What are operators in Search?
Google search operators are special characters and keywords that can be used to filter, refine, and specify your search results on Google.com.
There are two types of search operators: regular expressions (symbols that you can use to stand in for unknown characters in a word or phrase) and special characters (keywords that do specific things).
You can use search operators to:
- Find pages that are similar to another page
- Find pages that link to another page
- Find pages that mention a specific word or phrase
Why are Google search operators something to consider with SEO research?
Search operators are important to consider when thinking about SEO because they can help you narrow down your search results and find the most relevant information for your needs.
Google offers a variety of search operators that you can use to find what you’re looking for.
Some of the most useful search operators include:
- intitle: searches for pages that have the specified word or phrase in the title
- inurl: searches for pages that have the specified word or phrase in the URL
- site: searches for pages from the specified domain
- filetype: searches for pages that have the specified file type
Using these search operators can help you find the most relevant information for your needs and make your SEO research more efficient, gaining further insights into SEO opportunities.
How to use Google Search Operators
To use Google Search Operators, follow these simple steps.
Firstly, enter your search term into the Google search bar. Then, add a space after your search term and enter one of the following search operators:
- intitle:
- allintitle:
- inurl:
- allinurl:
- site:
- filetype:
For example, if you want to search for articles about SEO, you would enter “SEO intitle:search.”
To view the results click https://www.google.com.au/search?q=SEO+intitle%3Asearch.
This returns articles with the word “SEO” in the title of the article.
You can also use multiple search operators at once. For example, “SEO filetype:pdf” would return all PDF files about SEO.
Finally, you can use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase.
42 Google search operators
Here’s a list of 42 Google Search Operators that can assist you with your SEO research needs.
1. allintitle: This operator returns only results that have all of the specified words in the title.
2. allinurl: This operator returns only results that have all of the specified words in the URL.
3. allintext: This operator returns only results that have all of the specified words in the text.
4. author: This operator returns only results that were written by the specified author.
5. cache: This operator returns a cached version of the specified page.
6. date: This operator returns only results that were published within the specified date range.
7. filetype: This operator returns only results of the specified file type.
8. group: This operator returns only results from the specified Google Groups group.
9. inanchor: This operator returns only results that have the specified word in the anchor text.
10. intitle: This operator returns only results that have the specified word in the title.
11. inurl: This operator returns only results that have the specified word in the URL.
12. link: This operator returns only results that link to the specified URL.
13. related: This operator returns only results that are similar to the specified URL.
14. site: This operator returns only results from the specified website.
15. source: This operator returns only results that are from the specified source.
16. title: This operator returns only results that have the specified word in the title.
17. info: This operator returns information about the specified URL.
18. feed: This operator returns the RSS or Atom feed for the specified URL.
19. blog: This operator returns only results that are from blogs.
20. book: This operator returns only results that are from books.
21. movie: This operator returns only results that are from movies.
22. music: This operator returns only results that are from music.
23. news: This operator returns only results that are from news.
24. pda: This operator returns only results that are formatted for PDAs.
25. phone: This operator returns only results that are formatted for phones.
26. video: This operator returns only results that are from videos.
27. location: This operator returns only results that are from the specified location.
28. language: This operator returns only results that are in the specified language.
29. region: This operator returns only results that are from the specified region.
30. site: This operator returns only results from the specified website.
31. daterange: This operator returns only results that were published within the specified date range.
32. all: This operator returns all results for the specified search terms.
33. any: This operator returns any results for the specified search terms.
34. exact: This operator returns only results that exactly match the specified search terms.
35. related: This operator returns only results that are similar to the specified URL.
36. intitle: This operator returns only results that have the specified word in the title.
37. inurl: This operator returns only results that have the specified word in the URL.
38. cache: This operator returns a cached version of the specified page.
39. info: This operator returns information about the specified URL.
40. filetype: This operator returns only results of the specified file type.
41. author: This operator returns only results that were written by the specified author.
42. group: This operator returns only results from the specified Google Groups group.