Google might be the ultimate search engine. But it’s still a search engine. It’s only as good as the instructions you give it.
So did you know that Google has a plethora of search operators that make it easy for you to find exactly what they’re looking for?
Whether you’re doing research for a content strategy, trying to grow your personal brand, or even looking for linking opportunities for your business’ website, search operators are here to make your searches more effective. But first, you have to know how they work.
I’ve compiled a list of Google’s search operators, as well as examples of how to use them. Then, I dive into how to combine these operators to get the most out of your search.
Google Search Operators
Allinanchor: (also inanchor:)
What it means
Anchor text is text on a page that is linked to another page or a different section of its current page. When using the allinanchor: operator, you’re restricting search results to pages containing all query terms in the anchor text on the page.
How to use it
Say you search for inanchor:”award-winning football WorldCup”. You’ll only get results in which the anchor text on links to the pages contains “award-winning,” “football,” and “WorldCup”.
Allintext: (also intext:)
What it means
Searching with the allintext: operator limits your search results to those containing all of your search terms somewhere on the page, but not necessarily in that order or right next to each other.
How to use it
Say you search for allintext:”web hosting cheap india”. Your search results will only show webpages with the words web hosting, cheap, and india somewhere in the copy. Using allintext is a great way to narrow down your search results to find relevant information.
*Hint: You can use intext: to search for one specific word that should be include in the web page, or use the explicit phrase operator to find a specific phrase in the text (e.g. intext:“
web hosting cheap india”)
Allintitle: (also intitle:)
What it means
The title of a webpage is usually at the top of the browser window, and is specified by the author of the page as the HTML TITLE element. Using the allintitle: operator restricts search results to those that feature your query in the title.
How to use it
By searching allintitle:”SEO marketing”, you will only see results that have “SEO marketing” in the title. This is a great way to get web pages, blogs, articles, and other resources that are specific to the topic you are searching for. You can also use the allintitle: operator to find images through image search and specific Google News stories.
*Hint: Just like the intext operator, use intitle: when you have one word or phrase you would like to appear in the title tag of a web document.
allinurl: (also inurl:)
What it is
The allinurl: operator restricts your search results to documents or pages containing your search terms in the url of the webpage. While urls typically have words running together, you don’t need to search that way. Google will include those URLs based on your normal search spacing.
How to use it
By searching allinurl:content conference, your search results will only contain pages that have “content” and “conference” in the url.
*Hint: Similar to the intitle operator, use inurl: when you’d like specific words to appear in the web URL.
Filetype:
What it is
The filetype: search operator limits your search results to the file type you are searching for. This operated is used as a suffix to your search query to limit the types of information you are perusing in your search.
How to use it
Say you want to look at some presentations on dog grooming to inspire your next business pitch for your dog grooming business. By searching room interior pricing filetype:pdf, your search results would be limited to pdf files that contain the words “room”, “interior”, and “pricing”, giving you direct access to valuable resources without having to search through articles and other non-pertinent information.
Link:
What is it
This common search operator will show a sample of backlinks of a website by showing websites that link out to the site you enter.
How to use it
If you want to see a sample of backlinks your own website has, you would search link:www.yoursite.com. Google would then return the web documents that link out to your site, showing you how many backlinks you have across the web.
*Hint to get more & better results – you’ll need to use a tool like Ahrefs to get backlink information.
Related:
What is it
The related: search operator will return search results that are similar to the webpage you place after the colon.
How to use it
If you’re interested in finding link building opportunities and have an example of a good site that you could get a link from, you can use the related: operator to find more opportunities. So if you’re a drug store who received a link on cosmehunt.com, you could look for similar opportunities for link building by searching related:cosmehunt.com.
Site:
What is it
This search operator is used to search within a specific site.
How to use it
To find a piece of information (or types of information) from a specific source, use the site: operator to limit your search to just within a certain website. So if you want to find medicine from popular Japan drug store, you would search drug store site:cosmehunt.com.
*Hint: The site: search operator can also be used to search sites more thoroughly by adding either the folder or the subdomain of the site.
Minus operator [-]:
What is it
The minus operator excludes certain words from your search results.
How to use it
Let’s pretend you own a smoke shop that sells specialty pipes and cigars. You want to find some link building opportunities for your online store, but you don’t want to sort through thousands of search results about all types of pipes. You could use the – operator to exclude words that typically accompany pipes, such as “plumbing” or “pvc”. It would look like this: pipes -plumbing -pvc.
Wildcard operator [*]:
What is it
The wildcard operator creates a placeholder in your search query and allows Google to fill it in.
How to use it
The wildcard operator is a versatile search tool. It can be used to find the missing lyric of a song, the missing word in a popular quote, or even to generate content ideas. Say you’re a baker looking for some inspiration on popular topics to blog about. By searching for baking in the *, your search query bar will fill with popular searches that fill in the wildcard space. From there, you can find all sorts of content that people discover when they’re looking for a particular topic.
Google is very unique!
Now you’ve seen how many different ways you can use Google search operators. Once you really get them down, the opportunities are endless. All you have to do is identify what it is you’re searching for, then use search operator combinations to narrow down your results. It may take a couple tries before you find the exact information, but it’s way faster than sorting through 20+ pages of generic search results!
