10 Effective Ways On Google Keyword Search

As the number of webpages grows, searches are becoming increasingly long-winded. Filter out all of those unwanted webpages by using keywords, or ‘search operators’Google’s search engine has a nasty habit of transforming a one-word query into seemingly endless pages of search results.

This is where ‘search operators’ come in handy, because they allow you to give Google specific instructions on what to search for, thereby sparing you from having to trawl through multiple pages just to find one relevant search result.

Adding search operators to a query instructs Google to focus on everything from a specific website to only webpages that were updated within the past week, depending on your needs.What makes search operators particularly useful is that you can string them together to construct very tightly focused queries; eg searching for pages that contain ‘Google search tips’ in the title and ‘search operators’ in the main text, and were created in 2013.

Although this query returns fewer results, there’s a much higher chance of finding exactly what you’re looking for within the first few pages. However, be aware that inserting a space between certain search perators and the first word of your query can prevent Google from recognising the search operator. To ensure that Google doesn'’t mistake the operator for part of your search query, play it safe and never insert a space.Google supports a long list of search operators, but in this section we will take a look at some of the most useful ones.

allintitle:

Place allintitle: in front of your search term to restrict your results to only webpages that have this word or phrase in the title (ie at the top of the browser).

inurl:

Limit your results to pages that have the following word in their URL. If you’re looking for a URL that contains multiple words, put allinurl: before your term

related:

Use this operator followed by a URL to view similar websites. This can also help you spot any ‘bad’ websites that are aligning themselves with your own.

site:

Restrict your search results to a single domain, or a certain subdomain or subdirectory, by using this search operator followed a URL.

number..number

Enter two numbers separated by full stops to view all results that contain numbers within that range; for example, ‘World Cup winners 1994..2010’.

OR

If you’re weighing up several possible options, search for them all simultaneously by separating your queries with the capitalised OR operator.

*

If you’re having a mental block and can’t think of a complete search query, use a * to represent any

unknowns, for example ‘writer and director *Gobert’.

filetype:

Search for pages of a particular file type, such as a PDF. Use the filetype: operator alongside the OR command to search for multiple file types

-query

Use the - (minus) operator to exclude all

webpages that feature the attached word, URL or number; for example, ‘laptop sale -macbook’.

map:

Place this before a location and the first item on the results page will always be a Google Maps preview; click to launch the full-sized version.

IN

This operator tells Google to convert the query before the IN into the query that comes immediately

afterwards; for example, ‘1 mile in kilometres’

define:

Place this search operator before a query to get the definition for that word or phrase. This is particularly useful when dealing with acronyms.