Google search operators: the complete list
“ ”
|
Search for results that mention a word or phrase. | “steve jobs” |
OR
|
Search for results related to X or Y. | jobs OR gates |
|
|
Same as OR:
|
jobs | gates |
AND
|
Search for results related to X and Y. | jobs AND gates |
-
|
Search for results that don’t mention a word or phrase. | jobs -apple |
*
|
Wildcard matching any word or phrase. | steve * apple |
( )
|
Group multiple searches. | (ipad OR iphone) apple |
define:
|
Search for the definition of a word or phrase. | define:entrepreneur |
cache:
|
Find the most recent cache of a webpage. | cache:apple.com |
filetype:
|
Search for particular types of files (e.g., PDF). | apple filetype:pdf |
ext:
|
Same as filetype:
|
apple ext:pdf |
site:
|
Search for results from a particular website. | site:apple.com |
related:
|
Search for sites related to a given domain. | related:apple.com |
intitle:
|
Search for pages with a particular word in the title tag. | intitle:apple |
allintitle:
|
Search for pages with multiple words in the title tag. | allintitle:apple iphone |
inurl:
|
Search for pages with a particular word in the URL. | inurl:apple |
allinurl:
|
Search for pages with multiple words in the URL. | allinurl:apple iphone |
intext:
|
Search for pages with a particular word in their content. | intext:apple iphone |
allintext:
|
Search for pages with multiple words in their content. | allintext:apple iphone |
weather:
|
Search for the weather in a location. | weather:san francisco |
stocks:
|
Search for stock information for a ticker. | stocks:aapl |
map:
|
Force Google to show map results. | map:silicon valley |
movie:
|
Search for information about a movie. | movie:steve jobs |
in
|
Convert one unit to another. | $329 in GBP |
source:
|
Search for results from a particular source in Google News. | apple source:the_verge |
before:
|
Search for results from before a particular date. | apple before:2007-06-29 |
after:
|
Search for results from after a particular date. | apple after:2007-06-29 |
1. Find possible indexing issues
Eyeballing the results of a site: search for your website can uncover potential indexing issues.
For example, if we combine it with the filetype: operator, we see that this 3D printing company has quite a few PDFs indexed:
site:alonak.com filetype:pdf
2. Find and analyze your competitors
Use the related: operator to find websites related to yours, which are often competitors.
related:alonak.com
You can then use other search operators to investigate these sites further.
For example, if we search for site:moz.com, we can quickly see that it has published a lot of content on its blog, help section, and “SEO Learning Center.”
site:alonak.com
3. Find guest post opportunities
Most people find guest posting opportunities by searching for “write for us” pages in their niche.
For example, if you have a website about coffee, you can search for something like coffee intitle:"write for us" inurl:write-for-us:
4. Find resource page opportunities
Resource pages curate and link to the best resources on a topic. This makes them great link prospects if you have a fitting resource.
To find them in Google, search for: [topic] intitle:resources inurl:resources.
For example, if you want to build links to a coffee resource, you can search for this:
5. Find files you don’t want in Google’s index
You probably don’t want Google to index every file you upload to your website.
For example, if you have PDFs behind lead magnets or content upgrades, you probably want to protect those files to prevent people from finding them on Google.
Let’s use the filetype: operator to check for these on ahrefs.com.
6. Find the email address of the person you want to reach out to
People often share their email addresses on Twitter, so you can use search operators to find those tweets.
For example, if you wanted to find Tim Soulo’s email address, you could search for any of his tweets that mention the word “email” and “gmail.com” or “ahrefs.com” (as his email address is almost certainly at one of those domains).
If you do this, his email address pops up right away:
7. Find opportunities to add internal links
Internally linking to important content from other relevant pages on your website can send it more traffic and potentially help it to rank higher in organic search.
For example, let’s say we wanted to add some internal links to our list of SEO tips.
If we search in Google for site:ahrefs.com/blog "SEO tips", we’ll find blog posts mentioning the phrase “SEO tips” somewhere in their content.