Google search operators allow users to refine search queries for more specific results. There are over 30 different operators that can be used to search by keyword, phrase, domain, file type, and other parameters. Some key operators include quotation marks to force exact matches, plus/minus signs to include or exclude terms, and site: to limit results to a specific domain. Mastering these search operators allows users to gain control over search results and find information more efficiently on Google.
2. Today lets dive into Google search operators and the full list of them.
Google Search Operators are the special commands or characters which
allow you to make a more specific search by adding some extra words or
symbols.
Basically, they are the shortcuts of getting a specific and accurate result.
When you use these search operators then you are telling to Google to
find results in a more specific way.
So instead of getting pages of unrelated results, you get only those
relevant results what you are looking for.
There are tons of search operators only you have to use them in the right
way.
3. How do I use Google Search Commands?
As you search for any queries in the Google search box, similar you have to
enter search operators in Google search box. This will give you the exact match
you are looking for.
We have a full list of search operators which will help you with different
functions. Here is an example of a search query which could look like by adding
a search operator in it:
Here in that example, Google will show you the results that include the exact
phrase of “digital marketing”, including space. Clearly, this gives you control over
the result that Google will show you.
Most of the search commands are easy to remember. They are very short so
that they stick in our mind. But knowing the search operators and using the
search operators is two different things. Because most of the Search Engine
Optimizer’s knows the basics of search characters, but only a few of them has
mastered it. So we should not know only the basics of search operators. We
must know also how to use them efficiently.
4. Different types of Google Search Operators: Full List
Did you know that Google has very killing useful operators?
That’s why most of the operator is out-dated in Google search operator
list.
But for this post, I personally used every search operators. Here I’ll share
the full important list of search operators with you.
Below we’ve listed some important Google search operators basic to
advance to make your searching power even more powerful.
5.
6. 2. “Search term”
Put any phrase in quotes means to force Google to use exact match or we
can say that it excludes synonyms when searching for single words.
For example-: “Social media”
Here in this example, Google will find the exact match of social media
keyword.
2. OR
Search for A or B. This will return the result related to A or B or both. We
can also use the pipe operator (|) in place of “OR” to search in Google.
For example-
digital marketing OR online marketing
Digital marketing | online marketing
7. 3. AND
Search for A and B. this will give you the result related to both A and B. As
Google defaults to “AND” anyway so it doesn’t make so much different in
regular searches. But it is a very powerful command when paired with
some other Google search operators.
For example- job AND business
4. –
This minus sign will help you to exclude those words which you don’t
want to appear in your search results.
For example- jobs –telecalling
Here in this example any pages returned will be related to jobs but not
voice process (the company).
8. 5. +
This plus sign will help you to add that words which you want to appear in
your search results. This Search operator has been discontinued by Google,
but you get the same output with double quotes search command.
For example- video marketing +SEO
Here in this example, any pages returned will be related to video marketing
as well as SEO also.
6. *
This Asterisk sign is known as the wild card operator. If you want to get
more matches in your result then you have to place this asterisk sign in a
phrase, it will give you the variation of the phrase. It is like filling between 2
words.
if you want to talk about the milk and curd then you have to put “*” in that
phrase.
For example- Milk * curd
9. 7. ( )
This parentheses sign will help you to group the multiple terms to control
how the search is executed in Google.
For example- (Note 8 or s8+) Samsung
8. $
You can search for prices with the dollar sign ($). Here you can combine the
($) and (.) for exact prizes.
For example- $18.88
9. €
You can search for prices with the euro sign (€). Some of the currency signs
don’t seem to be honoured by Google.
For example- €18.88
10. 10. intitle:
This Google search operator will help you to find the title of the page for a
word or phrase which is used in the title.
For example- intitle:SEO
In this example, any result containing the word SEO in the title tag will be
returned.
11. allintitle:
This is similar to “Intitle,” but it finds every individual term which is
specified in the title tag.
For example- allintitle:Samsung note8
11. 12. inurl:
This Google search operator will help you to find the pages with certain
words in the URL.
For example- inurl:SEO
In this example, any result containing the word “SEO” in the URL will be
returned.
13. allinurl:
This is similar to “inurl,” but it finds every individual term which is specified in
the URL.
For example- allinurl:Samsung note8
12. 14. intext:
This Google search operator finds the pages with a certain word (or
words) somewhere in the content.
For example- intext:SEO
In this example, any result containing the word “SEO” in the page content
will be returned.
15. allintext:
This is similar to “intext,” but it finds every individual term which is
specified somewhere in the page content.
For example- allintext:Samsung note8
13. 16. inanchor:
This search operator will help you to identify the pages with an inbound
link that contain the anchor text specified.
For example- inanchor:Samsung
In this example, any result with inbound links containing “Samsung” in
the anchor text will be returned.
17. allinanchor:
This similar to “inanchor,” but it finds the results containing all the
specified word in the inbound anchor text will be returned.
For example- allinanchor:Samsung note8
14. 18. cache:
This Google Search operator will help you to return the most recent
cached version of a webpage. This is useful for identifying the page
which was last crawled.
For example- cache:www.akdigihub.com
19. filetype:
If you want to find images that fall under your specific file type like
jpeg, png, gif etc. Then this search operator will help you to find such
type of specific files in Google.
Note: you can also use ‘ext’ operator instead of ‘filetype’ – results will
be identical.
For example- samsung filetype:png / samsung ext:pdf
15. 20. site:
If you want to search for more specific results that are created to a single
website then this search operator will help you bring those results up. for
example, if you wanted to search your favourite Digital marketing website
for the article “social media marketing” then this will give you the specific
result of that article.
For example- site:akdigihub.com social media marketing
21. related:
If you want to search for the websites that have similar content in Google,
then this search operator will help you to find such kind of websites.
For example- related:neilpatel.com
16. 22. info:
This search operator will help you to identify the information on that
website which you are searching for, Such as recent cache, similar pages
etc. But from 2017 the info command has been depreciated.
For example- info:samsung.com
23. AROUND(X):
If you want to narrow the focus of your result in Google, then this search
operator will help you to find that results. This helps to find content with
words which are ‘X’ number close to each other.
For example- redmi AROUND(4) samsung
So if you search the above term, then you will get contents where ‘Redmi’
and ‘Samsung’ words are 4 or less words far. (Samsung Galaxy M20 vs
Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro)
17. 24. weather:
If you want to find the weather of a specific location then this search
operator will help to find the results. This will display the weather in
weather snippet. It returns the result from the other “weather” website
also.
For example- weather:Bangalore
25. map:
If you want to search the location of a specific place then this search
operator will help you to find that results. Google will find the specific
location which you are searching for.
For example- map:Nandi Hills
18. 26. movie:
If you want to search for the specific movie then this Google search
operator will help you to find the detail of that specific movie if the movie is
currently showing near you.
For example- movie:3 idiots
27. in:
This search operator is used to convert the one unit into another. It
converts the no. of units like currency, temperature, and weights etc.
For example- $259 in Rs
19. 28. source:
This search operator is used to find the new results from a certain source
in Google News.
For example- Samsung source:the_verge
29. blogurl:
This Google search operator is used to find the blog URLs under a specific
domain. Before it was used in Google blog search, but now I’ve found that
it also returns the result in regular search. Google blog search has been
stopped from 2011 onwards.
For example- blogurl:neilpateldigital.com
20. 30. phonebook:
This search operator is used to find someone’s phone number.
This operator has been dropped by Google from 2010 onwards
For example- phonebook:Bill gate
31. #
This search operator is used to searches #hashtags. First introduced for
Google+ and now it has been deprecated.
For example- #digitalmarketing
21. Conclusion:
Congratulations! Now you have got to know the full list of Google search
operators.
Google search operators are insanely powerful. But you just have to know
how you can use them.
Google’s power is awesome for SEO purposes. Google search operators
don’t look like that they are a big deal but they can take your SEO skills
from 0 to 60 in no time.
These all are the Google searches operators that you need to consider
when you come in Google Searches. If you feel that I’ve missed
something, then please leave a comment in below section. I will update it
soon.