your search results were for Daisy air rifles, you could exclude the word “Daisy” from your search. To do this, you’d enter your search terms, “hunting rifle,“ and then put a minus sign before Daisy, like this: “hunting rifle” -Daisy. You could also exclude air rifles from your search by writing it like this: “hunting rifle” -Daisy -”air rifle.“
If you wanted a specific brand of rifle, you could include that in the search terms. For example, if you wanted to buy either a Remington or a Marlin rifle, you could find results from both these brands by writing it out like this: (Remington | Marlin) “hunting rifle.“ The vertical line divides the two words and makes the search relevant to both. And if for some reason you were getting air rifle results from this search, you could further refine it like this: (Remington | Marlin) “hunting rifle” -”air rifle.“
While advanced search punctuation may seem like a lot of work, it can save you a lot of time when it’s done correctly. Your results will be sharper and more relevant, helping you make the most of your search time.