To be honest, from my school days of using Google right up to today, the search engine giant has not once stopped impressing me. From its algorithmic updates for a better user experience to its cloud based computing services, Google has captured my life and sadly, probably my soul.
Today I will be sharing with you a collection of my favourite Google search operator queries, not only to help open your mind to the powers of Google being much more than a search engine, but also to show you that knowing some of these queries will help you become better in the art of SEO.
6 Starter Operator Search Operator Queries
These queries are particularly helpful because they’re generally quick and easy short cuts in narrowing your search results:
| Query | What does it mean? |
| “best practice seo” | Searches for this exact phrase within “” |
| mobile -phone | Inclusion of – means searches for the word mobile but nothing following after phone |
| seo ~glossary | Brings up a glossary of information regarding that word |
| define:seo | Definition of that word or phrase |
| OR / | | Returns search queries with one of the given terms |
| related: | Helps list web pages related to the URL |
5 Basic Mathematics Search Operator Queries
Google search provides users with the ability to calculate simple maths without the need for your calculator:
| Query | What does it mean? |
| + / – / * // | Simple mathematics rules |
| % of | Percentage of a number |
| ^ / ** | Raise to the power of a number |
| square root of number | Find the square root of a number |
| reciprocal of (number) | Find the reciprocal value of a number |
4 Advanced Mathematics Search Operator Queries
Surprisingly, Google does not stop at the most simple of mathematics and is there for the more complicated algorithmic-based equations:
| Query | What does it mean? |
| sin, cos, tan | You’re able to use the trigonometric functions within a search |
| ln(number) | Utilises the natural logarithm of the number |
| log(number) | Utilises the base 10 logarithm |
| number! | Returns a factorial number |
7 Converting Tool Search Operator Queries
Google offers users the ability in search to convert various units:
| Query | An example, search in Google: |
| Currency converter | 36 yuan to dollars |
| Data converter | Convert 81 Mb to Gb |
| Distance converter | 68m to cm |
| Speed converter | 38mph in kph |
| Temperature converter | 18 Celsius in Fahrenheit |
| Time converter | 89 days in minutes |
| Weight converter | 8 stones in kg |
7 Everyday Helpful Search Operator Queries
I find these operator queries particularly useful everyday, and maybe you will too:
| Query | What does it mean? | An example, search in Google: |
| file: | Results show various file type extensions | file:linkbuilding.pdf |
| movie: | Results show movies in your local area | movie:oxford |
| weather: | Current weather forecast of that area | weather:oxford |
| time: | Local time in that country | time:china |
| sunrise: | Sunrise in that area | sunrise:oxford |
| map: | Map of that area | map:oxford |
| safesearch: | Search without any adult content | safesearch: sex education |
2 Google News Search Operator Queries
These search operator queries are restricted to only Google News – very useful when you want to find news from a particular country or source-specific articles:
| Query | What does it mean? | An example, search in Google news: |
| location: | Discover news posts from a location | Location:china |
| source: | Discover news posts from a source | Source:search engine land |
4 Blog Search Operator Queries
When searching for particular blog-related links, these operator queries can help you search by author, post type and blog title:
| Query | What does it mean? | An example, search in Google: |
| inpostauthor: | Search for this specific author | inpostauthor:”kevin gibbons” |
| inblogtitle: | Search for this specific blog title | inblogtitle:seoptimise |
| inpostitle: | Search for posts with these titles | inpostitle: on page optimisation |
| blogurl: | Search for blogs under a specific URL | blogurl:seoptimise.com |
12 SEO Operator Queries
As an SEO practitioner, one of my most powerful search tools has to be Google itself. Just knowing these search operator queries exist is only quarter of the battle. But understanding how they work and best practices is where you can excel:
| Query | What does it mean? |
| site:URL | Search only one site or domain |
| site:URL (image search) | Shows results for images on that website |
| allintitle: | All search results must appear in the title of the page |
| intitle: | The following keywords must appear in the title of the page |
| allintext: | The following must appear within the text page |
| intext: | The search term has to appear in the title of the page |
| allinurl: | The search term appears in the URL |
| allinanchor: | The following search terms must all appear in anchor text links with the page |
| inanchor: | All the following search terms all must appear in anchor text links with the page |
| cache: | Displays Google’s cached version of a webpage |
| info: | Provides information on that specific page |
| link: | Finds the pages that link to that URL |
Top Tip to Remember: In Google search you are not restricted to just one query per search. For example, you could have multiple queries in one search – e.g. site:seoptimise.com “web trends” -ppc
Thanks for reading this and please do share some of your favourite search operator queries!
*Image credit: niknack on Flickr.
