So you thought searching the Web was all about entering keywords, sifting through the unrelated and the ridiculous, and eventually finding something almost like what you were looking for on page 38? Well, no longer.

Google has a ton of different ways you can better your search results, and a plethora of things you can search for. After poking through some great articles, and finding a huge number of search attacks, I decided the best thing to do is give you my Fav Five, and then let you look through the articles for even more.

So, here are five Google Search tips that rule:

Search for a specific type of result

Do you only want mp3′s in your results? Maybe you don’t want information about the Lord of the Rings books, but rather just the movies? To do so, here are two tips in one. To search for a certain file type, like .doc or .ppt, search “your search filetype:___”. It will filter results so you only get the ones you’re looking for. Also, you can search for “Lord of The Rings -book”. That little minus sign gets rid of all the references to the book in the search results.

Track Packages

Tracking your packages through FedEx or DHL can be a big pain. With Google, just search “yourcarrier Tracking#” and you’ll be given a link to the package. Click the link, and it’ll take you to the tracking site. All you need is who’s delivering and the tracking number, and Google can tell you where your package is, and when it’s getting to you.

Weather

I’ve tried Weather.com, Weatherunderground.com, and a ton of other sites, and have determined one thing- who knows about the actual weather? Google knows as well as anyone. Just search “weather” followed by the zip, city and state, or city and country. You’ll get the current weather, as well as the upcoming forecast. It’s as good as any other services, and is much easier than any others.

Movie Times

This is the one I use the most. All the different theater chains have different sites, and it’s very complicated. With Google, search “movies” and your zip code or city and state, and you’ll get a list of showtimes near you as the first result. You can change the day, the location, or sort by closest theater, movie ratings, or titles. View trailers, IMDB info, the works. All the information you need to pick a movie and get there is right on the results page.

Find Related Sites

This one’s more fun than anything, but is a useful way to find things that interest you. Search “related:yoururl.whatever” and Google brings you a group of similar sites. A search for “related:google.com” brings up Yahoo, AltaVista, MSN, MetaCrawler- all search engines. This is a neat way to find other sites you might be interested in, and to find alternatives to the ones you already use.

These ideas and more can be seen on a couple of great articles I found. One’s from MakeUseOf, here, one from BizznTech, here, and a Lifehacker article here.

Also, just for fun- Google “Chuck Norris,” and then click “I’m Feeling Lucky.” Awesome.