How to refine your search in Google?

When a simple query [typing one or more words in the search bar or browser] is no longer sufficient, you can further refine your search in Google using advanced search or advanced functions.

Advanced search: As we discussed in the previous article: Customizing your search in Google.

It is possible to refine your search through advanced search using:

A form or by applying certain writing rules, certain functions.

Using the form: Just follow the prompts. If I'm searching for the word 'fiducies' but don't want to include the Wikipedia.org site, then I will enrich the following fields:

Source: Google search engine

By clicking the 'Advanced Search' button to launch the query, I obtain the following result:

Source: Google search engine

Advanced search using punctuation marks and symbols

How to perform an advanced query or search using the Google search bar?

Simply use punctuation marks and symbols accepted by Google.

Here are some examples:

- : Excludes a term. The query 'astuces' '- Google' will show pages containing 'astuces' without the term 'Google'.

« »: French quotation marks allow you to search for an exact phrase.

" ": English quotation marks allow you to search for an exact phrase.

*: The asterisk is often used to search for the entirety of a sentence or expression.

Advanced search functions: Here, you directly enter the advanced query in the 'Terms' field or the browser bar to refine or broaden the search.

In addition to punctuation marks, there are also search operators, as Google calls them.

You can combine them.

Why the operator? Simply because it is the reference to which the mentioned function applies.

Boolean operators:

AND: Retrieves results that include the terms placed before AND as well as after the operator.

OR: Retrieves results that either come before the OR operator, after the OR operator, or both.

The most commonly used search operators by WebMarketers:

site: Searches for web pages of a specific site or domain.

inurl: Searches for result pages containing the specified word in the URL.

allinurl: Searches for result pages that include all the specified query terms in the URL.

intitle: Searches for result pages containing the specified word in the page title.

allintitle: Searches for result pages that include all the specified query terms in the page title.

inanchor: Searches for pages containing the query terms in the anchor text or links to the page.

allinanchor: Searches for pages that include all the specified query terms in the anchor text on links to the page.

allintext: Searches for pages that include all the specified query terms in the page content.

allinurl: Searches for result pages that include all the specified query terms in the URL.

info: Provides information about a web address, such as the cached version of the page, similar pages, and pages that redirect to that URL.

cache: Allows viewing a page as it appeared during the last Google crawl.

link: Shows the backlinks associated with a given web page.

Concrete examples for demonstration:

site:pastebin.com intext:"admin password"

inurl:/contact and "real estate" and "paris"

Intitle:"GLPI Authentication"

Less common operators:

source: Reserved for Google News, this operator limits the search for the latest news to a single source. Example: source:source name.

location: Exclusively for Google News, it allows you to find new articles from a specific location. Example: location:Paris.

safesearch: Excludes adult-oriented results.

weather: Provides weather information by city or region. Example: weather:panama.

stocks: Tracks the stock price of a company. Example: stocks:microsoft.

movie: Shows movie showtimes near your location (city or postal code). Example: movie:Avatar 2 or movie:the way of water.

filetype: Limits the search to a specific file type (e.g., pdf).

author: Restricts the search to articles by a specific author.

map: Displays the map of a specific location. Example: map:Delaware.

define: Provides the definition of a term.

inpostauthor: Reserved for searching within blogs on .com (Google Blog Search), this operator helps find articles published by a specific author.

inblogtitle: Also reserved for Google Blog Search, this prefix limits the search to blog titles.

inposttitle: Limits the search to titles of articles published on blogs.

imagesize:widthxheight - Restricts image search results to a specific width and height. Example: imagesize:500x400.

@: Place it before a word to search for it on social media platforms. Example: @twitter

€: Place it after a number. Example: camera 400€.

$: Place it before a number. Example: camera $400.

#: Place it before a word. Example: #throwbackthursday.

Concrete examples for demonstration:

filetype:pdf site:gouv.fr intext:"CONFIDENTIAL"

map:Delaware

movie:"The Way of Water"

Conclusion

Please note that using punctuation marks and symbols does not guarantee an improvement in search results on its own. Google reserves the right to ignore them if they do not enhance result relevance.

However, the use of operators can be particularly helpful in search engine optimization when a tracking tool indicates that a page exists but is not initially indexed, or even worse, when it appears to be indexed but no longer appears in search results.

Advanced search still allows you to access pages in the secondary index. As a reminder, the primary index contains the pages that Google displays in its results.

The secondary index, also known as the supplemental index, includes indexed pages that do not appear in the search engine's results except for specific queries. This lower ranking is often due to poor page quality or duplication.

Google will always prioritize high-quality pages that are relevant, meaningful, and valuable to users, whether they are web users or mobile users.

Here are some useful links: support.google.com, Google Search Console, and googleguide.com.