Search Operators
Google Advanced Search Operators
Understanding how Google works, as a user, gives you an indispensable feeling, like you can find out anything on any topic within seconds, which is precisely what Google offers.
Google holds few obscurities with SEOs, particularly when it comes to using Google advanced search operators. This article will help you better understand how to get more with search Operators, advanced tactics, why you should use them, and how to put them in action.
It is safe to assume that you likely know your way around the Google search engine already. Therefore, we’ll begin with the advanced operators.
These operators help navigate specific sites or narrow your search in such a way anyone could comprehend.
Site
Typing this operator before your keyword helps limit and narrow your search to a single site. However, you can try a general search and check if your indexed pages match your database. An example of this is “site:teacup dogs.” a search like this will provide you strictly sites for Teacup dogs.
Use to: With this, you can find link opportunities on a particular site. You also find internal duplicate content with other SEO errors.
Source
This operator allows you to select a specific source from Google News. It is mostly useful if you need to cite a particular news source when you’re writing a news piece. Example – home automation source:Apple.
Use to: Find tidbits and quotes to spice up your content.
Intext
Typing Intext tells Google that you need results where the text (keyword) appears in the content’s body. This means if the text you are searching for appears in the title and not the body, it won’t be displayed on the SERPs. Since it functions the same as the regular Google result, it’s not always different when you just type keywords without including the “Intext.” However, it’s in this list mostly to contrast with the next operator. An example intext:scooters.
Allintext
This operator is very similar to the intext function, except all the word in the query has to be in the body of a page. Or else, Google search wouldn’t include it in the search results. It essentially functions as quotes on individual words. Example – allintext:scooters.
Used to: Force accurate results for a long-tail keyword.
Intitle
It tells Google that you only need results where pages include the searched keyword in their meta title. Intitle enables you to understand how many pages aim at a particular search term. Example – intitle:iPhone
Use to: Check levels of competitiveness of search phrases, and find backlinks.
Allintitle
Allintitle functions like the intitle operator but ensure every word in the search text is included in the meta tag of all displayed results. For instance, if you sell sportswear on your e-commerce site, you can use this advanced operator to find other sportswear sites on their sites. This is an easy way to know your competition and very helpful for your search engine marketing strategy.
Use to: Find business competitors, and measure levels of content meant for a long-tail keyword.
Inurl
Allinurl
This includes all the search query words and must be in the URL of the search results displayed. When using long search queries, this operator is handy as it provides only a few results. Example – allinurl:Samsung.
Use to: Filter out bad results for popular topics.
Filetype
This operator tells the Google search engine that you only want with a particular type of file. It is handy when you’re conducting research work, usually in PDF and other document file formats, instead of HTML.
Use to: Easily find research work, case studies, and statistics on a specific topic.
Related
This is another advanced operator that enables you to find several sites related to a particular URL. With this, you can understand how Google categorizes your website and your competitors.
Use to: Find competitors, and understand how Google categorizes your site.
AROUND(X)
AROUND helps limit the search results to strictly pages that contain search words within X words of each other. It comes in handy when you search for a quote or song lyric you can’t remember entirely. Google bolds the phrases it suggests you are searching for and not just the search words. You should note that it defines a range with a “max of X,” not only X. Example – SEO AROUND(10) best.
Use to: Find quotes you barely remember and find case studies/official statements/research that backs up a point you’re trying to make.
Other Basic Search Operators
Google’s fundamental search operators help filter the search results you get from your query and are more common than the advanced operators.
- Define:
- Cache:
- Weather:
- Stocks:
- Map:
- Movie:
- In / To
They might not be useful for all your research purposes, but understanding it is another piece of the puzzle having a holistic understanding of how the Google search engine works.
Conclusion
While APIs and SEO tools are increasingly getting sophisticated by the day, it wouldn’t hurt to go back to our fundamentals in search engine marketing. By utilizing the Google search engine operators yourself, you can get the first-hand experience as a consumer while also working on fixing SEO problems for your client or yourself.