A search operator (sometimes referred to as a search parameter) is a character or string of characters used in a search engine query to narrow the focus of the search. In this presentation you will find how to master searching at Google by using search operators.

1. Google Search Operators:
Power Tips

2. Download this Slide Deck
bit.ly/power-search-tips

3. I am Granit Doshlaku
Co-Founder & Digital Director at Manaferra.
You can find me at @granitdoshlaku
Hello!

4. Finding the data you need

5. Interesting facts about Google
◉ Every minute, 2 million searches are performed on
Google.
◉ Google takes over 200 factors into account to deliver
the best results for any query in a fraction of a second.
◉ Google processes around 20 petabytes 1015
or
1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes of information daily.

7. What are search operators?
Let’s start with the definiton
1

8. “
A search operator (sometimes referred to as a
search parameter) is a character or string of
characters used in a search engine query to
narrow the focus of the search.

9. Search Operators
The following slides lists the search operators that
work with each Google search service.

10. Basic search operators

11. filetype:
Restricts the search results by file type extension – it’s
great when you only want to look for images, PPT, PDF etc.
e.g. TED talk filetype:ppt for powerpoints, or TED talk filetype:doc if
you’re looking for word documents instead.
Basic search operators

13. site:
Restricts the search results to a specific top level domain or
standard domain - it's for when you want to get results from a
specific site or only from .gov sites etc.
e.g. water on mars site:.gov for results from only .gov TLD and for site specific
search you would use something like this life on mars site:nasa.gov
Basic search operators

15. related:
This is the operator you use to find other sites that are
similar to the one you provide. It's great when you want to
figure out who your organic competitors are.
e.g. search for related:spacex.com and you’ll find other companies who
offer similar services. NOTE: DON'T add a space after the :, if you do
Google will just do a keyword search. e.g. related: spacex.com
Basic search operators

17. cache:
You can see what a page looked like the last time Google
visited the page, here is how Virgin Atlantic looked the last
time Google visited them cache:virgingalactic.com
Basic search operators

19. Advanced search operators

20. allintext: / intext:
Limits the search results to content that has the query terms you specify
in the text on the page. allintext: should be used at the start of the query
and will only return results that include all the included keywords. intext:
can be used anywhere in the query and will only include the term
immediately following the :.
e.g. Using allintext: hacker news ycombinator looks for results with all three words in the
on-page text content. You can use hacker news intext:ycombinator to get results with
ycombinator in the text and hacker or news appearing anywhere on the page.
Advanced search operators

22. allintitle: / intitle:
If you start your query with allintitle: Google only shows you results
containing pages that use all the query terms you specify in the meta title.
When we search for allintitle:Life on Mars, Google looks for results with
all these words in the meta title.
Advanced search operators

24. allinurl: / inurl:
With the allinurl: operator Google shows you results containing pages
that use all the query terms you specify in the url. When we search for
allinurl: NASA, Google looks for results with NASA in the url.
Advanced search operators

26. AROUND()
This operator allows you to specify keyword proximity by limiting the
number of words that can appear between two keywords.
The AROUND() operator MUST BE IN CAPS and the number sets the max
distance between the two terms. Say you want to asses the relationship
between two terms ( petrol and diesel ) with your main keyword ( car )
you could do something like this car AROUND(2) petrol and car
AROUND(2) diesel.
Advanced search operators

28. Difference between allin... and in...
◉ The allin.... operators should be used at the start of your query and can
have a space after the :
◉ The NON allin.... versions can be used multiple times in a query and
the term should be included after the : with no space.
◉ Something like allintitle: SpaceX Launch is the same as intitle:Spacex
intitle:Launch
◉ allin.... operators can't be used with any other operators.

29. Are advanced search operators
useful?
The real power of Google advanced
search operators is in combining
multiple operators to create custom
query strings to get really targeted
results.

30. Below you can find more information on how to use search operators effectively :
◉ Google: Search Operators
◉ MIT Libraries: Search Operators / Power Tips
◉ Gryffin: A Comprehensive Guide to Google Search Operators
Helpful resources
Read our blog at Manaferra.com for more technical tips on how to use search engines more effectively!

31. Any questions ?
You can find me at
◉ @granitdoshlaku
◉ granit.doshlaku@manaferra.com
Thanks!