Google Search Operators: The Complete List (42 Advanced Operators)-gctid261075

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GENERAL SEO
Google Search Operators: The Complete List (42 Advanced Operators)
Joshua Hardwick May 22, 2018?

 

Joshua Hardwick

Head of Content @ Ahrefs (or, in plain English, I'm the guy responsible for ensuring that every blog post we publish is EPIC). Founder @ The SEO Project.

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For anyone that's been doing SEO for a while, Google advanced search operators—i.e., special commands that make regular ol' searches seem laughably basic in comparison—are nothing new.

Here's a Google search operator you may be familiar with.


the "site:" operator restricts results to only those from a specified site.

It's easy to remember most search operators. They're short commands that stick in the mind.

But knowing how to use them effectively is an altogether different story.

Most SEOs know the basics, but few have truly mastered them.

In this post, I'll share 15 actionable tips to help you master search operators for SEO, which are:

• Find indexation errors
• Find non-secure pages (non-https)
• Find duplicate content issues
• Find unwanted files and pages on your site
• Find guest post opportunities
• Find resource page opportunities
• Find sites that feature infographics... so you can pitch YOURS
• Find more link prospects... AND check how relevant they are
• Find social profiles for outreach prospects
• Find internal linking opportunities
• Find PR opportunities by finding competitor mentions
• Find sponsored post opportunities
• Find Q+A threads related to your content
• Find how often your competitors are publishing new content
• Find sites linking to competitors[/list type=decimal]
  But first, here's a complete list of all Google search operators and their functionality.
  Google Search Operators: The Complete List
  Did you know that Google is constantly killing useful operators?
  
  That's why most existing lists of Google search operators are outdated and inaccurate.
  
  For this post, I personally tested EVERY search operator I could find.
  
  Here is a complete list of all working, non-working, and "hit and miss" Google advanced search operators as of 2018.
  
  
  "search term"
  Force an exact-match search. Use this to refine results for ambiguous searches, or to exclude synonyms when searching for single words.
  
  Example: "steve jobs"
  OR
  Search for X or Y. This will return results related to X or Y, or both. Note: The pipe (|) operator can also be used in place of "OR."
  
  Examples: jobs OR gates / jobs | gates
  AND
  Search for X and Y. This will return only results related to both X and Y. Note: It doesn't really make much difference for regular searches, as Google defaults to "AND" anyway. But it's very useful when paired with other operators.
  
  Example: jobs AND gates
  -
  Exclude a term or phrase. In our example, any pages returned will be related to jobs but not Apple (the company).
  
  Example: jobs -apple
  *
  Acts as a wildcard and will match any word or phrase.
  
  Example: steve * apple 
  ( )
  Group multiple terms or search operators to control how the search is executed.
  
  Example: (ipad OR iphone) apple
  $
  Search for prices. Also works for Euro (€), but not GBP (£) ?
  
  Example: ipad $329
  define:
  A dictionary built into Google, basically. This will display the meaning of a word in a card-like result in the SERPs.
  
  Example: define:entrepreneur
  cache:
  Returns the most recent cached version of a web page (providing the page is indexed, of course).
  
  Example: cache:apple.com
  filetype:
  Restrict results to those of a certain filetype. E.g., PDF, DOCX, TXT, PPT, etc. Note: The "ext:" operator can also be used—the results are identical.
  
  Example: apple filetype:pdf / apple ext:pdf
  site:
  Limit results to those from a specific website.
  
  Example: site:apple.com
  related:
  Find sites related to a given domain.
  
  Example: related:apple.com
  intitle:
  Find pages with a certain word (or words) in the title. In our example, any results containing either "apple" or "iphone" in the title tag will be returned.
  
  Example: intitle:apple iphone
  allintitle:
  Similar to "intitle," but only results containing all of the specified words in the title tag will be returned.
  
  Example: allintitle:apple iphone
  inurl:
  Find pages with a certain word (or words) in the URL. For this example, any results containing either "apple" or "iphone" in the URL will be returned.
  
  Example: inurl:apple iphone
  allinurl:
  Similar to "inurl," but only results containing all of the specified words in the URL will be returned.
  
  Example: allinurl:apple iphone
  intext:
  Find pages containing a certain word (or words) somewhere in the content. For this example, any results containing either "apple" or "iphone" in the page content will be returned.
  
  Example: intext:apple iphone
  allintext:
  Similar to "intext," but only results containing all of the specified words somewhere on the page will be returned.
  
  Example: allintext:apple iphone
  AROUND(X)
  Proximity search. Find pages containing two words or phrases within X words of each other. For this example, the words "apple" and "iphone" must be present in the content and no further than four words apart.
  
  Example: apple AROUND(4) iphone
  weather:
  Find the weather for a specific location. This is displayed in a weather snippet, but it also returns results from other "weather" websites.
  
  Example: weather:san francisco
  stocks:
  See stock information (i.e., price, etc.) for a specific ticker.
  
  Example: stocks:aapl
  map:
  Force Google to show map results for a locational search.
  
  Example: map:silicon valley
  movie:
  Find information about a specific movie. Also finds movie showtimes if the movie is currently showing near you.
  
  Example: movie:steve jobs
  in
  Convert one unit to another. Works with currencies, weights, temperatures, etc.
  
  Example: $329 in GBP
  source:
  Find news results from a certain source in Google News.
  
  Example: apple source:the_verge
  _
  Not exactly a search operator, but acts as a wildcard for Google Autocomplete.
  
  Example: apple CEO _ jobs
  
  
  
  Here are the ones that are hit and miss, according to my testing:
  #..#
  Search for a range of numbers. In the example below, searches related to "WWDCvideos" are returned for the years 2010–2014, but not for 2015 and beyond.
  
  Example: wwdc video 2010..2014
  inanchor:
  Find pages that are being linked to with specific anchor text. For this example, any results with inbound links containing either "apple" or "iphone" in the anchor text will be returned.
  
  Example: inanchor:apple iphone
  allinanchor:
  Similar to "inanchor," but only results containing all of the specified words in the inbound anchor text will be returned.
  
  Example: allinanchor:apple iphone
  blogurl:
  Find blog URLs under a specific domain. This was used in Google blog search, but I've found it does return some results in regular search.
  
  Example: blogurl:microsoft.com
  
  SIDENOTE.
   Google blog search discontinued in 2011
  loc:placename
  Find results from a given area.
  
  Example: loc:"san francisco" apple
  
  SIDENOTE.
   Not officially deprecated, but results are inconsistent.
  location:
  Find news from a certain location in Google News.
  
  Example: loc:"san francisco" apple
  
  SIDENOTE.
   Not officially deprecated, but results are inconsistent.
  
  
  
  Here are the Google search operators that have been discontinued and no longer work. ?
  +
  Force an exact-match search on a single word or phrase.
  
  Example: jobs +apple
  
  SIDENOTE.
   You can do the same thing by using double quotes around your search.
  ~
  Include synonyms. Doesn't work, because Google now includes synonyms by default. (Hint: Use double quotes to exclude synonyms.)
  
  Example: ~apple
  inpostauthor:
  Find blog posts written by a specific author. This only worked in Google Blog search, not regular Google search.
  
  Example: inpostauthor:"steve jobs"
  
  SIDENOTE.
   Google blog search was discontinued in 2011.
  allinpostauthor:
  Similar to "inpostauthor," but removes the need for quotes (if you want to search for a specific author, including surname.)
  
  Example: allinpostauthor:steve jobs
  inposttitle:
  Find blog posts with specific words in the title. No longer works, as this operator was unique to the discontinued Google blog search.
  
  Example: intitle:apple iphone
  link:
  Find pages linking to a specific domain or URL. Google killed this operator in 2017, but it does still show some results—they likely aren't particularly accurate though. (Deprecated in 2017)
  
  Example: link:apple.com
  info:
  Find information about a specific page, including the most recent cache, similar pages, etc. (Deprecated in 2017). Note: The 
  Code Select Expand
  id: operator can also be used—the results are identical.
  
  SIDENOTE.
   Although the original functionality of this operator is deprecated, it is still useful for finding the canonical, indexed version of a URL. Thanks to @glenngabe for pointing this one one!
  
  Example: info:apple.com / id:apple.com
  daterange:
  Find results from a certain date range. Uses the Julian date format, for some reason.
  
  Example: daterange:11278–13278
  
  SIDENOTE.
   Not officially deprecated, but doesn't seem to work.
  phonebook:
  Find someone's phone number. (Deprecated in 2010)
  
  Example: phonebook:tim cook
  #
  Searches #hashtags. Introduced for Google+; now deprecated.
  
  Example: #apple
  15 Actionable Ways to Use Google Search Operators
  Now let's tackle a few ways to put these operators into action.
  
  My aim here is to show that you can achieve almost anything with Google advanced operators if you know how to use and combine them efficiently.
  
  So don't be afraid to play around and deviate from the examples below. You might just discover something new.
  
  BORED OF READING?
  
  Check out 9 actionable Google search operator tips in Sam Oh's video.
  
  ?
  
  Let's go!
  1. Find indexation errors
  Google indexation errors exist for most sites.
  
  It could be that a page that should be indexed, isn't. Or vice-versa.
  
  Let's use the 
  Code Select Expand
  site: operator to see how many pages Google has indexed for ahrefs.com.
  
  
  
  ~1,040.
  
  SIDENOTE.
   Google only gives a rough approximation when using this operator. For the full picture, check Google Search Console.
  
  But how many of these pages are blog posts?
  
  Let's find out.
  
  
  
  ~249. That's roughly ¼.
  
  I know Ahrefs blog inside out, so I know this is higher than the number of posts we have.
  
  Let's investigate further.
  
  
  
  OK, so it seems that a few odd pages are being indexed.
  
  (This page isn't even live—it's a 404)
  
  Such pages should be removed from the SERPs by noindexing them.
  
  Let's also narrow the search to subdomains and see what we find.
  
  
  
  SIDENOTE.
   Here, we're using the wildcard (*) operator to find all subdomains belonging to the domain, combined with the exclusion operator (-) to exclude regular www results.
  
  ~731 results.
  
  Here's a page residing on a subdomain that definitely shouldn't be indexed. It gives a 404 error for a start.
  
  
  
  Here are a few other ways to uncover indexation errors with Google operators:
  
  • Code Select Expand
    site:yourblog.com/category — find WordPress blog category pages;
  • Code Select Expand
    site:yourblog.com inurl:tag — find WordPress "tag" pages.
  2. Find non-secure pages (non-https)
  HTTPs is a must these days, especially for ecommerce sites.
  
  But did you know that you can find unsecure pages with the 
  Code Select Expand
  site: operator?
  
  Let's try it for asos.com.
  
  
  
  Oh my, ~2.47M unsecure pages.
  
  It looks like ASAS don't currently use SSL—unbelievable for such a large site.
  
  
  
  SIDENOTE.
   Don't worry, Asos customers—their checkout pages are secure ?
  
  But here's another crazy thing:
  
  ASOS is accessible at both the https and http versions.
  
  
  
  And we learned all that from a simple 
  Code Select Expand
  site: search!
  
  SIDENOTE.
   I've noticed that sometimes, when using this tactic, pages will be indexed without the https. But when you click-through, you will be directed to the https version. So don't assume that your pages are unsecure just because they appear as such in Google's index. Always click a few of them to double-check.
  
  FURTHER READING
  
  
  • We Analyzed the HTTPS Settings of 10,000 Domains and How It Affects Their SEO — Here's What We Learned
  • HTTP vs. HTTPS for SEO: What You Need to Know to Stay in Google's Good Graces
  3. Find duplicate content issues
  Duplicate content = bad.
  
  Here's a pair of Abercrombie and Fitch jeans from ASOS with this brand description:
  
  
  
  With third-party brand descriptions like this, they're often duplicated on other sites.
  
  But first, I'm wondering how many times this copy appears on asos.com.
  
  
  
  ~4.2K.
  
  Now I'm wondering if this copy is even unique to ASOS.
  
  Let's check.
  
  
  
  No, it isn't.
  
  That's 15 other sites with this exact same copy—i.e., duplicate content.
  
  Sometimes duplicate content issues can arise from similar product pages, too.
  
  For example, similar or identical products with different quantity counts.
  
  Here's an example from ASOS:
  
  
  
  You can see that—quantities aside—all of these product pages are the same.
  
  But duplicate content isn't only a problem for ecommerce sites.
  
  If you have a blog, then people could be stealing and republishing your content without attribution.
  
  Let's see if anyone has stolen and republished our list of SEO tips.
  
  
  
  ~17 results.
  
  SIDENOTE.
   You'll notice that I excluded ahrefs.com from the results using the exclusion (-) operator—this ensures that the original doesn't appear in the search results. I also excluded the word "pinterest." This was because I saw a lot of Pinterest results for this search, which aren't really relevant to what we're looking for. I could have excluded just pinterest.com (-pinterest.com), but as Pinterest has many ccTLDs, this didn't really help things. Excluding the word "pinterest" was the best way to clean up the results.
  
  Most of these are probably syndicated content.
  
  Still, it's worth checking these out to make sure that they do link back to you.
  
  FIND STOLEN CONTENT IN SECONDS
  
  Content Explorer > In title > enter the title of your page/post > exclude your own site
  
  
  
  You will then see any pages (from our database of 900M+ pieces of content) with the same title as your page/post.
  
  In this instance, there are 5 results.
  
  
  
  Next, enter your domain under "Highlight unlinked domains."
  
  This will highlight any sites that don't link back to you.
  
  
  
  You can then reach out to those sites and request the addition of a source link.
  
  FYI, this filter actually looks for links on a domain-level rather than a page-level. It is, therefore, possible that the site could be linking to you from another page, rather than the page in question.
  
  4. Find odd files on your domain (that you may have forgotten about)
  Keeping track of everything on your website can be difficult.
  
  (This is especially true for big sites.)
  
  For this reason, it's easy to forget about old files you may have uploaded.
  
  PDF files; Word documents; Powerpoint presentations; text files; etc.
  
  Let's use the 
  Code Select Expand
  filetype: operator to check for these on ahrefs.com.
  
  
  
  SIDENOTE.
   Remember, you can also use the 
  Code Select Expand
  ext: operator—it does the same thing.
  
  Here's one of those files:
  
  
  
  I've never seen that piece of content before. Have you?
  
  But we can extend this further than just PDF files.
  
  By combining a few operators, it's possible to return results for all supported file types at once.
  
  
  
  SIDENOTE.
   The filetype operator does also support things like .asp, .php, .html, etc.
  
  It's important to delete or noindex these if you'd prefer people didn't come across them.
  5. Find guest post opportunities
  Guest post opportunities... there are TONS of ways to find them, such as:
  
  
  
  But you already knew about that method, right!? ?
  
  SIDENOTE.
   For those who haven't seen this one before, it uncovers so-called "write for us" pages in your niche—the pages many sites create when they're actively seeking guest contributions.
  
  So let's get more creative.
  
  First off: don't limit yourself to "write for us."
  
  You can also use:
  
  • Code Select Expand
    "become a contributor"
  • Code Select Expand
    "contribute to"
  • Code Select Expand
    "write for me" (yep—there are solo bloggers seeking guest posts, too!)
  • Code Select Expand
    "guest post guidelines"
  • Code Select Expand
    inurl:guest-post
  • Code Select Expand
    inurl:guest-contributor-guidelines
  • etc.
  But here's a cool tip most people miss:
  
  You can search for many of these at once.
  
  
  
  SIDENOTE.
   Did you notice I'm using the pipe ("|") operator instead of "OR" this time? Remember, it does the same thing. ?
  
  You can even search for multiple footprints AND multiple keywords.
  
  
  
  Looking for opportunities in a specific country?
  
  Just add a 
  Code Select Expand
  site:.tld operator.
  
  
  
  Here's another method:
  
  If you know of a serial guest blogger in your niche, try this:
  
  
  
  This will find every site that person has written for.
  
  SIDENOTE.
   Don't forget to exclude their site to keep the results clean!
  
  HOW TO FIND EVEN MORE AUTHOR GUEST POSTS
  
  Content Explorer > author search > exclude their site(s)
  
  For this example, let's use our very own Tim Soulo.
  
  
  
  BOOM. 17 results. All of which are probably guest posts.
  
  For reference, here's the exact search I entered into Content Explorer:
  
  
  Code Select Expand
  author:"tim soulo" -site:ahrefs.com -site:bloggerjet.com
  Basically, this searches for posts by Tim Soulo. But it also excludes posts from ahrefs.com and bloggerjet.com (Tim's personal blog).
  
  Note. Sometimes you will find a few false positives in there. It depends on how common the persons name happens to be.
  
  But don't stop there:
  
  You can also use Content Explorer to find sites in your niche that have never linked to you.
  
  Content Explorer > enter a topic > one article per domain > highlight unlinked domains
  
  Here's one of the unlinked domains I found for ahrefs.com:
  
  
  
  This means marketingprofs.com has never linked to us.
  
  Now, this search doesn't tell us whether or not they have a "write for us" page. But it doesn't really matter. The truth is that most sites are usually happy to accept guest posts if you can offer them "quality" content. It would, therefore, definitely be worth reaching out and "pitching" such sites.
  
  Another benefit of using Content Explorer is that you can see stats for each page, including:
  
  • # of RDs;
  • DR;
  • Organic traffic estimation;
  • Social shares;
  • Etc.
  You can also export the results easily. ?
  
  Finally, if you're wondering whether a specific site accepts guest posts or not, try this:
  
  
  
  SIDENOTE.
   You could add even more searches—e.g., "this is a guest article"—to the list of searches included within the parentheses. I kept this simple for demonstration purposes.
  6. Find resource page opportunities
  "Resource" pages round-up the best resources on a topic.
  
  Here's what a so-called "resource" page looks like:
  
  
  
  All of those links you see = links to resources on other sites.
  
  (Ironically—given the subject nature of that particular page—a lot of those links are broken)
  
  FURTHER READING
  
  
  • A Simple (But Complete) Guide to Broken Link Building
  • How to Find and Fix Broken Links (to Reclaim Valuable "Link Juice")
  So if you have a cool resource on your site, you can:
  
  • find relevant "resource" pages;
  • pitch your resource for inclusion[/list type=decimal]
    Here's one way to find them:
    
    
    
    But that can return a lot of junk.
    
    Here's a cool way to narrow it down:
    
    
    
    Or narrow it down even further with:
    
    
    
    SIDENOTE.
     Using 
    Code Select Expand
    allintitle: here ensures that the title tag contains the words "fitness" AND "resources," and also a number between 5–15.
    
    A NOTE ABOUT THE #..# OPERATOR
    
    I know what you're thinking:
    
    Why not use the 
    Code Select Expand
    #..# operator instead of that long sequence of numbers.
    
    Good point!
    
    Let's try it:
    
    
    
    Confused? Here's the deal:
    
    This operator doesn't play nicely with most other operators.
    
    Nor does it seem to work a lot of the time anyway—it's definitely hit and miss.
    
    So I recommend using a sequence of numbers separated by "OR" or the pipe ("|") operator.
    
    It's a bit of a hassle, but it works.
    
    7. Find sites that feature infographics... so you can pitch YOURS
    Infographics get a bad rap.
    
    Most likely, this is because a lot of people create low-quality, cheap infographics that serve no real purpose... other than to "attract links."
    
    But infographics aren't always bad.
    
    Here's the general strategy for infographics:
    
    • create infographic
    • pitch infographic
    • get featured, get link (and PR!)[/list type=decimal]
      But who should you pitch your infographic to?
      
      Just any old sites in your niche?
      
      NO.
      
      You should pitch to sites that are actually likely to want to feature your infographic.
      
      The best way to do this is to find sites that have featured infographics before.
      
      Here's how:
      
      
      
      SIDENOTE.
       It can also be worth searching within a recent date range—e.g., the past 3 months. If a site featured an infographic two years ago, that doesn't necessarily mean they still care about infographics. Whereas if a site featured an infographic in the past few months, chances are they still regularly feature them. But as the "daterange:" operator no longer seems to work, you'll have to do this using the in-built filter in Google search.
      
      But again, this can kick back some serious junk.
      
      So here's a quick trick:
      
      • use the above search to find a good, relevant infographic (i.e., well-designed, etc.)
      • search for that specific infographic[/list type=decimal]
        Here's an example:
        
        
        
        This found ~2 results from the last 3 months. And 450+ all-time results.
        
        Do this for a handful of infographics and you'll have a good list of prospects.
        
        NOT GETTING GREAT RESULTS FROM GOOGLE? TRY THIS.
        
        Have you ever noticed that when an infographic is embedded on a site, the site owner will usually include the word "infographic" in square brackets in the title tag?
        
        Example:
        
        
        
        Unfortunately, Google search ignores square brackets (even if they're in quotes).
        
        But Content Explorer doesn't.
        
        Content Explorer > search query > "AND [infographic]"
        
        
        
        As you can see, you can also use advanced operators in CE to search for multiple terms at once. The search above finds results containing "SEO," "keyword research," or "link building" in the title tag, plus "[infographic]."
        
        You can export these easily (with all associated metrics), too.
        
        FURTHER READING
        
        
        • The Visual Format You Should be Using for Link Building (No, It's NOT Infographics)
        • 6 Linkable Asset Types (And EXACTLY How to Earn Links With Them)
        • Deconstructing Linkbait: How to Create Content That Attracts Backlinks
        8. Find more link prospects... AND check how relevant they really are
        Let's assume you've found a site that you want a link from.
        
        It's been manually vetted for relevance... and all looks good.
        
        Here's how to find a list of similar sites or pages:
        
        
        
        This returned ~49 results—all of which were similar sites.
        
        SIDENOTE.
         In the example above, we're looking for similar sites to Ahrefs' blog—not Ahrefs as a whole.
        
        WANT TO DO THE SAME FOR SPECIFIC PAGES? NO PROBLEM
        
        Let's try our link building guide.
        
        
        
        That's ~45 results, all of which are very similar. ?
        
        Here's one of the results: yoast.com/seo-blog
        
        I'm quite familiar with Yoast, so I know it's a relevant site/prospect.
        
        But let's assume that I know nothing about this site, how could I quickly vet this prospect?
        
        Here's how:
        
        • do a 
          Code Select Expand
          site:domain.com search, and note down the number of results;
        • do a 
          Code Select Expand
          site:domain.com [niche] search, then also note down the number of results;
        • divide the second number by the first—if it's above 0.5, it's a good, relevant prospect; if it's above 0.75, it's a super-relevant prospect.[/list type=decimal]
          Let's try this with yoast.com.
          
          Here's the number of results for a simple 
          Code Select Expand
          site: search:
          
          
          
          And 
          Code Select Expand
          site: [niche]:
          
          
          
          So that's 3,950 / 3,330 = ~0.84.
          
          (Remember, >0.75 translates to a very relevant prospect, usually)
          
          Now let's try the same for a site that I know to be irrelevant: greatist.com.
          
          Number of results for 
          Code Select Expand
          site:greatist.com[/b] search: ~18,000
          
          Number of results for 
          Code Select Expand
          site:greatist.com SEO search: ~[/b]7
          
          (18,000 / 7 = ~0.0004 = a totally irrelevant site)
          
          IMPORTANT! This is a great way to quick eliminate highly-irrelevant tactics, but it's not foolproof—you will sometimes get strange or unenlightening results. I also want to stress that it's certainly no replacement for manually checking a potential prospect's website. You should ALWAYS thoroughly check a prospects site before reaching out to them. Failure to do that = SPAMMING.
          
          HERE'S ANOTHER WAY TO FIND SIMILAR DOMAINS/PROSPECTS...
          
          Site Explorer > relevant domain > Competing Domains
          
          For example, let's assume I was looking for more SEO-related link prospects.
          
          I could enter ahrefs.com/blog into Site Explorer.
          
          Then check the Competing Domains.
          
          
          
          This will reveal domains competing for the same keywords.
          
          9. Find social profiles for outreach prospects
          Got someone in mind that you want to reach out to?
          
          Try this trick to find their contact details:
          
          
          
          SIDENOTE.
           You NEED to know their name for this one. This is usually quite easy to find on most websites—it's just the contact details that can be somewhat elusive.
          
          Here are the top 4 results:
          
          
          
          BINGO.
          
          You can then contact them directly via social media.
          
          Or use some of the tips from steps #4 and #6 in this article to hunt down an email address.