What are Advanced Search Operators?
Advanced search operators are words that are added to online searches to
help narrow down the results. There are also certain punctuation marks you can
use with or without using the advanced search words. If however, the punctuation marks don’t give better results, better suggested results will be
shown without the punctuation.
For example:
|
Operator Word
|
How to use it
|
|
site:
|
Get results from certain sites or domains.
Examples: wifi problem:lifehacker.com |
|
related:
|
Find sites that are similar to a web address you already know.
Example: related: internet connection |
|
OR
|
Find pages that might use one of several words.
Example: router issues OR router problems |
|
info:
|
Get information about a web address, including the cached version of
the page, similar pages, and pages that link to the site.
Example: info:google.com |
|
cache:
|
See what a page looks like the last time Google visited the site.
Example: cache:washington.edu |
For punctuation examples:
|
Symbol
|
How to use it
|
|
+
|
Search for Google+ pages or blood types
Examples: +Chrome or AB+ |
|
@
|
Find social tags
Example: @agoogler |
|
$
|
Find prices
Example: nikon $400 |
|
#
|
Find popular hashtags for trending topics
Example: #TechTips |
|
-
|
When you use a dash before a word or site, it excludes sites with that
info from your results. This is useful for words with multiple meanings, like
Jaguar the car brand and jaguar the animal.
Examples: printer multi -function or printers -site:wikipedia.org |
Advanced search operators or search words are the cornerstone of good,
but old-school-type search engine optimization (SEO), that is, the art of SEO
without the modern tools. What’s more these advanced search words can be used
on all major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
In a world that is saturated with search software tools, advanced operators
are the best solution for the common human being who has no access to any type of
search tool. Whether with regular or complex use the user gains a better
understanding of advanced search commands and will definitely become a lot more
resourceful when doing even just basic site searching, link prospecting, and finding
certain search results.
In terms of searching for specific computer problems, advanced search
operators can be the bread and butter of even the most amateur user searching
for any type of computer problem and its solutions. In reality, most tech
support professionals who need to do extra research for extreme computer cases
often use advanced search operators. For those simply searching to narrow down
the search parameters for specific computer problems, using advanced search
operators doesn’t mean you need to memorize all advanced words or punctuation since all search engines have some sort of “cheat sheet” page listing all their
specific advanced search words.
