Advanced operators are often seen as merely a way to narrow down search results when looking for specific information. While this is true, advanced operators are a powerful tool for much more than just consumer use, they’re also a great tool for search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing. The information available through these operators can also be obtained through browser add-ons and various software programs, but if you don’t want to have to download anything or just want your information quickly without having to open any additional programs, then the search engine’s advanced operators can deliver what you want from your search window.
You can access some available advanced operators by clicking the “advanced search” option in any search engine, though there are easy tags you can put in a regular search query that will give you the same information without taking that extra step. Moreover, knowing tags that are relevant to what you’re trying to accomplish can save a lot of time and headache trying to find where any particular search engine put that function. For the purpose of search engine optimization (SEO), there are a few tags that may come in useful on a regular basis, especially if you’re trying to determine why your page isn’t ranking the way you expect after doing on-page keyword optimization.
Find Backlinks
Backlinks can be extremely valuable both in boosting PageRank and in directing good, targeted traffic to your site. However, some sites have all nofollow links, which means that they won’t help out your rank at all, while links on high-ranking sites can really help to boost your own. In addition, some bookmarking sites will only keep a link for a specific amount of time and then remove it from their database. Wouldn’t it be nice to know where all the backlinks to your site are? Simply type link:www.yoururl.com into the regular search box to see all existing links to that page. The number of search results will tell you just how many pages are linked to yours, and scanning down the list will reveal which are links within your own domain, which are links you’ve placed yourself, and which are links that others have placed to your site. If you don’t mind browser add-ons, use a simple add-on such as Donofollow or something similar to see which of those links are dofollow and which are nofollow. In addition, each domain can be entered into a rank checker, which may give some insight into whether or not that link might help your rank, not to mention higher PageRank sites will place higher in search engine results for related keywords than low PageRank sites.
Evaluate the Competition
By using the related:www.yoururl.com tag, you can effectively evaluate what the search engine sees as your direct competition. If these sites are completely different than yours and are not even remotely related to your site’s main topic or purpose, then you know that you need to do some additional on-page optimization because the search engine isn’t properly recognizing your page. Sites that are closely related to your own can give you insight into your true direct competition in the search engine results page, as well as for the same pool of customers. Some of these sites may even provide a good backlinking opportunity to promote your own site as well as giving ideas on how you can improve your own site to make it more competitive within your niche. In addition, you can use the same tag followed by a keyword or phrase to see which sites are related to terms you intend to use for your own site.
Determine What Drives Traffic from a Site
Maybe you have your site set up with Google Analytics or your site host offers traffic source information. This information can be extremely useful in determining how well your various backlinks, organic search efforts, ads, and other such tools are working. However, what do you do when traffic keeps coming in from a domain where you haven’t done any promotion? For instance, let’s say that you’re suddenly getting 200 hits a day from Twitter…wouldn’t you like to know who put your link up, and what’s being said about your site? Enter your business name, personal name, or URL (either top-level domain or individual page URL) into the search box followed by site:twitter.com to see every time you’ve been mentioned on the site. In some cases, this can alert you to a whole new traffic opportunity that you didn’t know even existed, or offer insight into backlink sites that may work well for future marketing efforts with other sites.
Evaluate Existing Sites for a Key Phrase
Finally, using the various intitle and inurl tags, you can research which sites contain your exact key phrase, and which ones contain close variations. Not only can this be useful for more in-depth competitor analysis, it can also give you a good feel for a particular niche before you expend time and energy targeting that area. While keyword research through keyword tools can give you a general idea of how much competition exists for your selected keywords or phrases, they give absolutely no insight into the caliber or your competition. Advanced operators can reveal whether your direct competition will be PetSmart or Joe’s Pet Shop in a strip mall halfway across the country.
Search engines are working to provide an increasing range of tools for site owners as well as consumers, including more and more advanced search operators. Explore your search engine of choice or look for good advanced operator tutorials from those search engines to discover all of the possibilities offered in what may once have appeared to be just a simple internet search.