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Home / Search Engines / How to Smartly Combine Google’s Search Operators to Find Anything

How to Smartly Combine Google’s Search Operators to Find Anything

How to Smartly Combine Google's Search Operators to Find AnythingIf I have learned anything since I started this blog is to find anything in Google almost momentarily.

I can quickly find the source of a quote, the original image or the official documentation for anything.

At college they used to say that you don’t need to (and you cannot) know answers to all questions: It’s how fast and efficiently you can find the answers. If that’s true, I am certainly an A+ student. My searching ability has been a huge help in many situations (beyond my professional life where it’s an integral part of my life)

And it’s not just about using Google’s advanced operators. It’s actually about combining them.

***If you want to get better at searching, do join my premium course on how to find anything.***

Table of Contents

  • Example #1 Find PDF downloads on .gov sites
  • Example #2 Find documents that mention a word in the text
  • Example #3 Find more Twitter accounts that relate to an organization
  • Example #4 Search several sites simultaneously
  • Example #5 Find forum discussions on any topic

Example #1 Find PDF downloads on .gov sites

Type:

[flu shot ext:pdf site:gov]

This is a good way to find documents on any topic to print out and take home. Great trick to help in online research.

Example #1 Find PDF downloads on .gov sites
Example #1 Find PDF downloads on .gov sites

Example #2 Find documents that mention a word in the text

Sometimes we just need to find articles that mention a name or a concept without focusing on it. Here’s how:

[Mark Zuckerberg -intitle:Mark -intitle:Zuckerberg]

Combine
Example #2 Find documents that mention a word in the text

Example #3 Find more Twitter accounts that relate to an organization

Looking for more Twitter accounts that represent a company or tweet about it? Google is a much better source than Twitter search for that!

Type:

[site:twitter.com @nytimes -inurl:status -inurl:hashtag -inurl:lists]

Find more Twitter accounts that relate to an organization
Example #3 Find more Twitter accounts that relate to an organization

{-inurl:status -inurl:hashtag -inurl:lists} force Google to exclude Twitter lists, hashtags and updates from search results leaving it with only Twitter profiles containing your search term

Example #4 Search several sites simultaneously

Do you fond yourself searching the same sites again and again? Here’s a way to search them all at a time!

[Cam McCaul site:vine.com OR site:vimeo.com OR site:youtube.com]

Example #4 Search several sites simultaneously
Example #4 Search several sites simultaneously

Example #5 Find forum discussions on any topic

Forums remain my source of the most truthful unbiased information on the web. It’s hard to fake an authentic forum discussion: You can always see how established and trusted any user is. The truth is revealed in communication! Therefore I often search for forum discussions when researching any product or phenomenon.

Here’s how to force Google to search forum discussions:

[tennis ball machine inurl:forum OR inurl:forums]

Find forum discussions on any topic
Example #5 Find forum discussions on any topic

Don’t forget to download the attached document containing all the mentioned search queries, clickable links and screenshots! Run some commands right away to see them in action!

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Ann Smarty

I am Ann Smarty, owner of SEOsmarty.com. I've been in the SEO industry for two decades. I am the former Editor-in-Chief of Search Engine Journal and a contributor to Mashable. These days I am running Viral Content Bee and writing for Moz, Buzzsumo, Wix and many others!
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