Google Operator Guide

Google Search Operators Guide for SEO Professionals

At Kickass Online, we understand the importance of mastering Google search operators for effective SEO and website optimization. These advanced search commands help you analyze your website's presence, monitor your competitors, and identify opportunities for improvement. Here's our comprehensive guide to Google search operators that every digital marketer should know.
Search Operator Purpose Example
" " Search for exact phrase matches "web development services"
OR or | Search for either term web development OR website maintenance
AND Search for both terms SEO AND web development
- Exclude terms from search web development -wordpress
* Wildcard matching Kickass * Services
( ) Group multiple searches (SEO OR optimization) web development
site: Search within specific website site:kickassonline.com
related: Find similar websites related:kickassonline.com
intitle: Search in page titles intitle:web development services
allintitle: Multiple words in title allintitle:SEO web development
inurl: Search in page URLs inurl:web-development
allinurl: Multiple words in URL allinurl:seo services
filetype: or ext: Search for specific file types site:kickassonline.com filetype:pdf
before: / after: Date-based search web development after:2023-01-01

Practical Use Cases for SEO

1. Find Indexing Issues

Use the site: and filetype: operators together to discover potential indexing problems with your website.
site:yourdomain.com filetype:pdf
This helps identify indexed PDFs that should potentially be gated or protected from search engines.

2. Analyze Competitors

Use the related: operator to find similar websites, then investigate their content strategy.
related:competitor.com
site:competitor.com intitle:"what is"
This helps discover competitor content strategies and potential content gaps.

3. Find Guest Post Opportunities

Discover websites accepting guest posts or find where industry experts are publishing.
web development intitle:"write for us"
SEO inurl:author/[name]

4. Find Resource Page Opportunities

Discover pages that curate and link to valuable industry resources.
[your topic] intitle:resources inurl:resources

5. Internal Link Building

Find opportunities to add internal links to important pages on your site.
site:yourdomain.com "target keyword phrase"
This helps identify pages where you can add contextual internal links.

6. Find Unlinked Brand Mentions

Discover websites that mention your brand but haven't linked to you.
"your brand name" -site:yourdomain.com

7. Monitor Competitor Content Production

Track how frequently competitors are publishing new content.
site:competitor.com after:2024-01-01 before:2024-02-01
This helps benchmark content production rates against competitors.

Why we only onboard a few clients each month?

Look, we could chase endless clients and compromise on quality - but that's not how we roll at Kickass Online. We're dead set on delivering properly amazing results for every single business we work with.
By limiting our monthly intake to just 6 spots, we can give your website the attention it deserves. No cookie-cutter solutions, no getting lost in the shuffle - just proper, focused web design, maintenance and SEO that actually works.
"Think of it like your favourite restaurant - would you rather they served 100 rushed meals, or 30 absolute bangers? That's us, but with websites."
secure your spot today
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