Use These Google Search Operators to Improve Your SEO

Neil Patel
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Author: Neil Patel | Co Founder of NP Digital & Owner of Ubersuggest
Published October 6, 2024
A graphic that says "Use These Google Search Operators To Improve Your SEO."

If you do SEO, you know how many long processes are involved. And you know how awesome it is when you can save time.

That’s why I’m a big fan of “hacks” that actually help you cut down on the amount of time you spend doing these tedious processes.

One of my favorites? Using Google search operators.  They can slash the time you spend searching and get better results. 

Read on for a list of search operators and how to leverage them for your search and SEO efforts.

Key Takeaways

  • Google search operators are useful symbols and words you can use to refine and guide your Internet searches.
  • There are many search operators beyond commonly known examples like AND and OR.
  • Combining search operators can significantly narrow down searches.
  • You can also use Google search operators for SEO purposes like conducting competitor analyses and finding internal linking opportunities.

Table of Contents

What Are Google Search Operators?

Google search operators are symbols or words you can use in your search to make your search results more precise.

Search operators, which include but are not limited to Boolean operators, have their foundation in logic and programming. They’re basically shortcuts to narrow and refine search results. 

When you use a search operator in a Google search, you’re telling Google to narrow down the search results in a specific way.

So instead of getting pages and pages of unrelated results, you get only results that are relevant to what you’re searching for.

In addition to basic operators, there are Google advanced search operators that can really help you focus your search.

The best way to learn is to see how to use them, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

List of Google Search Operators

Search operators are highly useful tools that can help you refine, combine, or exclude keywords for more precise results. This list of Google search operators includes some that you may use often and others that you may have never heard of before. 

“ ”

When you put quotation marks around a word or a phrase, Google will return only results that are an exact match.

Example: “digital marketing strategies

Google will only show results that include this exact phrase, rather than “digital”, “marketing”, and “strategies” separately.

Use the minus sign to exclude specific words from your search. This can help you narrow down results by filtering out unwanted content.

Example: digital marketing -careers

This will show results for digital marketing while excluding any pages including careers.

OR

If your search doesn’t have to be super specific but you still want to control your results, try using the OR command. This simply tells Google to show results with either X or Y. 

You can also use the pipe symbol (|) in place of OR.

Example: fitness OR wellness

This will show pages that are related to either fitness or wellness, or both. 

Alternatively, you can use fitness | wellness for the same results. 

*

If you want to get variations of a phrase, you can use the asterisk as a wildcard. The symbol stands in for a word or phrase.

Example: best * in NYC

Google will fill the asterisk with various words, such as “hotels”, “restaurants”, “museums”, etc 

AND

Using AND gets you results related to two words or phrases helping you narrow down the search results.

Example: fitness AND wellness

Google will show pages that include both terms. 

( )

Using the parentheses allows you to group multiple terms or search operators to guide your search for more. 

Example: Sony (PlayStation 4 OR PlayStation 5)

Google will show pages that either include “PlayStation 4” or “PlayStation 5” in addition to pages that include “Sony”.

site:

If you want results from just one site, use the site: operator to make that happen. 

You can type your keywords before or after the search operator.

Example: site:neilpatel.com

You will only see results from Neil Patel’s website.

Sometimes you need to find sites that are related to sites you already know. That’s where the related: operator comes in. Google will show you similar sites in the same niche.

Example: related:sony.com

Google will show you other websites related to sony.com

intitle:

The intitle: operator will return results that have the specified keyword in the page title. 

Example: intitle:wellness

This will show pages with the word “wellness” in the title tag.

allintitle:

Similar to the intitle: operator, the allintitle: operator lets you search for exact phrases in titles. The operator does not focus on the order of the exact phrase.

Example: allintitle:wellness center

This will show pages with both “wellness” and “center” in the title tag.

intext:

Similar to the previous two operators, the intext: operator will show results that have a specific keyword in the text of the page.

If you’re looking for articles, this is an operator you should memorize and use often.

Example: intext:SEO 

This will show you results that have the word “SEO” within the text of the page. 

allintext:

Just like the allintitle: operator, allintext: will let you find entire phrases in the page text.

Example: allintext:SEO optimizations 

This will show you results that have both “SEO” and “optimizations” within the text of the page.

inurl:

When you specify a keyword, inurl: will give you results that have that keyword somewhere in the URL.

Example: inurl:recipe

Google will return pages that have the word “recipe” in the URL. 

allinurl:

This one’s even more useful than the last one. The allinurl: operator will show pages where the URL includes all of the specified phrases.

Example: allinurl:easy dinner recipes

Google will return pages that have “easy”, “dinner” and “recipes” in the URL.

location:

Location specific searching is beneficial for local SEO or you’re targeting an audience that’s more or less in one geographic place.

Just use the location: operator along with a certain place you want to target.

Example: location:nyc museum

You will only see museums specifically in NYC. 

define:

Using define: will get you the definition of any word. This one works with phrases too. Google will sometimes display a dictionary box or pull a definition from a relevant website.

Example: define:schema

Google will only show results related to the definition of schema. 

daterange:

The daterange: operator will show results within a range of dates that you specify using the “yyyymmdd-yyyymmdd” format.

Example: daterange:20240101-20240925 marketing news

This will show you marketing news published between January 1-Spetember 25, 2024. 

filetype:

If you’re after a specific filetype, you can use the filetype: operator.

This works well if you’re looking for a certain type of document, like a case study, that’s often in a certain filetype, such as a PDF.

The ext: operator is an alternative operator for the same function.

Example: filetype:pdf keyword research

ext:pdf keyword research

This will show you pdfs related to keyword research. 

before:

Search for results from before a particular date. Example: iPhone before:2010-01-01

Google will only show sources from before January 1, 2010. 

after:

Search results only after a specific date.

Example: iPhone after:2010-01-01

Google will only show sources from after January 1, 2010. 

source:

You can search for results on a topic from a particular source.

Example: SEO source:searchenginejournal.com

Google will only show articles about SEO from Search Engine Journal.

How to Use Google Search Operators for SEO

Using Google search operators for SEO can enhance your efforts by providing insights into your competitors, revealing internal linking opportunities, and more.  I outline some quick wins below, but it can be fun to play around with different combinations and figure out what you can do. 

Soon you’ll be an expert on how to use Google search operators to maximize your SEO strategy.

1. Optimize Internal Linking

Internal linking is an important aspect of SEO. You can use the site: and “” Google search operators to find opportunities to add internal links to new content as well as maintain your existing links. 

For example, you can combine them to search for keywords on your site related to new content.

A site search on Thredup for Fall Fashion.

You can also use site: along with terms “404”, “not found”, or other error messages to identify broken links on your site.

A Medium search for 404 not found signals.

2. Conduct Competitor Analysis

Google’s search operators can help you conduct an analysis of competitors’ websites. After using the related: operator to find competing sites, you can analyze their content using the site: operator. For example, you might search a site for content in a specific file format or all of the content on a specific topic. 

A Patagonia search on climate topics.

To evaluate how often competitors are adding content, you can leverage the daterange:, before:, and after: operators. 

You can then pull findings like content topics and blog post titles into an SEO tool to assess factors like search volume, keyword competitiveness, and page performance. Use the results to refine your own content and SEO strategies.

3. Find Indexing Issues

Indexing of your website pages ensures that search engines can discover, crawl, and display them in search results. On the other hand, no-indexing tells search engines not to include pages you don’t want to show up, such as error pages.

Google search operators like site: can help you identify indexing issues by confirming specific URLs are indexed.

A site search on REI.com.

Going a step further, you can combine the site: operator with the filetype: operator to confirm pages that are PDFs, Excel spreadsheets, or another specific file type are not being indexed.

4. Find Non-Secure Pages

Site security is not only critical for protecting user data, it is also crucial for maintaining user trust. It’s also a significant factor in SEO, as search engines prioritize secure websites, such as those that use HTTPS instead of HTTP. 

To find unsecure pages on a website, use the -inurl operator to exclude a phrase like HTTPs with the site: operator to narrow the search to a domain.

An HTTPS site search on Backcountry.com.

5. Find Opportunities to Guest Post

Guest posting is a great way to get high-quality backlinks. You can quickly find opportunities by using different Google search operators.

For example, you could use the intitle: or inurl: operators to find pages with titles like “Write for Us” or “guest blogging.”

An intitle "write for us" search on Google.

6. Find Resource Pages for Backlinking

Resource pages—curated lists of useful content and tools in a specific area—make a great target for backlinks.

Google search operators like inurl: and intitle:, especially when combined with other operators, can help you zero in on resource pages on sites in your niche.

7. Analyze Content Gaps

Want to find out what topics are trending in your niche to help guide your content planning? There are Google search operators for that too.

Use the intitle: and inurl: operators with keywords in your niche to see what’s ranking and where there are opportunities for you to develop new content or fill gaps.

An intitle search for ecotourism.

You can combine trending content topics, article titles, and meta descriptions with research on Ubersuggest or other SEO tools to further hone your strategy.

8. Uncover Duplicate Content

Duplicate content can really mess up your SEO rankings. When you have copy or pages that appear more than once, search engines get confused, and your site may pay the price.

You can quickly find duplicate content on your own site by using the site: and “” Google search operators to find text using unique phrases.

This can also help you find where someone might have copied your content without your permission.

A site search on Neilpatel.com on brand loyalty.

9. Find Local SEO Opportunities

If your SEO strategy includes a local aspect, you can leverage Google search operators for this too. 

Use the AND operator to see how local competitors are targeting specific locations. Phrases like “near me” or using the name of a city or area combined with keywords in your niche can help you find local SEO content.

A Google search for albuquerque and fitness center.

10. Find Relevant Listicles or Review Sites

Listicles and review roundups are excellent ways to earn authoritative backlinks because they provide people with useful information and resources. When your brand is featured in a listicle or roundup, it can significantly enhance your website visibility and traffic.

To find sites that publish this type of content, there are several Google search operators you can use:

  • Use intitle: and the – operators to find listicles related to your product or service that your business isn’t included in. For example, for a gardening supply store, you could use intitle: “best nurseries” and -your business name. You could also use the loc: operator to focus on listicles for a specific area.
  • Find reviews where your competitors are listed using allintitle: review [name of the competitor] and reach out to those sites. 
  • You can winnow down the results to more recent opportunities by combining these with the after: operator.
A best garden centers search on Google.

It can be difficult to find the best way to contact someone at a site for link outreach. There are a couple ways that Google search operators can help with this.

Use the site: operator to search within a specific social media platform and combine it with the website’s domain name to find its profiles. 

An instagram site search on Google.

You can also use the OR operator to search multiple platforms at once.

A mutltiple site search on Google.

FAQs

What are Boolean operators?

Boolean operators are words and symbols you can use to make Internet searches more targeted and precise. Some of the main ones are:

NOT, which excludes a term from the results (“flora NOT fauna”)

AND, which narrows the search to results that include two terms (“flora AND fauna”)

OR, which expands the results to pages with either term (“flora OR fauna”) 

What is a search operator in SEO?

A search operator in SEO is a command or symbol used to refine, filter, or target results from a search engine. Users can focus on specific keywords and phrases in content, titles, and URLs. SEO professionals can use search operators to monitor websites for broken links, find link-building opportunities, enhancing site visibility, and more. 

What are the most used search operators?

The most used search operators are AND, OR, and NOT. Other commonly used operators include site:, intitle:, “” (quotation marks), and – (the minus symbol).

Conclusion

Fine-tuning your Google searches can open up new doors for you. You can spy on your competitors and get super-specific results.

Best of all, this is all 100% free. 

It may take some time to learn how to deploy all these search operators most effectively for your needs. But you should absolutely take advantage of them.

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Neil Patel

About the author:

Co Founder of NP Digital & Owner of Ubersuggest

He is the co-founder of NP Digital. The Wall Street Journal calls him a top influencer on the web, Forbes says he is one of the top 10 marketers, and Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the 100 most brilliant companies. Neil is a New York Times bestselling author and was recognized as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama and a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 35 by the United Nations.

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Neil Patel

source: https://neilpatel.com/blog/google-search-operators/