Today, many people use the google platform as a means of searching for information. It is even the most widely used search engine worldwide. In it, there are endless data and files of interest that help users who connect to the Internet.
Despite being the most popular, not all people know how to get the most out of this platform. Therefore, we want to help you to know what are google search operators or also known as Google search commands, what types there are, how to use them and other interesting information on the subject.
In this way, you will be able to investigate on the Internet in a much more efficient way. Do not worry! We know they can seem complicated, but they are not.. Just add certain characters to start optimizing your searches. Do you want to know about it? Then read on.
Advanced search commands in Google What are they, what are they for and what types are there?
So that you can understand much better what this topic is about, first of all, you have to talk about what the google search commands. They are all those characters, words or a combination of both, that a person places in the search box in order to find more specific or advanced information.
In general, the average user considers that it is enough to place what you want to get in the search engine and ready, trusting that he will do all the rest of the work. But in many cases this does not happen like this. Even, sometimes you have to resort to many more searches to find the content we really need.
In order to facilitate and optimize this work, search commands are applied. Through them, you can categorize what you need in less time and find the information efficiently. There are two classifications of commands, and these are the basic search and the advanced.
Basic search commands
It is understood by basic search the one that average users are usually used to. It is used to get any information within the Google platform. To do it, you only need type what you are looking for in the search box and press "Enter" (You can also click the search button on Google).
Google proceeds to use different search techniques to find what you need. It will show you a list with the most relevant results, the most reliable pages on the Internet and others. For example, if you want to know about planes, all you have to do is type "planes" in Google and the most important results on the subject will be displayed.
Advanced search commands
The commands advanced search, as its name implies, they are for those more specialized users who require a much more exhaustive search and accurate. In general, the first thing Google does is to return the results that match the word or phrase that you placed in the search box or results that match the term that you typed.
However, sometimes this is not enough because many words you have placed may not appear, making it difficult. To improve this, advanced search commands were created.
They are composed of the use of characters, words wave combination of the two to find a more precise type of information and in less time. Next, we'll talk about what Google's advanced search commands are.
List of all Google advanced search commands
Below, we will show you the main Google advanced search commands so that you can facilitate your research. Some of them are more used than others, but they can be very useful:
- Quotation marks ("…"): helps to get pages in which it is present exactly the word written inside the quotes. Example: "Social networks".
- OR: it's ideal if you want combine multiple searches of words in a single action. The way to do it, is to write the two terms you want to search for separated by the command "OR". Thus, Google will show all the results that include both terms. Example: Instagram OR Twitter OR Pinterest.
- AND: shows the results of the pages that include the two specified terms. Example: Facebook AND Twitter.
- Script (-): It is used for exclude any word that is after the script. This applies because results associated with the search often appear, but far from what is really needed. The way to do it, is writing in the search box the term we are looking for, followed by a "-" and the word you want to exclude. You can exclude the number of words you want, you just have to follow the same dynamic. Example: social media -twitter.
- Asterisk (*): is a wildcard that tells Google to show us suggestions related to the term What are we looking for. In a simpler way, it helps to find only all the relevant information of that word. Example: * the best social network.
- # .. #: displays the results of the numbers you include and the interval between them. Example: Twitter update # 2015..2019 #.
- If you: returns only the results of the web you have specified. Example: site: internetpasoapaso.com/redes-sociales/
- (): It is used for combine operators. In this way, it performs two simultaneous searches and excludes the search for the term that is outside the parentheses. Example: ("Social networks" OR "social platforms") -Instagram.
- AROUND (X): This command is very useful in some occasions, but as known. It is used to search related topics. The Google search engine will display results in which the specified term appears before the command, separated by a maximum of X characters from the second term. Example: Facebook AROUND (4) statistics.
- Intitle: displays pages where the exact phrase is present in the title. Example: intitle: "Facebook statistics".
- Allintitle: displays pages with any of the words specified within the command. Example: Allintitle: Instagram Facebook statistics.
- Inurl: displays pages with the exact phrase in the url. Example: inurl: "facebook statistics".
- Allinurl: Display pages with any of the specified words. Example: allinurl: facebook instagram.
- Intext: It shows you pages in which the exact phrase written within the command is present, in the text or body of said website. Example: intext: “instagram users”.
- Allintext: It shows pages where any of the words specified in the body or text of the web are found. Example: allintext: instagram users.
- Filetype: only show results with the specific file. Example: filetype: pdf facebook.
- Related: shows URL-like pages specific. Example: related: twitter.com.
- Cache: It will show you which was the last page cached by Google. Example: cache: internetpasoapaso.com.
- Stocks: displays the stock details of the company you select. Example: stocks: twitter.
- Weather: As its name implies, it helps display information related to the weather at a specific destination. Example: weather: miami, FL.
- Translator: shows the translation tool that Google has. To have it, you must write "Translator" in the search engine and voila.
- Tip calculator: displays Google's tip calculator. You just have to write Tip calculator in the search engine.
- In: helps convert a value from one unit to another. Example: 120 degrees in Fahrenheit.
- Time: tells the time of a specific location. Example: time: italy.
- Calculator: displays the Google calculation tool. You just have to write Calculator in the search engine.
- Timer: displays the Google countdown timer. Writes "Timer" in the search engine and voila.
- Map: It shows you the maps of the site you choose. Example: map: spain.
- Define: look up the definition of a word. Example: define: write.
- Info: displays results where information is offered regarding a web page. Example: info: www.internetpasoapaso.com.
- Movie: It helps you to know the results related to a movie you want. Example: movie: get out.
8 Tips for more efficient use of Google search operators (Advanced users)
Finally, there are a number of tips that are of great help to advanced users on the subject of Google search operators. In case you are not, you should not worry.
We will also explain them to you in a simple way, so that you can also take advantage of them 100%:
Locate indexing flaws
Most websites have indexing errors on Google. To locate them, There are different ways and some are using the following commands:
- "If you:": It is the most common and with it you can identify how many pages of a certain website Google has indexed. It should be noted that only an approximation is made, so if you want to be more specific we recommend that you use the Google Search Console. Example: "Site: internetpasoapaso.com".
- Site: tublog.com/category– Ideal for finding page categories on WordPress blogs.
- Site: tublog.com inurl: tag– Used to find tag pages in WordPress.
With any of these commands, you will be able to know how many pages of a website Google has indexed, identify if any that should be indexed is not, and other details related to the subject.
Identify problems with unsafe pages
Non-secure pages are considered to be those that do not have HTTPS. The best way to identify if there are some that do not have it, is with the command "if you:". To do this you must put "site: tublog.com -inurl: https"
On the other hand, it is important that you know that on many occasions there are pages that are indexed without https, but when you enter them, you are redirected to the https version. This means that they are not necessarily insecure websites, so it is always best to click on some of them to make a second comparison.
Detect duplicate content
It is very common to find duplicate content on the Internet, and this can significantly affect your website. For detect duplicate content, just use the command "if you:", followed by that the name of your website and in quotes write the text you want to check.
Example: site: internetpasoapaso.com "text you want to check".
We also recommend adding the exclude command (-) followed by all the command mentioned above. Thus, you ensure that your page does not appear in the results returned by the search. Example: -site: internetpasoapaso.com "text you want to check".
Locate unwanted data on your site
Keeping track of a website continuously can be a difficult task, especially when it comes to large pages with lots of content. Therefore, it is common that there are unwanted, forgotten or strange files inside it. To check the existence of any, we will use the command "Filetype:" or "Ext:".
Example: site: internetpasoapaso.com filetype: pdf.
You can also take advantage of other commands and combine them to have more specific results. Example: site: internetpasoapaso.com (ext: PDF OR ext: docx OR ext: ppt)
Look for opportunities to collaborate
There are different ideal commands to find websites that are looking for collaborators within your niche. To do this, you first have to write your niche, followed by (intittle: "write for us" inurl: "write-for-us"). In this way, you will locate websites that are looking for contributions for their websites.
In addition to that, you can use other keywords related to the topic such as:
- "Contribute to"
- "Write to me"
- "Become a guest author"
- “Inurl: author-guest”
- "Inurl: author-guest-guidelines"
In addition, we leave you a very interesting fact that few know. It is possible to search for many at once! The way to do it is as follows:
Marketing (“write for us”) | inurl: “guest-post” | inurl: “guest-post-marketing”)
Finally, in case you are wondering if a specific website allows articles as a guest or collaborator, just type the following command: site: internetpasoapaso.com ("this is a guest author" | "this is a collaboration")
Identify opportunities for resource pages
The resource pages They are very useful when looking for a wide range of information regarding a topic. They show a series of links to resources from other sites that may benefit you. The most common way to locate them is by combining a command with the word Resources, that is to say: Marketing (intittle: “resources” | inurl: resources).
However, this search can throw a lot of unwanted junk. So it's much better to limit search with the combination of other commands like:
- Intitle: marketing AND intittle: resources AND inurl: resources
- Allintitle: marketing 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 resources
As additional information, keep in mind that the resource pages work much better for English searches. In case you want to do it in Spanish, it is best to enter the phrases "Best pages" or "List of pages".
Locate infographic portals
Many people have stopped searching infographics for their websites, because there is material of this type of poor quality. Therefore, if you want to locate portals where they do value this resource, it is best to use the command (marketing intitle: infographic inurl: infographic).
But it may throw rubbish at you, so other tips you can follow are:
- Use the method mentioned above to find a quality, relevant infographic, etc.
- When you already get it, look for that specific one. To do this, you have to put the infographic name in quotation marks first ("…"), followed by: intitle: infographic inurl: infographic.
Find relevant links
The way to find a list of sites or pages similar to your website, is using the command: related: internetpasoapaso.com/blog. This way you can identify if they are trusted sites that can contribute to your content or not.
If it shows you the result of a website with which you are not familiar and you want to analyze it, You can do it in the following way:
- Search using the command site: domain.com and write down the number of results.
- Search using the command site: domain.com (niche) and also write down the number of results.
Then you have to divide the second number by the first. If the result is greater than 0.5, is a good and relevant candidate. In case the result of the division is by above 0.75, is a super relevant candidate. In this way, you can determine if the site where you want to get the link is really relevant and can add to your website or not.
Without a doubt, Google's advanced search commands are very powerful and allow you to make your job much easier when you know how to use them correctly. Would you dare to take advantage of them?