Utilise These 35+ Google Search Operators for Effective Searches- Tips and Usage Insights

Understanding Google Search Operators

Do you ever find yourself overwhelmed by the sheer volume of search results when trying to find specific information on Google? Well, fret no more! Google search operators and keywords are here to save the day.

What exactly are search operators, you ask? These nifty commands are specially designed to help you narrow down your search and obtain more precise results. By using search operators, you can easily find information from specific websites, uncover hidden gems, and optimise your SEO efforts.

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One commonly used search operator is the “site:” command. Let’s say you want to explore SEO tips specifically from the experts at Traffic Radius. By including “site:trafficradius.com” in your search query, you’ll instantly filter out irrelevant results and focus solely on the valuable insights provided by Traffic Radius.

But wait, there’s more! Google offers a plethora of search operators and keywords, each serving a unique purpose in enhancing your search experience. These handy tools are particularly beneficial for SEO activities, such as building internal links, identifying potential guest posting opportunities, and troubleshooting site indexing issues.

By mastering search operators and incorporating targeted Google keywords into your searches, you can take your SEO game to the next level. No longer will you drown in a sea of irrelevant information. Instead, you’ll swiftly navigate through the digital landscape, discovering hidden opportunities and gaining a competitive edge.

So, are you ready to unlock the full potential of search operators and Google keywords? Let’s embark on this exciting journey together and harness the true power of precise and efficient online searches. Let the exploration begin!

Comprehensive List of Over 35 Google Search Operators

Google provides several search operators that can help refine your search queries. These operators allow you to specify certain criteria and find more accurate and relevant search results. Here are some of the search operators list supported by Google:

• intitle: Searches for pages that contain a specific word in the title tag. Example: intitle:pizza
• allintitle: Shows pages where the title tag includes all of the specified words. Example: allintitle:pizza recipe
• related: Finds sites related to a particular domain. Example: related:nytimes.com
• OR (|): Retrieves results related to either of the two search terms. Example: pizza OR pasta or pizza | pasta
• AND: Retrieves results related to both searched terms. (Usually implied in Google search queries) Example: pizza AND pasta
• – (minus): Excludes a specific term or phrase from the search results. Example: digital marketing -jobs
• (): Groups multiple terms or search operators to influence the final search. Example: Tesla (Model S OR Model Y)
• * (asterisk): Acts as a wild card and fills in the missing word or phrase. Example: best * in Paris
• define: Shows the definition for a specific word or concept. Example: define:algorithm
• filetype (ext): Finds results of a particular file format (e.g., PDF, XLS, PPT, DOCX, etc.). Example: filetype:pdf climate change or ext:pdf climate change
• cache: Displays the most recent cached version of a webpage. Example: cache:semrush.com
• site: Finds results from a specific website. Example: site:nytimes.com
• inurl: Searches for pages that include a specific word in the URL. Example: inurl:shampoo
• allinurl: Shows pages where the URL includes all of the specified terms. Example: allinurl:best baby shampoos
• weather: Provides current weather conditions for a particular location. Example: weather:london
• map: Displays a map of a specific location. Example: map:new york
• movie: Shows information about a specific movie. Example: movie:avengers endgame
• stocks: Displays stock prices and other financial information for a particular company. Example: stocks:tesla
• intext: Looks for pages that contain a specific word in the content. Example: intext:AI
• allintext: Shows pages where the content contains all the specified words. Example: allintext:SEO tips
• source: Finds news articles from a specific source in Google News. Example: tesla source:nytimes.com
• in: Converts one unit to another (currency, weights, distance, temperature, time, etc.). Example: 999 usd in eur
• “Search term”: Searches for an exact phrase instead of individual words. Example: “best pizza in new york city”
• AROUND(X): Searches for pages where two words appear within a certain distance from each other. Example: Tesla AROUND(5) Model S
• location: Narrows results to a specific location. Example: location:seattle pizza
• blogurl: Deprecated operator. Previously used to find all of a domain’s blog URLs. Example: blogurl:semrush.com
• #..#: Deprecated operator. Previously used to search for information within a specific range of numbers. Example: best movies 1990..1999
• inanchor: Operator that finds webpages with links pointing to them using specific anchor text. Example: inanchor:books
• allinanchor: Operator that works like “inanchor” but only returns pages where the link’s anchor text contains all specified words. Example: allinanchor:best books 2023
• + (plus): Deprecated operator. Previously used to find pages that mention a specific word or phrase exactly as written. Example: Semrush +team
• # (hashtag): Deprecated operator. Previously used to see content that used a specific hashtag. Example: #throwbackfriday
• ~ (tilde): Deprecated operator. Previously used to find pages that contain synonyms for a word or phrase. Example: ~healthy recipes
• link: Deprecated operator. Previously used to search for webpages that link to a specific URL. Example: link:nytimes.com
• info: Deprecated operator. Previously used to find more information about a specific URL or domain. Example: info:semrush.com
• daterange: Deprecated operator. Previously used to search for content published within a specific date range. Example: daterange:23001-23091 SEO
• inpostauthor: Deprecated operator. Previously used to search for content written by a specific author. Example: inpostauthor:Neil Gaiman
• phonebook: Deprecated operator. Previously used to find a person’s phone number. Example: phonebook:elon musk
• inposttitle: Deprecated operator. Previously used to search for blog posts with specific words in the title. Example: inposttitle:SEO tips

These are just a few examples of the search operators supported by Google. They can be combined or used individually to customise your searches and find the information you need more effectively.

However, some operators have been deprecated or no longer work reliably, so it’s important to be aware of their limitations.

Leveraging Google Advanced Search Operators for SEO Success

Google search operators are useful for various SEO tasks. Like:

Building internal links Finding site indexing issues Finding websites for guest posting Let’s explore the use cases in more detail.

• Get Internal Linking Ideas

  Internal links are hyperlinks that connect one page on a website to another page on the same website.

  They’re important for SEO for three main reasons:

  Internal links help users discover more content on your site. They help search engines crawl and index your site more efficiently. They can spread link equity (ranking power) throughout your website. To give your SEO a boost, regularly check your website for internal linking opportunities and add relevant links.

  Google search parameters can help you generate internal linking ideas.

  For example, if we want to add internal links to this guide, we can search Google with search operators like this:

  site:trafficradius.com/blog/ “Google advanced search operators”

  Google will show relevant articles where we mention the phrase “Google advanced search operators” somewhere in the content, allowing us to add internal links from them.

  

• Find Site Indexation Issues

  Indexation is the process whereby Google stores your website pages in its search index—a database containing billions of webpages.

  Your webpages must be indexed by Google to appear in search results and receive traffic.

  Google search operators can check whether your website pages are indexed.

  Use the “site:” search operator.

  For example, if you want to check the index status of trafficradius.com, search for “site:trafficradius.com.”

  This tells you roughly how many of the site’s pages Google has indexed.

  The number of indexed pages for “site:trafficradius.com” shows “about XXX results (X.XX seconds).”

  Note: These are approximations. For the exact number of indexed pages, check Google Search Console.

  You can also review whether specific pages are indexed by searching the page URL with the “site:” search operator.

  This is helpful to confirm whether Google has indexed the new articles you’ve published on your website.

  For example, we recently published a new guide on using Google search operators.

  To confirm whether Google has indexed it, we can search for

  “site:trafficradius.com/blog/google-search-operators/”

  As you can see, the page appears in Google search results, indicating that there are likely no indexation issues.

• Find Websites for Guest Posting

  Guest posting is where you write blog posts for other websites in your niche to promote your brand and build links.

  To find relevant guest posting opportunities for your website, use Google search operators like these:

  Your keyword intitle:”write for us”
  Your keyword intitle:”become a contributor”
  Your keyword intitle:”contribute”
  Your keyword intitle:”guest post”
  Your keyword intitle:”submit a post”
  Your keyword intitle:”submit an article”

  These operators will return sites that accept guest posts within your niche.

  For example, if we want to find guest posting opportunities for digital marketing websites, we’ll search Google like this:

  digital marketing intitle:”write for us”

  Google will display websites that accept guest posts in the digital marketing niche.

• Find Non-Secure Pages on Your Domain

  Pages on your website that still use HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) are not secure for visitors.

  To find non-secure pages on your website, combine the “site:” and “-inurl:” operators like this:

  “site:yourwebsite.com -inurl:https”

  This search query will reveal any non-secure pages you may have on your site.

  Alternatively, Traffic Radius’s Site Audit tool can identify non-secure pages. Set up a project in the tool and run an audit of your website. The tool will detect and report any non-secure pages it finds.

• Find Resource Pages for Link Building

  Resource pages are webpages that curate and link out to useful industry resources such as articles or tools.

  To find websites that curate resource pages, use Google search operators like these:

  Your keyword intitle:resources
  Your keyword intitle:links
  Your keyword inurl:resources
  Your keyword inurl:links

  These operators will return sites that curate and link out to relevant resources in your niche.

  For example, if we want to find resource page opportunities for SEO websites, we’ll search Google like this:

  SEO intitle:resources

  Google will display websites that curate SEO resources.

• Track Down Duplicate Content Issues

  Duplicate content is when the exact same content appears on the web in more than one place.

  To find duplicate content issues, use Google search operators like this:

  -site:yourdomain.com “the sentence or block of text you are checking for duplicates”

  Here, we’re using the exclusionary “-site:” operator to exclude results from your own site. The quotation marks help you find the exact sentence or block of text elsewhere on the web.

  If you notice your content is duplicated on other sites, reach out to them and ensure they link back to your site with proper attribution.

  To find duplicate content on your own website, use the following operators:

  site:yourdomain.com “the sentence or block of text you are checking for duplicates”

  This search query will show if there are multiple matching results present on your site.

  Traffic Radius’s Site Audit tool can also find duplicate content issues. After setting up a project and running a full crawl of your site, navigate to the “Issues” tab and search for “duplicate content.” The tool will show if you have duplicate content on your own site and provide guidance on how to fix it.

• Find Files You Don’t Want to Keep in Google’s Index

  To check whether Google has indexed certain files on your website, use the “site:” and “filetype:” operators like this:

  “site:yourdomain.com filetype:pdf”

  This will show if your PDF files (or any other file types) are indexed by Google. If you don’t want them to appear in search results, consider adding the “noindex” attribute to those files.

• Search Outreach Prospects’ Social Media Profiles

  To find social media profiles of your outreach prospects, use Google search operators like this:

  prospect’s name site:twitter.com OR site:facebook.com OR site:linkedin.com

  This search query will display your prospect’s profiles on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, allowing you to contact them through those platforms.

These are just a few examples of how you can use Google search operators for various SEO tasks. Experiment with different operators and search queries to uncover more opportunities and insights.

Becoming Proficient in the List of Google Search Operators

Mastering the use of Google search commands is a valuable skill that requires dedication and practice. However, the rewards far outweigh the effort.

By utilizing Google search modifiers, you can refine your searches and eliminate unwanted or irrelevant results. These operators are indispensable for conducting routine SEO tasks.

To assist you in becoming proficient in Google search operators, we have created a convenient cheat sheet. This downloadable resource serves as a comprehensive reference guide, providing you with the most valuable search operators.

Take advantage of this opportunity to enhance your expertise in Google search operators. Download our cheat sheet now and embark on your journey to mastery.