Introduction

Getting your website up and running is one thing, and leveraging digital marketing tactics to stay ahead is another. With Google being an incredibly popular and powerful search engine, being able to find opportunities that put you at the right spot on relevant pages can be tricky sometimes.

However, using advanced search operators that align with your business niche, you can turn the tables, make your Google searches more relevant, and hit the sweet spot.

Here’s everything you need to know about them:

What Google advanced search operators are

The advanced search operators are identified as dedicated commands and characters (Google will not read special characters unless they are used as search operators) that can diversify the potential of standard text searches. They are used extensively to narrow down searches to draw more in-depth and relevant results. To use these advanced search operators, all you need to do is enter your search query in the Google search box, as you would for a text search. Moreover, these operators can be used to gain vital insights into current SEO opportunities that wouldn’t have been noticed otherwise. These operators act as audit points, enabling a website to take corrective measures to improve search engine rankings.

Main Google advanced search operators

Google search operators can simplify how you search for things. If you are on the lookout to minimize time spent on searching the internet, here are a few advanced search operators to try:
  • Site:
The ‘site:’ search operator makes it possible to find a very specific piece of information from a certain website.
  • Related: 
The ‘related:’ operator comes in handy when you want to find websites related to the site you are currently looking at. However, only websites with higher authority and credibility usually show up. The operator is incredibly helpful in finding your competitors ranking higher than you.
  • Cache:
The ‘cache:’ operator can help in locating the most recent cached version of a specific webpage. The command is helpful to find when Google crawls the website in question after new changes have been made in terms of content or design.
  • Inanchor:
The command is incredibly useful if you are searching for link-building opportunities or auditing your competitors to find where they are getting their links from. This advanced Google search operator makes it possible to find pages that contain certain inbound links with the anchor text specified.
  • Inurl:
The search operator is incredibly useful if you want to find a page on a website with a specific word(s) mentioned in the URL. From an SEO perspective, the search command can be used to find any indexing issues and identify opportunities for guest posting and content inspiration in the industry of your preference.

How to use advanced search operators for SEO

The advanced search operators are excellent for SEO purposes as they highlight how your potential customers can enter search operators directly and find what they are looking for. This knowledge helps in curating content as well as optimizing pages on the website that meet search intent. Here are other ways to use advanced search operators for your SEO advantage:
  • To find blog topics in your target niche that are already gaining traction.
  • Be able to find high-quality internal link opportunities that can boost your website’s ranking potential and attract traffic.
  • Identify keyphrases or keywords that have more than one meaning and create opportunities to target them.
  • Be able to find parameters that your competitors are already focusing on and be able to include them in your technical SEO audits.
  • Researching and finding better ways to find vital information from specific competing sites.

Bottomline

Advanced search operators are incredibly helpful if you are looking for highly specific information. Aside from their ability to retrieve data from the depths of the internet, these commands can help markets find missed (but promising) opportunities, conduct competitive research, and better understand their website’s potential. Advanced search operators can significantly simplify how one looks up information on Google and provide crucial insights about competitors. Read more!