Google Advanced Search allows you to cut through the clutter of the Internet and find the exact search results you’re looking for.
Google’s advanced search is helpful for all web users, especially ecommerce business owners. Implementing advanced Google search tips will help you identify opportunities, evaluate your competitors and better understand how Google and Google users view your store.
You don’t want to be presented with 5,010 371 pages of results every time. You may want to know a specific number. You might want to know which websites link to your shop. You can also check how easy it is for customers to find your products. Or the products that your competitors sell.
Not all Google advanced searches are relevant to ecommerce. Google Search’s “timer” function, which displays a timer when you enter “15 minute timer”, will not be helpful for scaling. Google Advanced Searches can help you turn Google Search into a personal research laboratory.
This article will cover the most valuable features of Google’s advanced Search and how to use them to optimize your ecommerce website.
What is Google Advanced Search?
Google advanced search allows you to customize your Google Searches by using a series of special instructions. These advanced Google search instructions, operators and commands, tell Google you are not interested in searching the entire web, from top to bottom and front to back. Instead, you want to focus on more specific queries.
Your parents would probably never use Google advanced search. There are a few reasons. It’s not easy to guess the advanced Google search commands. Second, it’s unlikely that your parents would need to use Google advanced search. These searches are designed for particular queries.
Let’s look at a few examples of search operators to see if it makes sense.
Google Advanced Search Operators
When searching for a specific thing on Google, most people type a single word, question, or sentence. You can use many different search operators to narrow down the results. Here are the most popular search operators, which can be combined to dig deep into Google’s database.
Exact Search
What is it? Exact Search is the basic and advanced Google search. This is something that your parents could probably do. You’re just putting quotation marks in front of your search term. This tells Google you want to see results for and only. Google can read your mind pretty well, but using quotes will help you eliminate any confusion.
When you should use it: This advanced Google search is valid when you want to find only results that include a specific phrase.
OR Search
What is it? It’s a search engine that uses OR (upper-case only!) You can search for several separate search terms. This advanced Google search operator, unlike the exact Search that, narrows down your results, broadens your query and brings you more results.
When you should use it: This Google advanced search is sometimes valid. It is useful when searching for information with several search terms, such as “french presses” or “cafeteria.” You can also use it if you are unsure of the best phrase for finding the information you need.
NOTE If you don’t capitalize the OR, Google may think you are trying to answer a question about linguistics, such as whether or not you should use toward or towards. You will get results explaining the differences between British English and American English. Remember – OR!
Exclusion search
What is it? This advanced Google Search allows you to exclude specific items from the search results. This is like ordering a cheeseburger but telling the chef not to add ketchup. You can search the Internet but only ignore results that contain your excluded terms. You can explain the exclusion search operators if anyone asks how to ban something in a Google search.
When you should use it: The Google advanced search tip that is best for words with multiple meanings. This is the Google Advanced Search to use if you want to browse Amazon plants but don’t want Google thinking that you’re researching the ecological diversity of the Amazon rainforest.
Site search
What is it? It’s an advanced Google search that allows you to zero in on one website or domain. You can tell Google to only search a specific website by using the Google search specific domain operator.
When you should use it: This excellent Google advanced search technique has multiple applications. Entrepreneurs can use this to spy on competitors’ websites. You’re in a yoga niche and want to know if yogastuff.com is selling an item. Google can be told only to search the website of that competitor. This Google search operator can be used to find specific words or phrases on your site. This is particularly useful if you are looking for duplicate content or products.
Filetype Search
What is it? The Google advanced search allows you to narrow the results to specific file types—GIFs, PNGs, PPTs, etc. Google will display links to all files related to your search query if you don’t specify the file type in front of the operator.
When you should use it: Use this search operator to find product images for your website. To get fast results, you can limit your Search to only.PNG files. You can also use PowerPoint presentations to research a product and see if there is anything you can add to its description.
Related Search
What is it? Related Search allows you to find similar websites. Google returns results similar to your selected site when you perform a related search.
When you should use it: Related Search is an excellent tool for ecommerce professionals to check out their competition. When you plug your website into a related search, Google will pull up similar sites. You can do market research to see what products are being sold, the prices,, etc.
Search for Prices
What is it? Price Search is an advanced Google command allowing you to tell Google where to find a product at a specified price. Instead of visiting an online shop to find something, you can search the entire web using Google. Enter the product name, then a price. (Use a dollar symbol to indicate that you are looking for a specific price.
When you should use it: If you own an online store, this Google advanced search will allow to compare prices of products within your niche. Use the price search if you’re in the pet niche, and want to add dog sweaters to your store.
