Google precocious hunt operators are peculiar commands and characters that filter hunt results. They bash this by making your searches much precise and focused.

For example, the site: relation restricts results to those from a peculiar site:

In this post, you’ll larn each of Google’s hunt operators and however to maestro them for SEO.

Below is simply a little statement of what each Google hunt relation does.

I’ve grouped them into 3 categories:

• Working – Works arsenic intended.
• Unreliable – Not officially deprecated by Google, but results are hit-and-miss. 
• Not working – Officially deprecated by Google. 

Here’s the full list:

Working

Unreliable

Not moving (officially dropped by Google)

Let’s tackle a fewer ways to enactment these operators into action.

My purpose present is to amusement that you tin execute astir thing with Google precocious operators if you cognize however to usage and harvester them. So don’t beryllium acrophobic to play astir and deviate from the examples below. You whitethorn conscionable observe thing new.

Prefer video?

Check retired 9 actionable Google hunt relation tips successful Sam Oh’s video.

1. Find imaginable indexing issues

Eyeballing the results of a site: hunt for your website tin uncover imaginable indexing issues. 

For example, if we harvester it with the filetype: operator, we spot that this 3D printing institution has rather a fewer PDFs indexed: 

This isn’t a atrocious happening if it’s intentional, but I person a feeling it isn’t for immoderate of these. 

For instance, its tract has a lead-generation landing leafage for a achromatic insubstantial astir the full outgo of ownership for 3D printers:

But this PDF is indexed, truthful you tin easy entree it without filling successful your details:

The tract owners should astir apt adhd an x-robots noindex tag to solve this.

2. Find and analyse your competitors

Use the related: relation to find websites related to yours, which are often competitors.

You tin past usage different hunt operators to analyse these sites further.

For example, if we hunt for site:moz.com, we tin rapidly spot that it has published a batch of contented connected its blog, assistance section, and “SEO Learning Center.”

If we set our site: relation to absorption connected its Learning Center, we tin commencement to get a consciousness of the benignant of contented published and what it’s about.

In this case, it looks similar determination are tons of definition-type posts. 

In fact, if we adhd intitle:("what is"|"what are") to our search, we spot 86 matching pages.

However, what Google can’t archer america is whether these pages get immoderate integrated traffic. To find that out, we’ll request to usage a third-party tool.

If you’re an Ahrefs user:

1. Go to Site Explorer
2. Enter the competitor’s domain oregon subsection
3. Check the Top pages report

If you’re not an Ahrefs user, you tin usage our escaped postulation checker to cheque pages 1 by one:

Both of these methods amusement that galore of its definition-type posts are getting successful excess of 20K estimated monthly integrated visits. So this could beryllium a bully benignant of contented to make if you wanted to pull hunt postulation successful this niche. 

In fact, that’s precisely what we did with our SEO glossary.

Here’s its integrated postulation maturation implicit the past fewer months:

3. Find impermanent station opportunities

Most radical find impermanent posting opportunities by searching for “write for us” pages successful their niche. 

For example, if you person a website astir coffee, you tin hunt for thing similar java intitle:"write for us" inurl:write-for-us:

However, arsenic tons of radical are utilizing this method, you’ll often extremity up pitching the aforesaid sites arsenic everyone else. For that reason, a amended method is to find a serial impermanent blogger successful your niche and look for sites they’ve written for.

You tin bash this by searching for [topic] inurl:author/[firstname-lastname].

For example, this hunt finds websites Ryan Stewart has written for:

You tin besides bash this successful Ahrefs’ Content Explorer by searching for [topic] author:[firstname lastname"].

The payment of utilizing Content Explorer implicit Google is that you tin filter the results to absorption connected high-quality websites. Plus, not each tract volition usage the /author/firstname-lastname/ footprint. 

For example, we tin easy filter for posts from websites with a Domain Rating (DR) supra 30 and an estimated website postulation of astatine slightest 5K per month.

You tin adjacent item results from domains that haven’t linked to you truthful you tin prioritize getting backlinks from much websites. 

4. Find assets leafage opportunities

Resource pages curate and nexus to the champion resources connected a topic. This makes them large nexus prospects if you person a fitting resource.

To find them successful Google, hunt for: [topic] intitle:resources inurl:resources.

For example, if you privation to physique links to a java resource, you tin hunt for this:

However, not each of these pages volition beryllium worthy pitching. You’ll find that immoderate conscionable nexus to their ain resources, truthful you’ll request to sift done them and transportation the applicable ones.

If you privation an adjacent easier mode to find assets pages, try this: 

1. Go to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
2. Enter the domain of a large competitor
3. Go to the Backlinks report
4. Filter for backlinks with “resources” successful the Ref. page URL

5. Find files you don’t privation successful Google’s index

You astir apt don’t privation Google to scale each record you upload to your website.

For example, if you person PDFs down pb magnets oregon contented upgrades, you astir apt privation to support those files to forestall radical from uncovering them connected Google.

Let’s usage the filetype: relation to cheque for these connected ahrefs.com.

It looks similar there’s 1 PDF indexed, which is an aged assets from 2017.

If we were bothered astir radical uncovering this (we’re not), we’d privation to acceptable this record to noindex with an x-robots header response. 

6. Find the email code of the idiosyncratic you privation to scope out to

People often stock their email addresses connected Twitter, truthful you tin usage hunt operators to find those tweets.

For example, if you wanted to find Tim Soulo’s email address, you could hunt for immoderate of his tweets that notation the connection “email” and “gmail.com” oregon “ahrefs.com” (as his email code is astir surely astatine 1 of those domains).

If you bash this, his email code pops up right away: 

7. Find opportunities to adhd interior links

Internally linking to important contented from different applicable pages connected your website tin nonstop it much postulation and perchance assistance it to fertile higher successful integrated search.

For example, let’s accidental we wanted to adhd immoderate interior links to our database of SEO tips. 

If we hunt successful Google for site:ahrefs.com/blog "SEO tips", we’ll find blog posts mentioning the operation “SEO tips” determination successful their content. 

In this case, we tin disregard the archetypal result, arsenic this is the station we privation to physique interior links to. But determination are 99 different results mentioning SEO tips, and galore of them are cleanable contextual interior nexus opportunities.

For instance, our usher to creating SEO content has an unlinked notation of “SEO tips,” truthful this is the cleanable accidental to adhd an interior link. 

That said, the 1 downside of utilizing hunt operators to find interior nexus opportunities is that they don’t separate betwixt linked and unlinked mentions. In different words, they often find opportunities you’ve already taken vantage of.

For example, our hunt recovered a notation of “SEO tips” successful our database of SEO techniques:

But if we find that notation connected the page, we spot that it’s already internally linked:

If this happens a batch and you find it frustrating, motion up for a escaped Ahrefs Webmaster Tools relationship and effort this instead:

1. Crawl your website with Site Audit
2. Go to the Internal Link Opportunities instrumentality successful Site Audit
3. Add your people page’s URL to the hunt field
4. Select “Target page” from the dropdown adjacent to the hunt field
5. Hit the instrumentality key

You should spot a database of opportunities like this: 

It tells you:

• Where to nexus from (Source page).
• Where to adhd the nexus (Keyword context).
• Where to nexus to (Target page).

8. Find “best” listicles that don’t notation your brand

Let’s accidental you tally an email selling instrumentality similar ConvertKit. 

If you hunt Google for “best email selling tools,” you’ll find thousands of results listing top picks:

Given that you astir apt privation to beryllium featured connected these lists, it’ll beryllium adjuvant to spot which ones bash and don’t notation you already, right? That way, you tin scope retired to the authors of lists not mentioning your instrumentality and spot if you tin get them to add you.

Luckily, you tin bash that by appending your hunt with -[your concern name]:

Alternatively, if you privation an adjacent quicker method, you tin usage Ahrefs’ Content Explorer. 

If you’re not acquainted with Content Explorer, it’s a hunt motor for marketers with an scale of implicit 11 cardinal pages. You tin usage this hunt to find listicles that don’t notation your brand: title:"best [whatever]" -[yourbrand].

For example, if we look for lists of the champion email selling tools that don’t notation ConvertKit, we get 3,182 results:

What makes Content Explorer much convenient than Google is that you tin filter the results by things similar DR, estimated website and leafage traffic, and more. Then you tin export them successful a fewer clicks.

For example, if we restrict the results to 1 leafage per domain and filter for websites with a DR of 30 oregon more, we constrictive things down from 3,182 to 156 pages.

This is simply a overmuch much manageable fig of websites to reappraisal and perchance scope out to.

9. Find websites that person reviewed competitors

If a website posts a reappraisal of a competitor, chances are it whitethorn besides beryllium consenting to reappraisal you.

Here’s however to find rival reviews: allintitle:review ([competitor 1] OR [competitor 2]).

For example, if we wanted to find reviews of ConvertKit competitors, we could hunt for this: 

If you like, you tin adhd the after: relation into the premix to find precocious published posts. This way, you tin absorption connected pitching websites that you cognize are inactive active.

However, each of this is erstwhile again easier successful Content Explorer due to the fact that you tin filter and export the results much easily. 

Here’s however to tally the aforesaid hunt there:

1. Choose “In title” arsenic the hunt mode
2. Search for reappraisal (mailchimp OR aweber)
3. Filter for 1 leafage per domain

This gives america 2,948 results, which is simply a lot. So let’s prioritize our database by filtering for pages published successful the past 12 months connected websites that get astatine slightest 1K monthly hunt visits:

Get alerts for caller rival reviews

Just acceptable up a caller “Mentions” alert successful Ahrefs Alerts. You tin usage the aforesaid hunt from Content Explorer and filters for DR and domain postulation too. 

10. Find applicable Quora questions to answer

Quora is simply a website wherever radical inquire questions, contributors station answers, and the champion ones get upvoted to the top.

As my colleague, Si Quan Ong, has proven, it’s a large spot to physique marque awareness. He’s had implicit 2 cardinal views connected his answers and continues to get implicit 25K views each period contempt his caller inactivity:

When it comes to uncovering questions to answer, Quora’s hunt relation works well. The downside is that you tin lone hunt for 1 taxable at once.

As Quora uses the question itself arsenic the URL, you tin flooded this occupation with this hunt operator: site:quora.com inurl:([topic 1] | taxable 2).

For example, if you person a wellness and fittingness website, you tin hunt for thing like this:

If you’re an Ahrefs user, you tin adjacent harvester this with the SEO Toolbar to overlay postulation estimates connected the SERP. That way, you tin absorption connected answering questions that already get integrated traffic.

Or if you privation an adjacent faster method, try this:

1. Go to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
2. Enter quora.com
3. Go to the Top pages report
4. Filter for results with URLs that incorporate peculiar words

This volition springiness you a database of applicable Quora answers, sorted by their estimated monthly hunt postulation from precocious to low.

For example, 1 of the questions supra asks whether it’s amended to marque a macromolecule shingle with beverage oregon h2o and gets an estimated 792 monthly visits. If you tin reply this question good and get upvoted, chances are hundreds of radical volition spot your reply every month.

Even better, arsenic you tin see links successful your answers, these answers tin nonstop immoderate bully referral postulation your way.

11. Find however accelerated your competitors are publishing caller content

Combine the site: relation with before: and/or after: operators to find retired however overmuch contented immoderate rival has published successful a fixed clip period.

For example, here’s however galore posts different SEO blog published successful December 2022: 

And here’s however galore it published successful the full of 2022:

Just beryllium alert that this relation isn’t ever 100% accurate, arsenic it includes updated pages.

For example, the hunt beneath returns a station with January 25, 2022, attached to it:

But if we plug that post’s URL into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer, we spot that it’s been attracting integrated postulation since 2019. So it indispensable person existed agelong earlier 2022.

If you’re an Ahrefs idiosyncratic and privation a much close mode to spot a competitor’s publishing frequency, tally a site: hunt successful Content Explorer and filter for “Pages published once.” 

Final thoughts

Google precocious hunt operators are ace powerful. You conscionable person to cognize however to use them.

But I person to admit that immoderate are much utile than others, particularly erstwhile it comes to SEO. I find myself utilizing site:, intitle:, and inurl: often. Yet I seldom usage allintitle: and galore of the different much obscure operators.

I’d besides adhd that galore operators are borderline useless unless paired with different operator, oregon two, or three.

So bash play astir with them and fto maine cognize what you travel up with. 

I’d beryllium much than blessed to adhd immoderate utile combinations you observe to the post. 

Got questions? Ping maine on Twitter.