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google search operators

Google Search Operators: An Advanced SEO Guide

Web admins and SEO specialists often spend hours googling different keywords for content creation and SEO purposes. Usually, the content quality largely depends on the amount of time spent researching to craft a perfect copy.

However, a significant amount of time is spent on trying to find the right search results on Google, not on reading and acquiring valuable information.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, there are several Google search tricks and Google commands that’ll help anyone get the exact results they are looking for. These types of search functionality make your search results more precise and allow you to improve productivity significantly while getting things done faster.

Now, let’s learn all the Google search codes.

Advanced Google Search Operators

Cache: Find the most recent cache of a webpage

The ‘cache’ operator helps you find the most recent cache of a specified web page. When you use this operator, Google shows the most recent cache instead of the SERP, and you can see the date at the top of the page. You can identify when a web page was last crawled using this operator.

Example:
cache:domainname.com

Allintext: Find web pages that have all the search terms in the content

This operator shows results that have all your search terms in the text of the web page.

Example:
allintext:sponsored tag seo

Intext: To find web pages with at least one of the search terms in the text content

This operator is similar to ‘allintext,’ but more global as it shows results with at least one or more search terms in text, title, URL, or other parts of the web page.

Example:
intext:tesla

Inposttitle: Find blog posts with specific terms in the title

The ‘inposttitle’ operator helps you find blog posts with your search query in the title. This can be very useful when performing research for content creation.

Example:
Inposttitle:avoid manual action Google

Allintitle: Find web pages with all the search terms in the title

This operator is a great way to find web pages with all the keywords in the title, and it is really helpful when you want to find blogs that match the content you’re writing about. You can use this command for YouTube advanced search as well.

Example
allintitle:advanced image seo

Intitle: Find web pages with specific search terms in the title

The previous operator shows web pages with all the search terms in the title, whereas this one shows results with at least one of the search terms in the title. Intitle also works as a YouTube search operator.

Example:
intitle:how to write case studies

Allinurl: Find web pages with all the search terms in the URL

URLs also contribute to SEO, and thus web admins include the most important keywords in the permalink. The Allinurl search command allows you to find web pages that have all the search terms in the URL of the page.

If you want to narrow down the results to a single domain, you can also enter the domain name.

Example:
allinurl:moz.com backlink statistics

Inurl: Find web pages with specific keywords in the URL

You can use the ‘inurl’ operator to find web pages that have at least one of the search terms in the URL of the page. Just like Allinurl, you can add the domain name to narrow down the search results to a single website.

Example:
inurl:Google site search syntax

Allinanchor: Find anchor texts with all the search terms

This operator comes in handy when you’re building backlinks or researching others’ off-page SEO tactics. By using this command, you can find backlinks that have all the search terms in the anchor text.

Example:
allinanchor:Google search tools

Inanchor: Find anchor texts with some of the keywords

This operator shows links with at least one of the search terms in the anchor text.

Example:
inanchor:optimize images for SEO

Source: Find news from a specific source

You can use this operator to find news results from a particular source on Google News.

Example:
Tesla source:the_guardian

Filetype: Search for specific file types on Google

The ‘filetype’ operator is beneficial when you want to narrow down the search results to specific file types. You can add any extension such as JPEG, PNG, PDF, etc., and Google will return results matching the extension.

This operator is helpful when you want to find whitepapers and study reports for creating infographics.

Example:
Backlink building filetype:pdf

Around(): Find results that have your Google search terms close to each other

The ‘around()’ operator helps you find web pages with your search terms close to each other. You can enter a number, let’s say X, in the parentheses, and Google will return matching results that have your search terms within X words of each other.

Example:
Google AROUND(2) operators

This query will show results with the search terms ‘Google’ and ‘operators’ within two words of each other.

OR (|): Find results that match with one phrase or the other

The ‘OR’ operator returns web pages that match with one phrase or the other we type into the search bar. You can type ‘|’ instead of ‘OR’ as well.

Example:
Inbound links OR backlinks

In: Convert from one unit to another

When you want to convert between two equivalent units, you can use the ‘in’ operator. You can convert currencies, measurements, etc., using this command.

Example:
1 AUD in USD

Quotes(“phrase”): Find exact match results

To find web pages that have exact matching terms to your Google search keywords, you can add the search terms inside double-quotes.

Example:
“How to build backlinks”

Exclude(-): Exclude certain domains or words

If you want to exclude a site from Google search or see results without certain terms, you can employ the minus sign.

Example:
Acrylic paint -amazon.com

This query will show you all the relevant web pages except those from the domain amazon.com.

Add words: (+)

You can use the plus sign to include certain words in the search results.

Example:
Boolean operators +list

Wildcard: (*)

An asterisk in Google search works as a wildcard that could be filled by any word.

Example:
Top * Google ranking signals

#..#: Google custom range search

Do you want to find news published between certain dates? Or do you want to see results that match any integer between two numbers? Just use (..) between those numbers.

Example:
Apple event 2019..2021

Site: Search within a domain

Also known as the insite search, the ‘site’ operator allows you to narrow down the Google search to a specific site.

Example:
Backlink building site:moz.com

Related: Find related websites and domains

You can find sites related to a domain using the ‘related’ search operator.

Example:
related:moz.com

Weather: Get the weather report in a snippet

The ‘weather’ operator is used to find the weather of a specific location. You can add any location after the operator, and Google will show the weather report in a snippet.

Example:
weather:London

Stocks:

Want to see stock information for a specific ticker? Just use the ‘stocks’ operator followed by the stock name.

Example:
stocks:AAPL

Map: View the map of a specific location

You can use the ‘map’ operator to look at maps of specific locations.

Example:
map:San Francisco

Movie:

Want to find information about a specific movie? Just use the ‘movie’ operator followed by the movie name.

Example:
movie:interstellar

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Frequently asked questions

FAQ

How do I use Google search operators?

To use Google search operators effectively, identify whether narrowing down your search can give you better results. If yes, find the right operator to improve your results and use it properly in the Google search bar. On pressing Enter, your results will be narrowed down as per the operators you used.

What's one way you use Google Search operators to inform your content strategy?

When developing a content strategy, finding the exact match results is essential to explore the content gap and understand the ranking potential of the article. Using quotation marks on your keyword can force Google to show you exact-match results.

What are the best ways to use the Google search operator?

You can use Google search operators to find related websites, search whether your competitor has a page targeting the same keywords, and find duplicate content issues. Google search operators can also help you find indexation errors and internal linking opportunities.

What are Google operators and how do they work?

Google search operators are characters and commands that you can add to your Google search to get more refined and targeted results. These commands tell Google to omit or include specific types of results, leading to a more filtered results page.

What is the link operator in Google search?

The link operator allowed users to find pages that link to a specific URL. It was very helpful to find backlink-building opportunities. However, Google does not support the link operator anymore, and it returns irrelevant results today.

What is a search operator?

A search operator is a character or string of characters that represents a particular search command. Operators in mathematics and computer science define the cause of an action (or the action) to be performed. For example, the “site:” search operator allows you to search for results from a specific website

What are some examples of search operators?

Here are some examples of search operators:

“site:” – searches for results from a specific website
“inurl:” – searches for results that include a specific word or phrase in the URL
“intitle:” – searches for results that include a particular word or phrase in the title
“filetype:” – searches for results that contain a specific file type

Is 'site' a Google search operator?

Yes, “site:” is a Google search operator that allows you to search for results from a specific website.

Is Yahoo a search engine or database?

Yahoo is not a search engine. It’s actually a web portal that uses Bing to power its search engine.

What does the "site" search operator do?

The site search operator allows you to search for results from a specific website. For example, if you wanted to find all the results on Google from the website example.com, you would use the search operator “site:example.com”.

What is the difference between a search engine and a search operator?

A search engine is a tool that allows you to search the internet for information. A search operator is a character or string of characters that represents a particular search command. You can use search operators to get more specific results from a search engine.