Advanced search operators are special characters and keywords that can be used in a search query to help refine the results and find specific information more easily. These operators can be used in popular search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Examples of advanced search operators:
Quotation marks (” “): Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase. For example, “chocolate chip cookies” will only return results that include the exact phrase “chocolate chip cookies.”
Minus sign (-): Use a minus sign to exclude a word from the search results. For example, a chocolate chip cookie -recipe will return results that include the phrase “chocolate chip cookies” but exclude those that include the word “recipe.”
Site: Use the site operator to search for a specific website or domain. For example, site:example.com will return all the pages indexed by the search engine from the domain example.com.
Filetype: Use the filetype operator to search for a specific file type. For example, chocolate chip cookies filetype:pdf will return results that include the phrase “chocolate chip cookies” in pdf files.
Link: Use the link operator to find pages that link to a specific URL. For example, link:example.com will return all the pages that link to the website example.com.
OR: Use the OR operator to include results that match either of the search terms. For example, chocolate OR vanilla will return results that include “chocolate” or “vanilla” or both.
These are just a few examples of advanced search operators, but many search engines have their own operators and options to fine-tune the results. Using these operators can save time and effort when trying to find specific information by narrowing down the results to what you’re looking for. However, it’s important to use them appropriately and not overuse them, as this could lead to irrelevant results.
Also, See: Search Intent in SEO